Rose McDowall invented the group Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1980’s Scotland. This group would go on to be one of the best things ever. After that, Rose McDowall continued to make music in such groups as Sorrow, Current 93, Psychic TV, Felt, Death in June… So much!

It may seem odd to consider that Strawberry Switchblade, the most successful (and my fav) of her musical inventions, is so obscure today, especially when one compares them to other pop groups from the period. The music of Rose McDowall expresses a mood for which there isn’t one word to describe very aptly. It is no large portion of our populace. But if your demeanour is such that you are afflicted, you will know it upon hearing the music. The music describes it so well, just like a poem does. You may be thoughtful, prone to bouts of melancholy, conflicted. Maybe you were a punk rocker when you were small, but now you’ve grown big. Or perhaps you frequent libraries and wish Art Nouveau had never ended. Imagine a sad smile, as opposed to a glaring grin or pitiful pout. Strawberry Switchblade is the sad smile.

My absolute Fav tracks are Deep Water and Being Cold. Also Trees and Flowers, the most beutiful song about Jill Bryson’s agoraphobia. Boris Williams of the Cure even played the tippy tappy drums on Strawberry Switchblade’s first and only album! I don’t know what the tippy tappy drums are but it sounds so good. This group was also the most visually-stunning group ever around. In every picture extant, they are attired most gorgeously, like galaxies of polka dots, two tiny dazzling solar systems. This group also calls to mind the Japanese theatre of puppetry, Bunraku. It is no surprise that they enjoyed great success in that country. Also it must be noted that Rose McDowall is precisely five foot tall!!

We may wonder just what Rose McDowall would think of such museums of personalities and wonders as this. In an April 1985 interview conducted by Mick Sinclair, Rose exclaimed:

I went to Madame Tussauds because I wanted to see if they were any good. It’s a bloody rip-off, the amount of money they charge.

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