On a quiet Monday morning, before its doors open to the public, the empty entrance foyer at Glasgow Film Theatre is suddenly awash with people, pop stars and stuff.
Sophisticated Boom Boom, the all-woman post-punk outfit who blazed a trail through the Scottish 80s music scene, landing three John Peel sessions, supporting the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen (and later, with a slightly different line-up, morphing into His Latest Flame) is reuniting for a one-off gig.
Libby McArthur, Trish Reid, Jacquie Bradley, Laura Mazzolini and Irene Brown are performing at Mono to celebrate the release of music documentary Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands, which is screening at GFT this month.
Written and narrated by singer-songwriter Carla J Easton and co-directed by music promo director Blair Young, the much-lauded documentary unearths the stories of Scottish girl bands from the 1960s onwards, and examines the enduring barriers faced by women making music.
Tickets for the post-screening gig sold out in minutes, news which has the members of Sophisticated Boom Boom experiencing varying degrees of delight and terror.
“I cannae wait,” says Jacquie, with a grin. Laura groans. “I feel sick,” she gulps.
The women, minus Irene, who is on holiday, are meeting at the GFT to discuss the documentary and the gig, and someone has had the bright idea of trying to recreate their 1980s black-and-white publicity shot.
Jacquie and Trish arrive first, warm hugs and catch-up chat follow. Libby breezes in, with her little granddaughter Cassie, in a flap. “I need to find wifi for Bluey,” she apologises, swooshing past in the hunt for a strong signal so Cassie can watch cartoons while granny chats. Laura is a little later (“typical,” sighs Trish, “Laura would be late for her own funeral.”)
The photograph recreation causes much mirth, as we all lug tables, chairs and a sorry-looking plant into position in a white-walled rear corridor of the cinema.
“Look at my hair,” hoots Jacquie, examining the original picture. “Look at my face,” says Trish. “I’m very serious. And you can tell Irene is shy, hiding away at the bottom corner. She never wanted the limelight.”
Sophisticated Boom Boom, named after a song by 60s American girl group The Shangri-Las, emerged from the vibrant Glasgow music scene of the late 70s and 80s. Libby and Jacquie were school pals, and when a drama school application came to nothing, Libby found herself working in a Gorbals community centre performing puppet shows.
“And along came Tricia Reid, doing exactly the same thing, but with the ability to play a guitar,” says Libby, smiling. “I said to her - I’ve a pal in Castlemilk who also who wants to be in a band, come and we’ll be in a band together?”
By this time, points out Trish, Jacquie was running The Hellfire Club, a recording and rehearsal studio on the edge of the city centre.
“Studio is a loose term,” Jacquie interjects, matter-of-factly. “It was a sh**hole.”
Tricia continues: “But every single band that got a deal did their demos in this tiny little basement studio with Jacquie, and David Henderson. To me, it seemed impossibly glamorous, it was like a different world.”
Libby agrees.
“We’d be rushing in as all these bands were coming out - Simple Minds, Aztec Camera, The Bluebells, Shakin’ Pyramids – and The Dreamboys, of course – Peter Capaldi, Craig Ferguson, Temple Clark….anybody who was anybody," she says.
Jacquie adds: “The Dreamboys would often give us the B-band slot at their gigs - we really suited each other, because music in those days was very theatrical, and we all loved that. We weren’t trying to be cool, we just wanted to entertain people.”
The documentary explores music industry attitudes to female performers.
“If there was another female band, they’d try and pit you against each other,” recalls Laura.
“I remember at one photo session in London they tried to take pictures of us against a big photo of The Supremes, and we were thinking, what is this?” says Trish. “I mean, I love Motown, but what did it have to do with us? I don’t think they really got it.
“And the point of the documentary for me, is that it restores to the historical record a sense that some sort of genealogy of girl bands in Scotland actually did exist.”
She pauses. “These women existed and, pardon my language, were f***ing gallus for even doing it at all,” she says. “There were lots of reasons not to do it, and the industry itself just focussed on what guys did. Apart from maybe Jill and Rose [Bryson and McDowall], because Strawberry Switchblade got in the charts.”
Trish adds: "We were amazingly, weirdly confident. We were around at the right time and just thought, well, everyone else is doing it, so we can too.”
Irene and Laura joined the band a little later.
Laura recalls: “They were going to London, and they said to me, ‘we’re supposed to be a band but we don’t have a bass player, could you like, pretend to be the bass player?’
“They put this tape on and I thought - this is really good.”
She adds: “There was real maturity in what they wrote. I think they are underplaying the actual talent they had.”
The Peel sessions were a highlight, recalls Jacquie. (All 12 tracks from the three sessions are being released for the first time on vinyl by Last Night From Glasgow this autumn.)
Trish adds, wryly: “I think it was quite annoying for some of the guys’ bands actually, because it felt like we’d gone to London and 10 minutes later, we had a Peel session.”
Sophisticated Boom Boom may have scattered across the UK – Jacquie became a depute headteacher and then retired to the isle of Bute; Trish is head of the school of arts and communication design at Reading University in London; and Irene, who works in the care and social work sector, actor and humanist celebrant Libby and company director Laura are all still in Glasgow – they have all kept in close touch.
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“We never really came apart,” points out Laura. “It was like having sisters. When I left the band I had such a hard time not being around them any more. I think we were very lucky to have had that.”
Discussion turns to the gig, and the nerves.
“It’s mad, it sold out so fast,” marvels Libby. “There is demand for Sophisticated Boom Boom. It’s hilarious.”
Most, if not all, of those snapping up the gold dust tickets, could be fans who adored the band back in the 80s, I suggest – those of us for whom Sophisticated Boom Boom was an inspirational, vital part of the soundtrack to our teenage years.
“That is great - it’s lovely to hear that,” says Libby, momentarily moved. “I think we just wanted to do this to celebrate the documentary, and to support Carla. It's a thank-you. What she and Blair have done is fantastic.”
Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands will be screening at GFT from 18 - 24 October. The screening on October 19 at 8pm will be followed by a Q&A with co-directors Blair Young and Carla J Easton.
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