As a young girl growing up in the ‘90s, Carla J Easton aspired to be in an all-girl band, but not knowing where to look for a girlband to idolise in her native Scotland, her idols came to her in animated form instead, through the protagonists of American cartoon Jem and the Holograms. The question that arises early on in her voiceover is a pertinent one: Who do we choose to remember?
Taking us on a linear voyage through the Scottish music scene and the bands whose legacies were doomed to the niche category largely due to their gender, Easton and Blair Young’s documentary traces the histories of Scottish women pioneers, asking why they’re not celebrated, let alone remembered, while highlighting their unique relationship to Scotland as well as the politics dictating their futures within a male-dominated, London-centric music industry.
Rather than painting the nostalgic, idyllic picture that we’ve grown to expect from music docs of this ilk, Easton and Young interview the women behind the bands, whose testimonies prove that it’s the industry’s inherent misogyny that stood between them and their careers. We hear from the likes of Jeanette McKinley (who performed with her sister Sheila as The McKinleys in the ’60s, opening for the likes of the Beatles but never getting paid for performing), Sophisticated Boom Boom (later known as His Latest Flame), The Ettes, Lung Leg, Sunset Gun, the Hedrons – their interviews mixed with archival footage from gigs, television performances, studio recording sessions and tours.
Unsurprisingly, the iconic Glaswegian duo Strawberry Switchblade form a big part of the documentary, as we discover that the dark, introspective themes in their songwriting were relegated to the backseat, with the media much more infatuated with their vibrant polka-dotted image and sugary pop sound. Their brilliant hit single after which the film is named, Since Yesterday, led them to become the only Scottish group to break into the UK top ten, peaking at #5, while Switchblade’s Rose McDowall explains that although the song is commonly interpreted as being about heartbreak, the duo actually intended it to be about nuclear war, the Cold War era’s existential dread, loss of innocence and disillusionment.
Reflecting on the commodification of women in music by record labels themselves, the doc also highlights the effects of becoming a mother on women’s careers in music, how labels don’t really know what to do with a girl band especially when it comes to the risk of them becoming pregnant and “messing up” a record deal.
The broad scope, starting from the ’60s and taking us to the early noughties while also showing the DIY grassroots movements being made in the present, means that there’s quite a lot of history to pack into a 90 minute runtime, so unfortunately we don’t get to spend much time with each group and their individual sound. While this is the ultimate price to pay for giving each band equal opportunity to shine, the effect of quickly jumping from one band to the other while a young girl fills her bedroom wall with posters can be a bit jarring. The film works well regardless – it’s energetic, lively and an impactful testament to these women’s boldness and perseverance.
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