Shampoo (band)
Encyclopedia
Shampoo were a British
all-girl band in the 1990s, formed by Jacqui Blake and Caroline "Carrie" Askew. They were most famous for their hit song, "Trouble".
, United Kingdom
called Plumstead Manor. In the early nineties they started writing Last Exit, a fanzine
for the Manic Street Preachers
, and later appeared in the video for "Little Baby Nothing
". They also wrote a fanzine for Fabulous
.
During this time they formed Shampoo (derived from their schoolyard nickname of 'the shampoo girls', for using the old 'washing their hair' excuse whenever turning down a date request).
Their first single 'Blisters and Bruises' with the b-sides "Paydirt" and "I Love Little Pussy" was released by Icerink records (a short-lived label created by Saint Etienne
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs) on 7" pink vinyl
in 1993. This and their following single "Bouffant Headbutt" received favourable reviews in the music press, such as the NME
and Melody Maker
, but were largely ignored by the general public.
Whilst their first two singles were typical of the Riot Grrl bands then coming to notice, the following year saw the release of their most famous song, "Trouble" and the album We Are Shampoo which displayed a much more radio
friendly sound, but still with much of their previous abrasiveness: "Dirty Old Love Song" panned Mariah Carey
and Whitney Houston
(whose "I Will Always Love You
" had been the previous year's biggest selling single in the UK). "Shiny Black Taxi Cab" about a night on the town gone wrong (ending with a spoken section by the 'taxi driver' complaining to a new passenger about two drunken girls who had thrown up all over his cab the previous week).
"Trouble" crashed up the charts to No. 11 and landed the girls on Top Of The Pops
and the cover of Smash Hits
magazine. For the remainder of 1994 Shampoo did well, finding fans in both the mainstream
and alternative
music scenes - boosted in part by their links to Manic Street Preachers
fanscene; however they also drew scathing comment from those within the small UK Riot Grrrl scene who saw the band as a repeat of We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It
s "sellout" to commercialism - future artist Lucy McKenzie
(then in the short lived Riot Grrrl band 'Batfink') wrote scathingly in her schoolgirl fanzine Poppy/Violet that "Shampoo = Miss June And July Of The Paedophile Calendar".
The band became moderately successful in Japan
. "Trouble" became famous for its inclusion in the soundtrack
to the film
, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie. The hit "Delicious" is heard in the movie Casper: A Spirited Beginning
. The song "Don't Call Me Babe" was included in the soundtrack
of the 1996 movie Barb Wire
.
However, by the time they released their next album Girl Power in 1995 (the phrase coming from a 1993 Helen Love record and much used by Riot Grrrl devotees - later used as a marketing slogan by the Spice Girls
), they were already in decline, and the third Shampoo album Absolute Shampoo was released solely on the internet
in 2000, due to an inability to acquire a recording contract. The duo disbanded shortly afterwards.
Shampoo combined a poppy girlishness and a love of all things plastic, kitsch, and pink (the album artwork for We Are Shampoo featured a collage of Barbie
dolls and sweet wrappers) with a punk
sensibility. They often cited their main influences as being the Sex Pistols
, Gary Numan
and the Beastie Boys
, whilst also claiming to be huge fans of East 17
and Take That
.
In May 2007 the album We Are Shampoo was re-issued in the UK with bonus tracks of the B-Sides.
All Japanese figures are from the Oricon Singles Chart.
Japanese placings again taken from Oricon charts.
by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, and can be found as a B-side
on their "The Young Offenders Mum" single. It was also sung by the cast of the 2007
film St Trinian's
and featured on the soundtrack. In 2009, Japanese rock band Vamps
included a cover of the song as a B-side to their single "I Gotta Kick Start Now". In the same year, Zebrahead
also included a version on their 2009 cover album, Panty Raid
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
all-girl band in the 1990s, formed by Jacqui Blake and Caroline "Carrie" Askew. They were most famous for their hit song, "Trouble".
History
Jacqui Blake and Carrie Askew were best friends at a secondary school for girls in PlumsteadPlumstead
Plumstead is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. Plumstead is a multi cultural area with large Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities, in similarity to local areas such as Woolwich and Thamesmead...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
called Plumstead Manor. In the early nineties they started writing Last Exit, a fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
for the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
, and later appeared in the video for "Little Baby Nothing
Little Baby Nothing
"Little Baby Nothing" was the sixth single taken from the debut full-length album — Generation Terrorists — by the Welsh group the Manic Street Preachers. It features vocals by former porn star Traci Lords....
". They also wrote a fanzine for Fabulous
Fabulous (band)
Fabulous were a British pop punk band formed in 1991 by NME journalist Simon Spence and NME photographer Martyn Goodacre, initially under the name Baggy.- History :...
.
During this time they formed Shampoo (derived from their schoolyard nickname of 'the shampoo girls', for using the old 'washing their hair' excuse whenever turning down a date request).
Their first single 'Blisters and Bruises' with the b-sides "Paydirt" and "I Love Little Pussy" was released by Icerink records (a short-lived label created by Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs) on 7" pink vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in 1993. This and their following single "Bouffant Headbutt" received favourable reviews in the music press, such as the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, but were largely ignored by the general public.
Whilst their first two singles were typical of the Riot Grrl bands then coming to notice, the following year saw the release of their most famous song, "Trouble" and the album We Are Shampoo which displayed a much more radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
friendly sound, but still with much of their previous abrasiveness: "Dirty Old Love Song" panned Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
and Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
(whose "I Will Always Love You
I Will Always Love You
"I Will Always Love You" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton in 1973, who first released the song as a single in 1974.-Dolly Parton version:...
" had been the previous year's biggest selling single in the UK). "Shiny Black Taxi Cab" about a night on the town gone wrong (ending with a spoken section by the 'taxi driver' complaining to a new passenger about two drunken girls who had thrown up all over his cab the previous week).
"Trouble" crashed up the charts to No. 11 and landed the girls on Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
and the cover of Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
magazine. For the remainder of 1994 Shampoo did well, finding fans in both the mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
and alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
music scenes - boosted in part by their links to Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
fanscene; however they also drew scathing comment from those within the small UK Riot Grrrl scene who saw the band as a repeat of We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It
We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
We've Got A Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It were an English alternative rock group. Formed in Birmingham in 1985, the all-female quartet originally consisted of Vix, Maggie Dunne, Jo Dunne and Tina O'Neill. The band's name was shortened to Fuzzbox for the U.S. release of their first album...
s "sellout" to commercialism - future artist Lucy McKenzie
Lucy McKenzie
Lucy McKenzie is an artist based in Brussels, Belgium.McKenzie studied for her BA at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1995–1999 and at Karlsruhe Kunstakademie in Germany in 1998....
(then in the short lived Riot Grrrl band 'Batfink') wrote scathingly in her schoolgirl fanzine Poppy/Violet that "Shampoo = Miss June And July Of The Paedophile Calendar".
The band became moderately successful in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. "Trouble" became famous for its inclusion in the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie. The hit "Delicious" is heard in the movie Casper: A Spirited Beginning
Casper: A Spirited Beginning
Casper: A Spirited Beginning is a direct-to-video spin-off prequel to the 1995 film Casper, produced by Harvey Comics and Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox on September 9, 1997...
. The song "Don't Call Me Babe" was included in the soundtrack
Barb Wire (soundtrack)
Barb Wire was a soundtrack for the movie of the same name, released in 1996. It contains 11 tracks of rock music including covers of songs by Patti Smith and Cameo.- Track listing :# Tommy Lee - "Planet Boom" - 3:58...
of the 1996 movie Barb Wire
Barb Wire (film)
-Cast:* Pamela Anderson Lee as Barbara "Barb Wire" Kopetski* Temuera Morrison as Axel Hood* Victoria Rowell as Dr. Corrina "Cora D" Devonshire* Jack Noseworthy as Charlie Kopetski* Xander Berkeley as Alexander Willis* Udo Kier as Curly...
.
However, by the time they released their next album Girl Power in 1995 (the phrase coming from a 1993 Helen Love record and much used by Riot Grrrl devotees - later used as a marketing slogan by the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
), they were already in decline, and the third Shampoo album Absolute Shampoo was released solely on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in 2000, due to an inability to acquire a recording contract. The duo disbanded shortly afterwards.
Shampoo combined a poppy girlishness and a love of all things plastic, kitsch, and pink (the album artwork for We Are Shampoo featured a collage of Barbie
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
dolls and sweet wrappers) with a punk
Punk ideology
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture. In its original incarnation, the punk subculture was primarily concerned with concepts such as rebellion, anti-authoritarianism, individualism, free thought and discontent...
sensibility. They often cited their main influences as being the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesizer hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music...
and the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, whilst also claiming to be huge fans of East 17
East 17
East 17 are a pop boy band comprising Tony Mortimer, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell. Tony Mortimer is the group's frontman and primary songwriter. Formed in Walthamstow, London in 1991, the group have achieved eighteen Top 20 singles and four Top 10 albums, and were one of the UK's most popular boy...
and Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
.
In May 2007 the album We Are Shampoo was re-issued in the UK with bonus tracks of the B-Sides.
Singles
| Title | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
| "Blisters and Bruises" | N/A |
| "Bouffant Headbutt" | N/A |
| "Trouble" | #11 (#81 Japan) |
| "Viva La Megababes" | #27 |
| "Delicious" | #21 (#76 Japan) |
| "Trouble" (re-release) | #36 |
| "Girl Power" | #25 (#22 Japan) |
| "I Know What Boys Like" | #42 |
| "War Paint" | (Japan only) |
| "Yea Yea Yea (Tell Me Baby)" | (Japan only - #95) |
All Japanese figures are from the Oricon Singles Chart.
Albums
| Title | Additional Info |
| We Are Shampoo (1994) | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... #45 #8 (Japan) |
| Delicious (1994) | Japanese Only: B-Sides/Rare Tracks #6 (Japan) |
| Shampoo Or Nothing (1995) | Japanese Release of 'Girl Power' |
| Girl Power (1996) | UK Release of 'Shampoo Or Nothing' |
| The Greatest (1998) | Japan Only 'Greatest Hits' |
| Absolute Shampoo (2000) | Internet Only |
| We Are Shampoo (2007) | Re-Issued album + 6 B-Sides |
Japanese placings again taken from Oricon charts.
We Are Shampoo
- Trouble
- Delicious
- Viva La Megababes
- Dirty Old Love Song
- Skinny White Thing
- Glimmer Globe
- Shiny Black Taxi Cab
- Me Hostage
- Game Boy
- House of Love
- Shampoo You
- Saddo
Girl Power/Shampoo Or Nothing
- Girl power
- News Flash
- I Know What Boys Like
- Bare Knuckle Girl
- Zap Pow
- War Paint
- You Love It
- Boys Are Us
- We Play Dumb
- I'm Gonna Scream
- Don't Call Me Babe
- Girl Power (Extended Version) (Bonus Track On 'Shampoo Or Nothing')
- War Paint (Extended Version) (Bonus Track On 'Shampoo Or Nothing')
- I know What Boys Like (Extended Version) (Bonus Track On 'Shampoo Or Nothing')
Absolute Shampoo
- Shampoo's Cupboard
- Inspector Gadget
- Sod The Neighbours
- Take A Break
- Don't Remember
- Terrorist TV
- First Class
- Star Of The Show
- Jet Lag
- Love Hate Baby
- Sid
Singles/B-sides
- Blisters & Bruises [included on the 1995 Japan single of Delicious]
- Paydirt [included on the 1995 Japan single of Delicious]
- I Love Little Pussy [included on the 1995 Japan single of Delicious]
- Bouffant Headbutt [included on the 1995 Japan single of Delicious]
- Excellent [included on the 2007 re-release of We Are Shampoo]
- Monster [included on the 1993 UK single of Bouffant Headbutt]
- We Don't Care [included on the 2007 re-release of We Are Shampoo]
- School is Boring [included on the 2007 re-release of We Are Shampoo]
- Girls 'Round Here [included on the 2007 re-release of We Are Shampoo]
- Kinky Ken [included on the 2007 re-release of We Are Shampoo]
- Out of Control [included on the 2007 re-release of We Are Shampoo]
- Cars [included on the 1995 Japan single of Girl Power]
- Top of The Pops [included on the 1995 Japan single of War Paint]
- Yea Yea Yea (Tell Me Baby) [only available on the 1996 Japan single of Yea Yea Yea (Tell Me Baby)]
Mixes/live/etc.
- Trouble - Now Ex Mix
- Trouble - Detention Mix
- Trouble - Karaoke Version
- Viva La Megababes - Extended Mix aka 'US Extended Mix'
- Viva La Megababes - Karaoke Version
- Delicious - Karaoke Version
- Excellent - Live, Recorded at The Grand April 95
- Girl Power - Extended Version
- I Know What Boys Like - Extended Version
- I Know What Boys Like - Hed Boys Seka Mix
- I Know What Boys Like - Hed Boys Party Dub Mix
- War Paint - Extended Version
- War Paint - Karaoke
- Yea Yea Yea (Tell Me Baby) - Karaoke Mix
Video
- 1995: Released a JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese videoMusic videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
collection entitled 'We Are Shampoo', containing videos for "Trouble", "Viva La Megababes", "Delicious" & "Bouffant Headbutt". - There are two different videos for "Trouble". The original features the girls trying to get home from central London after a night out. The re-make features new footage of the girls singing to the camera, intercut with filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
footage from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The MovieMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The MovieMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a 1995 American superhero action fantasy based on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Fox Kids. It featured the characters and actors from the series itself, and used the zords from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger...
.
Use of audio in other media
- 1995: Released their song "Trouble" with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The MovieMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The MovieMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a 1995 American superhero action fantasy based on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Fox Kids. It featured the characters and actors from the series itself, and used the zords from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger...
soundtrack. - 1996: Released their song Don't Call Me Babe to the Pamela AndersonPamela AndersonPamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
film Barb WireBarb Wire (film)-Cast:* Pamela Anderson Lee as Barbara "Barb Wire" Kopetski* Temuera Morrison as Axel Hood* Victoria Rowell as Dr. Corrina "Cora D" Devonshire* Jack Noseworthy as Charlie Kopetski* Xander Berkeley as Alexander Willis* Udo Kier as Curly...
on its soundtrack. - 1997: Released their song Delicious with the Casper: A Spirited BeginningCasper: A Spirited BeginningCasper: A Spirited Beginning is a direct-to-video spin-off prequel to the 1995 film Casper, produced by Harvey Comics and Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox on September 9, 1997...
soundtrack. - 2000: Provided voices for the PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
puzzle game 'Spin Jam'. - 2007: "Trouble" can be heard in the background in the film St. Trinian's.
Covers by other bands
"Trouble" was coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, and can be found as a B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
on their "The Young Offenders Mum" single. It was also sung by the cast of the 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
film St Trinian's
St Trinian's (2007 film)
St Trinian's is the sixth in a long-running series of films based on the works of cartoonist Ronald Searle. The first five films form a series, starting with The Belles of St Trinian's in 1954, with sequels in 1957, 1960, 1966 and 1980....
and featured on the soundtrack. In 2009, Japanese rock band Vamps
Vamps
Vamps is a Japanese rock band formed in 2008 by Hyde and K.A.Z, and signed to Hyde's record label Vamprose.- History :...
included a cover of the song as a B-side to their single "I Gotta Kick Start Now". In the same year, Zebrahead
Zebrahead
Zebrahead is an American punk rock band from Orange County, California, which fuses elements of Rapcore, Pop Punk, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, and Funk Metal.-1996–98: Formation:...
also included a version on their 2009 cover album, Panty Raid
Panty Raid (album)
Panty Raid is the eighth studio album released by American punk rock band Zebrahead.The album consists entirely of cover songs by female pop artists, including singers such as Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani.-Track listing:...
.