Children of Sunshine

 Children of Sunshine - Dandelions 1971  c.f. 

Talulah Gosh - Beatnik Boy 1986

When Talulah Gosh came out in 1986, they were divisive, even amongst indie fans.  Too twee for some, they took the worldview of bands like the TV Personalities or the Marine Girls to a logical conclusion.  The story goes that Liz Price (aka Pebbles) and Amelia Fletcher (aka Marigold) met at an indie club in Oxford, establishing a friendship founded on them both wearing Pastels badges.  They immediately decided to start a group, meaning Price had to quickly learn rudimentary guitar.  Soon the pair were sharing songwriting and singing duties, fronting the freshly assembled band.

Beatnik Boy was on one of the two 7-inch debut singles that the band released simultaneously.  It’s a fabulous, joyous rush of a song, written and sung by Liz, with Amelia providing harmonies.  Talulah Gosh invited you to step out, leave cynicism behind and join their club.

It is unsurprising that childhood was a theme in mid 1980s indie pop.  Thatcherism had backlashed against the progressive education of the 60s and 70s that had nurtured freedom of expression, creativity and outdoor learning.  Meanwhile, the spectre of AIDS, industrial unrest and unemployment made the reality of the adult world unappealing.  Much of mainstream culture reacted with fantasies of sexualised stereotypes and conspicuous consumerism.  As an alternative, Talulah Gosh offered a cool charity shop androgyny, with a worldview that celebrated   a sense of retained innocence expressed with a punkish DIY simplicity.  Similar to the theme of Ray Bradley's novel Dandelion Wine, they were trying perhaps  to preserve the essence of a childhood summer.

15 years earlier, inseparable school friends, Thérèse Williams and Kitsy Christner (AKA Tres and Kitsy / Children of Sunshine) didn’t have to look back to childhood.  They recorded their privately pressed album, Dandelions when they were just 10 years old.  They had benefited from growing up in a liberal environment, with music at home and progressive schooling at the College School in St Louis, Missouri.  There they learnt guitar, wrote songs and sang together, encouraged by their young work placement teacher Jim Curran.  A local church was hired for the recording of their self-funded record, and they were backed by two members of the just established St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.  Wendy Katz contributed a warm bass sound and Mike Keifer added great drumming that made use of the acoustics of the space.  Whilst the music recorded has the spontaneity of young kids wanting to create, it isn’t a cute curio, there is real talent in the writing, structure and harmonies.

What an absolutely remarkable, unique and culturally significant document this is, perfectly preserving a child’s view of liberal life at the beginning of the 70s.  The good vibrations of bohemian attitudes reverberated far and wide, giving many of us an alternative outlook growing up.  The Children of Sunshine lived it and expressed it beautifully.  

Dropping the needle onto the grooves of 'Dandelions' allows entry into their world - family friends, relatives, Kitsy’s dog, in jokes, their teachers.  Beyond this idyll, it also pierces the seeming perfection with short songs that tackle childhood realities such as loneliness in a manner comparable to Brian Wilson's' In My Room'.  They referenced their anxieties about the futility of the war in Vietnam, whilst their song,  'They Call it Love', about parental divorce, is heartbreakingly direct.

The duo considered 'Dandelions' to be their best song, and it perhaps encapsulates what makes this recording so special.  The symbolism of a field of dandelions is potent and something the girls intuitively understood, representing resilient wild nature uncontrolled by adults.  It was where Tres and Kitsy went, took photos and developed them themselves.  As children we see them as flowers that bring the promise of summer and sunshine, whilst the blowing of dandelion clocks into the breeze is a compelling pleasure.  

It comes  as a disappointment to discover that many grown-ups don’t appreciate dandelions,  (important early pollinators).  Instead they pour poison on the earth to remove them from manicured suburban lawns.  A parallel could be drawn with the record, as according to Williams,  “By sixth grade, Kitsy's brothers were all into rock music, no sooner was the album released than we were ashamed it wasn't hard rock.  We had a psychological block to it for many years." 

 Of course, time often proves the wiser, and through messages with Thérèse we discussed our shared interests in ecology and permaculture (She has worked and promoted permaculture for many years).  She told me, “Yes we loved dandelions, I still do. I plant edible salad greens around them for the minerals that their deep taproot brings up and makes available for the greens.”   The perfect analogy for the benefits of a creative and supportive childhood that we should hold onto throughout our lives.

Thérèse, a force of nature, has returned to singing and writing and is currently fronting the Sticky Funk Band in Santa Fe. 

KItsy has a successful career in Real Estate in St. Louis, New Mexico. 

About 10 years ago there was a flurry of interest in this record, Ben Ayres of Cornershop, Stephen Malkmus and Everett True all championed the album, and copies sell for about a grand on discogs.   Hopefully one day it will get the official rerelease it so deserves.