174 THE HEART THROBS, The Boo Radleys, The Popinjays (well, sort of...), London University Of London Union, Friday 26 October 1990

After an easy drive down the M4 then a hectic journey from Chiswick, we arrived to see the Popinjays playing a set outside the venue, in protest at a promoter's booking mix-up! Hmmm. Real support band The Boo Radleys, a band I'd later come to love, tonight didn't impress me at all. The vocalist Sice resembled "Police Academy" character Z, and the band sounded poor, leaden and one-dimensional, so I spent much of their set in the bar.

The Heart Throbs came on at 10 to 10, opening with "Dreamtime" and playing a dreamy set of thoughtful pop tunes, mixing in some harder rocking stuff as well. Lacking the obvious pop fizz of the likes of The Primitives, or the class of The Parachute Men (but hey, everyone lacks that), they're carving their own niche and proving themselves purveyors of good old angst-ridden female fronted pop with an entertaining set, my highlight being the excellent "Slip And Slide".

(Well, I was damning them with faint praise for this one, but of course the Heart Throbs got a whole lot better.. and so did the Boo Radleys!)

217 THE HEART THROBS, Death By Crimpers, Oxford Jericho Tavern, Sunday 9 August 1992

Confronted almost immediately on arrival by the support band, Death By Crimpers, a local band of screaming rawk chicks with one good song - "Circles" - and bad but almost funny Joan Jett/ Suzi Quatro impressions; leopardskin pants, no less! Ewww!

From the ridiculous to the sublime, and a welcome sight in the Heart Throbs line-up; former Parachute Men bassist Colleen Browne, replacing former bassist Rachel Carlotti. Perhaps some of the Parachute Men's magic has rubbed off on the Heart Throbs in the process, because they were nothing short of utterly stunning tonight! Melodic, driving, creepy, sassy, sexy and intelligent, picking a set drawn from old stuff and the forthcoming "Jubilee Twist" LP (which seems an essential purchase, given some of the quality on display tonight, particularly the breathy and breathless "Girl Became Stairs"). Tiny singer Rose Carlotti led her band through an utterly wonderful set.

Popped backstage afterwards for a nice chat with the band, particularly Steve, Rose and Coleen (who I'm glad to say remembered me from those Paras days), and complimented them on their immense achievement; make no mistake, tonight The Heart Throbs were promoted to the select ranks of the very special live bands!

239 THE HEART THROBS, Earth Babies, Windsor Old Trout, Thursday 15 April 1993

The last of 3 gigs in 3 days; a punishing schedule but worth it! Clive and I got to the Old Trout halfway through the Earth Babies equally punishing (on the ears, that is) poor, ham-fisted set, subsequently ignoring them and getting a beer in!

The Heart Throbs, now sadly minus Pale Saints-bound bassist Colleen Browne, my favourite Canadian (hey, everybody's got one...), and sporting in her place an Ian McCulloch lookalike young chappie, positively roared through their set! A lot harder-edged than before, The Heart throbs' new numbers still shimmered with their usual melodic brilliance, and the old favourites, especially the titanic "I Wonder Why" and "In Vain", oozed with slinky sex and style. A couple of more punk rock new numbers climaxed the set wonderfully, Rose Carlotti's fragile vocalist still ringing their way through the admittedly poor sound. They're getting angrier with age, and it's great to hear it. Equally great to see her - and them - back!

257 THE HEART THROBS, Sleeper, London Highbury Garage, Wednesday 8 December 1993

Both Beef and myself, being on the Heart Throbs' "Spongey Information" mail list, received some sad news through the post - the Heart Throbs were splitting up, and were due to play one final farewell gig in London. Like a letter requesting help from a long-lost but not forgotten old flame, we were compelled to act upon it!

So we drove up, getting to the venue at 8.15 and going over the road to the pub. No hurry as first band, the intriguing Julie Dolphin, had pulled out. Bummer! We unexpectedly ran into Heart Throbs vocalist Rose Carlotti and the boys in the pub; "first the Parachute Men split up, now you guys; I'll never give my heart again!" I pleaded (half jokingly) to Rose, before she explained that the intention was to "re-invent" the band, under a new guise and possibly new name.

Back in the venue at 9.30 for Sleeper, a young female fronted spunky outfit, who played some vibrant pop not unlike a punk rock Go-gos, Not too bad at all, and one for the future, mayhap... Ran into Steve Lamacq, former NME journalist (whence I referred to him as, "Steve Lamacq, my favourite hack") and current Radio 1 DJ; he noticed my Parachute Men t-shirt, shook my hand and said, "any friend of the Parachute Men is a friend of mine!" which was nice, and we had a brief chat.

The Heart Throbs were on at 10.30; determined to give themselves a good send-off, they played a storming, electrifying set, wonderfully chosen to maximise the momentum and temperature, with Rose a blisteringly hot performer. If this is to be the end, let it be known that they bowed out with anger, vitriol, passion and a blistering performance, with "Love Is Stretching" rocking, "Hooligan" haunting and "Brood Bitch" angry and jagged. 2 encores, including an emotive new number (!) "Nympholeptic", which may denote a more dynamic, almost punkier direction for the new band, and a final, orgiastic "Here I Hide". Popped backstage briefly afterwards, totally breathless. Hopefully, they'll be back!