ANGELS
Auf der Maur
Belinda Carlisle
Sarah Cracknell
Juliana Hatfield
Helen Love
Cerys Matthews
Idha Ovelius
Liz Phair
Suzanne Vega

ARCHANGELS
The Breeders
Curve
The Donnas
The Field Mice
Lush

LISTS
Favourite People
Screen Favourites
Gigs and Festivals
Guilty Pleasures
Top 25 Albums
Top 25 Songs
Yearly Music Lists

AMIGA
My Amiga History
My Compositions
System Snapshots

To put into words simply, Helen Love gave me a reason to continue listen to music in general.  The music they make is beautifully naive sounding, but it is also wonderfully written.  They are the reason why I have given myself the moniker popboy.  Their song We Love You features the lyrics "pop boy" within, and it is from this that my alter-ego is named from.

When I first heard BBC Radio 1's Mark & Lard play Helen Love's 'Girl About Town' on their evening show, I was hooked.  Helen and her band, to me, fill the void between my absolutely serious bands, and my guilty pleasures.  Their songs are short, cute, occasionally funny and always very memorable.  As with so many of my Music Angels, Helen Love mean so much to me for many obscure and irrational reasons.  My explanation as to why I hold them in such a high regard is perhaps because they are possibly the kind of band I really would have loved to be a member of.

Helen Love brazenly show their love and affection for the hugely influential punk band The Ramones.  Many of their songs contain Ramones lyrics snippets or famous Ramones phrases.  Also, some of Helen Love's song titles are bastardisations of Ramones song lyrics and titles.  Their infatuation with The Ramones was not a one-sided love affair though.  Joey Ramone, the now sadly-departed vocalist of The Ramones, openly declared his love for Helen and her band.  He even appeared as a guest vocalist on a re-recording of their breakthrough song, Punk Boy.

Helen Love established themselves when Helen herself (on vocals), her friends Sheena (on guitars) and Roxy (who started as the bass and drum machine operator, and then as a keyboard player) formed their band.  They have had various other band members on duty to play the other parts on their records throughout their history.  But to me, the beauty and the simplicity of the records they have released means so much to me because, ultimately, they are a lo-fi band sounding band.  The essence of their spirit and attraction is that at their bare bones, there was just a Casio keyboard, a drum machine and a guitar.  Although compared to my other Angels it appears they lack substance, they more than make up for it in their energy and passion.  A drum machine, keyboard and guitar, styled in the fashion of a punk-rock/pop sound is a genre that I have completely fallen head over heals in love with.  In many bizarre ways, Helen and her band have been more influential to me than either Belinda or The Breeders... and that's saying something!

Helen and her band started off their career by releasing records on the Damaged Goods label (home to many alternative artists, such as Holly Golightly and The Buzzcocks, and the original label The Manic Street Preachers were signed to).  Although they briefly flirted with the Ché record label for a couple a great moments in pop music, they then returned back when Ché went bust sometime in 2001.  In September 2004, in preparation for a new single, they offered an initial download only single called Debbie And Joey on their website, and this is a fine return to form by the group.  They have now signed up to the Sympathy For Record Industry label, so now myself, along with many other people are very much looking forward to a proper single release of the song and a follow up album.

Keep up to date on Helen Love on the website  http://www.helenlove.com.

Below are my most important Helen Love releases.
Clicking on any of the covers will download a larger picture.

	Formula One Racing Girls This is Helen Love's first single, which was released in 1994.  They got signed to the Damaged Goods label on the strength of this song, after a demo tape of it was sent off by Sheena's bother.  The song sounds so sweet and innocent, and it sounds like it was recorded by a group of teenagers with a keyboard and a guitar... but that's because it was!  It also features the phrase 'Girl Power' throughout the song, which seems like an over used phrase nowadays.  After the successes of other girl groups that were to follow Helen Love, hearing this used in 1994 before all that made this was a refreshing new soung.
	Punk Boy Punk Boy was Helen Love's breakthrough single.  This, their fourth release, has a much more edgy sound to their previous material.  The song was picked up on radio, which is kind of ironic, given that on inside groove on side A of the 7" there's the message "THIS IS A CRAP RECORD!".  On the flipside the message continues "UNLESS IT GETS PLAYED ON RADIO 1 OF COURSE.".  The single did get airplay on BBC Radio 1, and it was also picked up upon by the then emerging Northern Irish indie band, Ash, who covered the song during their concerts at the time.
	Does Your Heart Go Boom This is Helen Love's most commerical (and chart successful) single.  Released in 1997, on a new record label (Ché, hence the 'Number 1' on the front cover), this song is very very different from any previous releases.  Featuring the repeated words of 'Atari Teenage Riot' (the name of a metal-noise band) at the start, the song launches into a loud and immensely addictive track.  Naming Brit bands (of the time), notably Bush and Kulashaker, this song was enough to just edge themselves into the top 75 of the singles chart - which, for an indie band on a poorly distributed label, was a considerable achievement.
	Love And Glitter, Hot Days And Muzik This is, bizarrely enough, Helen Love's only proper studio album!  In truth, they have released four (including this one), but the other three are actually singles compilations from throughout their career.  Initially, this album was released on the band's then record label, Ché.  But after the label went bankrupt, the band re-signed to Damaged Goods and the album was re-released.  Although rather electro in sound in places, this in my view is a very accomplished album.  This also boasts a re-recorded version of Punk Boy (with Joey Ramone).  Also on here is one of my favourite Helen Loves tracks of all time, Better Set Your Phasers To Stun, which is just a lovely closing song for their album.
	Debbie Loves Joey Released in the autumn of 2004, this is the newest offering from Helen Love.  Initially only available as a download only single from the band's website, this is a taster for a proper single release (and hopefully and album) on their new record label, Sympathy For The Record Industry.

And, finally, something a little bizarre!  Yes - tattoos!
Click to download!

Helen Love Tattoos! Ooh, nice... here's are scans of Helen Love tattoos!  They were included in the re-issue of Helen Love's 'Love And Glitter...' album. And no, I haven't used them yet.