Bobbie Dazzle - Fandabidozi (CD)

Get ready for a massive injection of joyful, life-affirming rock ‘n’ roll. The truly sensational Bobbie Dazzle has arrived, in an explosion of glitter and guaranteed good times. Conceived and brought to life by multi-talented singer Siân Greenway, Bobbie Dazzle is hell-bent on bringing the fun, the colour and the freedom back to rock ‘n’ roll. The 21^st century glam rock party starts here.

“When it comes to performing, my personality is quite silly and upbeat, so I feel like I can show who I really am with Bobbie Dazzle,” Greenway explains. “Even though it’s under a pseudonym, it’s genuinely me, so that’s what I want to put out there. All the joy that I feel has been put into this, and now I’m able to express that in a creative way. It’s funny, I was scrolling through my Facebook the other day, and I got a notification from something that I’d posted five years and I just said, ‘I want to start a glam rock band!’ It made me chuckle because I’ve got there and now I’m doing it!”

Inspired by the seminal likes of Bowie, T. Rex, Suzi Quatro and The Sweet, Bobbie Dazzle’s debut album Fandabidozi is an invigorating rush of massive tunes, infectious riffs and bright-eyed pop-rock bombast. As an antidote to the enervating negativity that surrounds us at this moment in history, it could hardly be more perfect. For Greenway, who also sings with UK doom mavens Alunah, adopting a new musical identity has been both personally rewarding and emotionally crucial.

“I started Bobbie Dazzle when my sister passed away, because I desperately needed an outlet to keep me going,” she says. “And it worked! This has shown me that you don’t have to sit in a dark place when you’re going through a dark time. I wrote a bunch of songs at home, made some demos and them got some people together to play. The musicians are incredibly talented people from around the Black Country and Birmingham. We did our first show about eight months ago, and yeah, here we are now!”

A celebratory ten-song time warp that plunders the ‘70s and drags them kicking and screaming into the here and now, Fandabidozi is absolutely guaranteed to put smiles on faces. From the hard rockin’ riot of the opening Lightning Fantasy, to the pop-psych perfection of the closing Flowers On Mars, the first Bobbie Dazzle album works hard to lighten up our lives. Brash and heavy on the classic glam shuffle of Revolution, and deliriously anthemic on the fiery debut single: Back To The City, it covers a huge amount of musical ground while staying true to the principles of ‘70s glam rock: big riffs, bigger hooks and a prevailing sense that listeners have been hurled into a spinning kaleidoscope of pure euphoria. Although far too young to have experienced glam’s first wave, Bobbie Dazzle’s music is steeped in the tricks and tropes of that exalted era.

“My parents were glam rock and punk people in the ‘70s, so their influence on me was pretty big,” she notes. “My dad was more into American stuff, like New York Dolls and Iggy Pop, and my mum was more into Bowie and T. Rex, so I got both sides of it. Growing up, I discovered more for myself, and my favourite band is probably The Sweet. They’ve been a huge influence on this. I also like Chicory Tip and Slade and these British staples of glam rock. They’re joyous and fun and not to be taken too seriously, but they’re also very interesting musically. You can be ridiculous and still have really good riffs and proggy hooks, you know?”

At its core, Fandabidozi is an album designed to lift spirits. For the enigmatic Miss Dazzle herself, her first album comes from a deeply personal place and a strong desire to fulfil creative ambitions that first sprang to life when she was a child. As she explains, Fandabidozi is also a personal tribute to her late father, whose taste in music was so influential on her own evolution.

Side One:

Lightning Fantasy

Merry-Go-Round

Revolution

Magic of Music

Side Two:

Back to the City

It’s Electric

Antique Time Machine

Lady on Fire

April Showers

Flowers on Mars