Originally performing as a duo, David ‘Taffy’ Hughes from 80’s indie darlings Hurrah! and vocalist Sylvia, form the basis of The Girl With The Replaceable Head.
Hurrah! were one of the first acts signed to Kitchenware Records, who issued the band’s debut single, “The Sun Shines Here“, in 1982.
Second single “Hip Hip” was released the following year, and gave the band an indie chart hit, reaching No. 21.
The third single, “Who’d Have Thought,” was another indie hit in 1984, reaching No. 7 on the UK chart.
After one more single, “Gloria” the band’s early recordings were compiled on the Boxed album in 1985.
Hurrah! signed to Arista Records, and the Tell God I’m Here album was re-released by the record company.
In 1986, Hurrah! released their first major-label album and the single, “Sweet Sanity,” in the UK and the US.
Hurrah’s major label debut album, Tell God I’m Here, reached No. 71 in the UK Albums Chart in 1987.
Towards the end of 1987, a live album, Way Ahead, was released on the Esurient label.
In 1989, the band released their second major-label album, The Beautiful.
Arista released Hurrah! from their record contract in 1989 and the band split up in 1991.
After Hurrah!, David ‘Taffy’ Hughes formed Star Witness, later called Candy Coloured Clowns, and released a cassette of rough demos called “Welcome to Razor Town” (1996).
Now the other-worldly sound of The Girl With the Replaceable Head is complemented perfectly by Australian drummer of The Go-Betweens, Lindy Morrison and Mick Porter on bass .
Morrison started playing the drums around 1972 and she became the drummer for female-led punk band Zero in 1978 and then joined Robert Forster and Grant McLennan to became the third member of the Go-Betweens in 1980.
She recorded and toured with the band until their first breakup in 1989, drumming on all of their first six albums and singing on the first three, while also working on a number of side projects, including Tuff Monks (with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey), and with Nikki Sudden.
After the Go-Betweens, Morrison continued to work as a drummer but also started to take positions within the music industry, including as an artist representative on the board of the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia, a role she held for nearly three decades.
Her careers in music and social work converged in 1998 when she joined Support Act, a benevolent association for Australian musicians, as their National Welfare Coordinator.
Morrison has also worked as a lecturer at Sydney Institute of TAFE, and has been involved with various community music projects, including as musical director for the Junction House Band (for musicians with a mild intellectual disability) and with Bondi Wave (for high school children).
In 2022 Morrison recorded and toured with British band The Girl With The Replaceable Head.
Later in the year, and into 2023, she toured with Rob Snarski, lead singer of the Blackeyed Susans and formerly Chad’s Tree, to promote his fifth solo album.
In May 2023, Morrison and Snarski released a mini album called Somebody said that Somebody said under the band name of SnarskiCircusLindyBand with Shane O’Mara, Graham Lee and Dan Kelly.
In 2009, The Girl With The Replaceable Head released the album Death In Gateshead and was followed by Cul-De-Sac that came out as a limited cassette release in 2013.
Love’s Lost Lovers Lost was released on 2021 and now the band have just released their new CD Sometimes she lives in the dark which still shows off the tension and space of original The Girl With The Replaceable Head but with an added solid rhythm section.
With hints of gothic mystery, 60’s jangling guitars and haunting vocals in the mode of Mary Weiss this album is a must for anyone who thinks they know anything about music… you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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bandcamp: https://thegirlwiththereplaceablehead.bandcamp.com/