Debsey Wykes

Seeing an all-female band nowadays is hardly a rare occurrence. Dolly Mixture, one of the seminal girl groups founded by singer and bassist Debsey Wykes, are partly to thank. Teenage Daydream tells a story of pop fandom, aspiration, misogyny, highs and lows that is still shockingly relevant today.

Debsey Wykes is a singer, bassist and founding member of trailblazing all-girl post punk band, Dolly Mixture, alongside her school friends, Rachel Bor and Hester Smith. Teenage Daydream is the story of how this close-knit trio of skint girls took their bedroom dreams and fuelled by punk’s DIY energy, imagination and a deep longing, created a world with real magic.

Debsey Wykes traces her diverse, sometimes feverish, passions – for Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, The Bay City Rollers, Stevie Nicks, the Shangri-las, Patti Smith, Blondie, The Ramones – as she moves from posters on her bedroom wall to the real world live gig scene and then being part of the line-up, with her best mates.
Dolly Mixture supported some of the biggest alternative groups of the time, including The Fall, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Jam and The Undertones — as well as having U2 support the girls whilst they were still in their teens.

For a brief moment – signing with Paul Weller’s record label and following the success of ‘Happy Talk’, their Number One collaboration with Captain Sensible – success seemed theirs for the taking.
Teenage Daydream is a bittersweet coming of age story of youthful enterprise and a determination to create your own rules and identity – as musicians and as young women. Dolly Mixture remains an influential force within the post-punk genre, signalling the way for the indiepop to come and their contributions to the music industry continue to be celebrated by fans worldwide.

Debsey’s early diaries and reflections, alongside the fan letters, memorabilia and photos that accompany them, are a beautiful reminder of how confusion about yourself or life can be dealt with by dressing up and writing a tune.

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.

Since the group dissolved in late 1984, Wykes has continued to create music and in the late '90s became a regular collaborator with Saint Etienne.