Teenage Daydream
We are the Girls Who Play in a Band: A Times Book of the Year 2025
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Teenage Daydream
Narrated by:
Debsey Wykes
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Debsey Wykes
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By:
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Debsey Wykes
About this listen
The Shindig Book of the Year
“The godmothers of indie-pop” Mojo
“A tale of pop life well lived” Shindig
“Winningly captures the devil-may-care optimism of adolescence” Guardian
An evocative coming of age story from one of the UK’s first ever female post-punk musicians.
Debsey Wykes was the bass playing singer in the first all girl punk group Dolly Mixture. Thrown into the musky, misogynistic, male dominated world of the UK music industry in the late 1970s, they enjoyed unlikely #1 success alongside Captain Sensible of The Damned on1982’s even unlikelier cover version of ‘Happy Talk’, whilst fame and success on their own individual terms alluded them.
Debsey went onto greater prominence with Saint Etienne with who she has performed since 1992, whilst in 2025, desirable Dolly Mixture reissues sell out around the world as quickly as they are printed.
Featuring a cast of contemporary post-punk heroes – rom Paul Weller and the Jam (their first record label boss) to Madness and the Pogues – Teenage Daydream is a unique coming of age story of youthful ambition, enterprising DIY musical ethics and how an unlikely bunch of school-girl friends ended up on Top of the Pops in home made hula skirts.
Listeners also enjoyed...
I loved seeing DM live in the 80s and projected my perfect girlfriend day-dream on all three them. They were a best kept secret for many of us… I am so glad they had some great times and entertaining scrapes along the way.
My pink badge and bootleg tape from a poorly attended Sheffield poly gig are treasure.
What a great time you had!
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The British music scene at the time didn't really get Dolly Mixture. They didn't seem to fit into any of the boxes that were marketable. Not raw enough to be punk, too quirky to be Mod, too white to be Two-Tone, not glamorous enough for a girl group, and too much fun to be Indy. One surprise is how much crossover there was behind the scenes, but Dolly Mixture never quite clicked.
The music industry is shown to be both amateurish and ruthless in how it dealt with them. They seemed to always be everyones favourite support band.
I rather missed out on Dolly Mixture at the time, being a few years younger than the trio, so never got to see them live. I do remember them bizzarely wearing bunny costumes with Captain Sensible on Top of The Pops. What strange times they were, and I am glad their music is once again accessible.
Its a great book and I really enjoyed the listen.
Dream come true?
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