Holly Golightly
Birth nameHolly Golightly Smith
OriginLondon, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, Guitar
LabelsDamaged Goods
Sympathy for the Record Industry
WebsiteHollyGolightly.com


Holly Golightly (born Holly Golightly Smith, 1966, London) [1] is a British singer-songwriter. Her mother christened her after the protagonist in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's [2]. Her musical style ranges from garage rock as well as Rhythm and Blues.

Personal Life

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  • Lived on a boat, twelve years. On the River Medway in Kent. I had a Dutch barge. [3]

How long did you live on a boat? Twelve years. On the River Medway in Kent. I had a Dutch barge. What’s a Dutch barge? It’s a commercial boat. It was 80 foot long and 20 foot wide—a big boat, big iron boat. The engine had been taken out when the boat was converted into a house boat so the boat had to be tugged whenever I moved. I did move around quite a bit. But I always organized it so I would be tugged up the river and dropped off wherever I needed to be dropped off. I only sold it in the last ten years. I kept it for a quite a while—rented it out— and then I couldn’t do the work that needed to be done on it. And it needed someone to love it more than I could. But I gave it up very begrudgingly.

  • Lives on a farm in Georgia

[3]


  • Record Collection

What attracted you to this kind of music? I have always collected records and I started when I was 15, collecting soul stuff and collecting R&B stuff. In those days I was a punk rocker and it was sort of unusual for me to be seeking out this stuff. And I’d buy in bulk and it was this very underground thing in London. I loathed dancing but I was into playing music. So I had a huge collection to draw from. And the essence of that record collection is church music—is gospel. I got into it from finding out about it and regressing rather than looking for new music. I immersed myself from when I first heard the first bar of a Stax single.[3]

Musical career

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While she was dating Thee Headcoats' drummer Bruce Brand she had an impromptu singing performance with Thee Headoates. Billy Childish, founder of the Headcotes, added her to the line up of The Delonas and changed the name to the to Thee Headcoatees. Thee Headcoates were primarily a garage band that backed up the Thee Headcoats [1]

[4]. In 1995 she started her solo Career but continued to be an active member of Thee Headcoatees until they disbanded in 1999

[5].

For her solo career, she draws from rhythm and blues, rockabilly, and sounds of the 1960s or earlier.[1][4]. She has released thirteen studio albums of her own and has collaborated with other artists, such as Billy Childish, Rocket from the Crypt and The White Stripes[1]. She performed two songs on the soundtrack of the movie Broken Flowers: "There Is an End (Featuring Holly Golightly)" by The Greenhornes & Holly Golightly (which can also be found on the Greenhornes' album Dual Mono), and "Tell Me Now So I Know" by Holly Golightly (found on the album Truly She Is None Other), which is a song originally written by English singer/songwriter Ray Davies of The Kinks[2]. She is also a collector of rare old songs which she often covers[2].

Current

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Most recently, Holly has teamed up to form a duo, recording and touring extensively with her long time band mate Lawyer Dave. As Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs, they have released three albums to date, You Can't Buy A Gun When You're Crying in 2007, Dirt Don't Hurt in 2008 and Medicine County in 2010.[1] You Can't Buy A Gun When You're Crying is a reference to comedian Lord Carrett's joke "I learned a lot from my second marriage... I learned they won't sell you a hand gun if you're crying..." Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs were winners of the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards for best Americana Album, "Dirt Don't Hurt".

Solo Discography

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Albums

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Singles, EPs

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  • Jiggy Jiggy with Holly Golightly EP (1994), Vinyl Japan
  • "Virtually Happy" (1995), Damaged Goods
  • Mary-Ann EP (1996), Vinyl Japan
  • "No Big Thing" (1996), Hangman's Daughter
  • "Girl in the Shower" (1996), Super Electro
  • "Pinky Please Come Back" (1996), Super Electro
  • "Come the Day" (1996), Damaged Goods
  • "Believe Me" (1997), Sympathy for the Record Industry
  • "Devil Do" EP (2009), Transdreamer Records (Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Sendra, Tim "Holly Golightly Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2010-05-04
  2. ^ a b c Aguar, Kenneth (2007) "Art: A musical match made in handgun heaven", Athens Banner-Herald, 21 October 2007, retrieved 2010-05-13
  3. ^ a b c Gauer, Shea M(2008) "Holly Golightly: that’s where the Treasure is", L.A Record, 21 October 2007, retrieved 2010-09-06
  4. ^ a b Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 770-1
  5. ^ "Holly Golightly discography", Allmusic, retrieved 2010-08-31
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Notes

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{Thee Headcoateees}