Listen to Paul Morley’s Radio 2 Documentary on Twee Pop. It’s great to hear the music and reminisces from those involved, though I’m not a fan of Mr Morley’s ersatz post-modern presenting style; it’s as if he’s saying ‘all music documentaries are essentially compromised and contrived, so let’s meander back and forth in a messy fashion for the sake of it’. I far prefer him as a wry guest or talking head on other people’s programmes.
At one point he even admits he’s asked Amelia Fletcher to sit there and listen while he spouts his pontifications on The Meaning Of Twee. It’s like the people at Q&A events who always put their hand up to say ‘Don’t you think that…’ before going on for ten minutes, essentially pleased with the opportunity to air their own mini-thesis, with no thought for others present. Save us from the questioner who doesn’t want to hear an answer.
Besides, these days such a need is more easily sated. If you have a burning desire to express an unsolicited theory on a subject, you don’t impose it on a captive audience in an interview or Q&A session. You write it down in a blog. Then your theory will be more likely to attract all the people in the world who might give a fig about it. Or not. I always find it funny when some blog comments complain about an entry being a waste of space.
Interesting how Edwyn Collins’s post-stroke singing voice is still more in tune and less wavering than his early Orange Juice singing voice, which was once described by a friend as ‘Bryan Ferry being tickled.’
As an example of more recent alleged tweeness (surely it’s more an aesthetic than a genre?), Mr Morley includes ‘Hey Lloyd I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken’ by Camera Obscura.
He makes some comments about the implied anti-girlishness prejudice of male music critics: tweeness as a pejorative, Sarah Records equalling femininity, thus weakness, and thus blanket condemnation. But what he doesn’t remark upon is how that Camera Obscura song has since been used in the opening credits of unabashed chick-flick PS I Love You, starring Hilary Swank. It was a massive hit with female audiences, and topped the DVD charts despite the critics – particularly male critics – absolutely trashing it in their reviews. One of the words in their cruel weaponry: twee.
The documentary’s online here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/musicclub/doc_musicalgenres.shtml
I could say a fair amount about my own Twee Pop Past, I suppose. What comes to mind right now is a rather clever t-shirt from that scene, parodying a popular and fashionable design for the band Inspiral Carpets. The Inspirals’ t-shirt, as worn by a million youths circa 1989, featured a cartoon cow’s face, with the slogan ‘Cool As F—‘. An attendant speech bubble also had the cow saying ‘Moo!’ It was the must-have garment of its day.
This spoof t-shirt sported an archetypal Twee Pop girl in a flowery dress and child-like bob haircut (possibly with a hairslide), smiling cutely and holding a guitar. The caption was ‘Twee As F—‘. Her speech bubble: ‘Ooh!
In her own blog, Rachel S has written about music from her Twee Pop past, complete with cute photos. DM boots, shades, floral dress. It’s a look I could never quite carry off myself:
http://millionreasons.livejournal.com/214412.html?style=mine
