Artist Biography
Blending indie subversiveness and nagging pop hooks with plenty of shouty attitude, Shampoo was a dazzling flash in the pan with a remarkably long-lasting impact. South London teens Carrie Askew and Jacqui Blake loved Sex Pistols and Manic Street Preachers as much as boy bands like East 17, cutting and pasting punk, pop, rap, glam-rock, and dance-pop together with zine-like flair. Whether on their lo-fi 1993 debut "Blisters & Bruises" or with the slick anarchy of 1994's signature hit "Trouble" -- which also appeared on their debut album We Are Shampoo -- they made boredom and rebellion sound like a blast. Shampoo's influence on pop music was felt as soon as 1996, when the title of their album Girl Power became a catchphrase that Spice Girls took to stratospheric heights; with the online-only release of 2000's Absolute Shampoo, they remained trailblazers. Acts like the Ting Tings, Charli XCX, and Hannah Diamond carried on their brand of irreverent, proudly artificial pop, a legacy that was finally given its due with 2024's Complete Shampoo.
Shampoo grew out of the friendship of teenagers Carrie Askew and Jacqui Blake, both of whom lived in the Plumstead area of southeast London. At first, Blake was the friend of Askew's older sister, but the pair soon bonded over their shared love of bands like Manic Street Preachers. In 1991, they created the Manics fanzine Last Exit; the following year, they appeared in the video for the band's single "Little Baby Nothing." Blake and Askew's eye-catching fashion sense -- a mix of artfully ripped punk gear and girlish pastels -- made them look like a band even before they started writing songs together in their bedrooms. Dubbing themselves Shampoo, Askew and Blake fused the hedonism of Beastie Boys' early days, Sex Pistols' needling irreverence, and East 17's hooks with their own attitude. Working with Felt and Denim's Lawrence as producer, Shampoo recorded their first handful of songs, which were released by Icerink, the label of Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. The duo's 1993 debut single "Blisters & Bruises" won praise for its raw, punky appeal and was named Melody Maker's Single of the Week. Later that year "Bouffant Headbutt" earned similar acclaim, leading to a deal with the EMI imprint Food.
Though Shampoo's early singles didn't chart, the same couldn't be said of their next release. Appearing in July 1994, "Trouble" delivered a slicker, hookier version of the duo's cheeky style that landed at number 11 on the U.K. Singles Chart (and also charted in Australia, Ireland, Japan, and the Netherlands) and led to an appearance on Top of the Pops. That October saw the release of their full-length debut We Are Shampoo. Produced by Conall Fitzpatrick, the album continued the radio-friendly approach of "Trouble," blending Brit-pop, dance-pop, glam-rock, and punk with more of the duo's manifestos and misadventures. The album reached number 45 in the U.K., with the singles "Viva La Megababes" and "Delicious" performing solidly. In Japan, however, We Are Shampoo was a Top Ten hit, and Askew and Blake were mobbed by fans when they toured the country. Along with the Japan-only B-sides and rarities collection Delicious, a book, and a video collection, Shampoo initially released their second album in Japan in 1995 as Shampoo or Nothing; it peaked at ten on the Oricon Albums Chart. Meanwhile, "Trouble"'s inclusion on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers soundtrack returned it to the U.K. Singles Chart, and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine covered it for the B-side of their single "Young Offenders Mum."
In July 1996, Shampoo issued the single "Girl Power," which peaked at 25 in the U.K. Just a week later, Spice Girls -- who adopted the slogan "Girl Power" as their own and turned it into a global phenomenon -- made their debut on the U.K. Singles Chart with "Wannabe." By the time Blake and Askew's second full-length was released in the U.K. as Girl Power that September, Shampoo's popularity was waning. The album failed to chart, while their cover of the Waitresses' "I Know What Boys Like" topped out at 42 in the U.K., becoming their last single released there. Also in 1996, the duo issued its final Japanese single "Yea Yea Yea (Tell Me Baby), which peaked at 95. That year, the Girl Power track "Don't Call Me Babe" appeared on the Barb Wire soundtrack, and over the next few years Shampoo's songs showed up in films including Foxfire, Casper: A Spirited Beginning, and Jawbreaker. In 1998, the best-of collection The Greatest arrived in Japan. Shampoo parted ways with EMI after Girl Power's low sales, but Askew and Blake continued to write and record, this time collaborating with old friends Stanley and Wiggs. They released their third album, 2000's more refined Absolute Shampoo, on their website, making them among the first artists to sell their music online.
Though they also provided voices for the 2000 Sony PlayStation puzzle game Spin Jam, Blake and Askew gradually put Shampoo aside to settle down and raise families. They remained close, however, and their music remained a pop culture staple. We Are Shampoo was reissued in the U.K. in 2007, the same year "Trouble" appeared in the film St. Trinians. In the 2010s, Charli XCX sung the duo's praises, and Shampoo's influence could be felt in her music and "I Love It," her 2012 smash collaboration with Icona Pop. The proud artificiality of Shampoo's sound also informed the work of hyperpop artists such as Hannah Diamond and GIRLI. In 2021, Miley Cyrus covered "Delicious" for a Gucci fragrance commercial, and BBC Strictly Come Dancing interpreted "Trouble" on a 2023 episode. The fond memories of Shampoo reached a peak in 2024 with the June release of Complete Shampoo. Issued by Cherry Red, the set collected all of the duo's recorded output and videos. ~ Heather Phares
Hometown
Plumstead, England
Genre
Pop