So who doesn’t love badges? I have tons. Talulah Gosh started out thanks to the love of Pastels badges. Flipper’s Guitar were also crazy about their Pastels badge. So why Emma Gibbs can’t be dreaming for a huge collection of badges, the biggest ever seen, a mount Everest of badges. Why not?
Alright. Let’s stop for a moment. Here I come, private eyes. I know a couple of Emmas, my favourite being Dalarna’s Emma (by far!). But I’ve never heard of Emma Gibbs! Who’s Emma Gibbs?!
No clue. If you do a google search, first result is Penthouse pet of the year 2009. I guess that’s not the one we are looking for. I mean, a Penthouse pet doesn’t have anywhere to attach her beloved badges, does her? On to the next result. There seems to be an Emma Gibbs Band. But their music is not something that sounds interesting to me, and I doubt it will interest you. Let’s turn the page, the internet won’t solve this mystery, not yet. Let’s give it another shot. Let’s search name, last name, and profession: “Emma Gibbs Loves Badges”.
First and only stop is the fantastic Tamworth Bands website that has lots of Emma Gibbs Loves Badges’ bobs and pieces from the local Tamworth newspaper, the Tamworth Herald.
Attention: I’ve picked up the most interesting and important pieces and put them together here. But still visit the site as there is a player where you can stream many of the songs from this lost band!
1. The band was formed in 1987 and the lineup included:
- Lee Revelle – Vocals
- Spencer Ireland – Bass Guitar
- Andrew Hyde – Guitar
- Nichola Musgrove – Guitar
- Paul Byrne – Drums
2. Some background information / how they sounded.
Tamworth Herald – 29/05/87
so unique that even their name comes from a ‘Scooper heading!’ Emma Gibbs play modern acoustic pop which owes much to the heritage of Aztec Camera and more modern bands like the Bodines, their sounds is full of curiously, unfolding melodies and very strong lyrics, and if they create the sort of impact they did at their …show, ANYTHING can and probably will happen.
3. Gigs
Among the bands they’ve played one of them is well known to indiepop fans, The Rosehips. Yup! They had a gig together in 1987 at a place called The Rathole. On the same bill were Creation protegés Blow Up as well. On 1990 they would open for a bigger act: Teenage Fanclub. But there are other names I can find on this website that catch my attention, and hopefully cover them sometime soon on the blog: Fetch Eddie, Flowers in the Attic, Catch 23 and more.
4. Releases
From what I could gather, there were 2 releases, one 7″, and one 12″. The 7″ had as an A-Side the track “Patience”, and as a B-Side it had “Assured”. It was released on Utopia Records and was catalog PANTS001. The 12″ had four songs: “Unobtainable”, “What Do You Get When You Fall In Love”, “Garry Bushnell” and “Spin” and was released on the same label but this time the catalog was 1201. I think, but can’t confirm, that there was another 7″, this one including “Second City” as an A-side and “Worship” as the B-Side. If you ever see two copies of any of these releases, keep one for yourself, the other one please send to me. I’ve been looking for them with no luck so far. But let’s continue.
There was also a demo that got reviewed on the same newspaper, the Tamworth Herald:
Emma Gibbs Loves Badges – Circles
Sensitive, almost shy offering which is highly personal and highly impressive. Taken away from the arrogant stage posturings it shows Lee Revelle at his warmest and most musically intelligent and is a perfect if somewhat unexpected accompaniment to the act of verbal love-making. ‘You’ll Enjoy It When you Get There’ is cute and classy but ‘In Circles’ is even better and is dramatically effective in the three forms it is here presented. A major surprise of major standing.
Do you know anything else? Do you have any more information about this great guitar pop band? Do you have any great story to tell? If so, you know what to do: SHARE! 
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2 Responses to “:: Emma Gibbs Loves Badges”
The name comes from the local weekly newspaper The Tamworth Herald. There was a column for kids just before the sports section if I remember correctly ‘written’ by a giant friendly bear called Scooper. Every week they would feature a child who had written in to say what their hobbies were, what school they went to etc. etc, and one week it was a girl called Emma Gibbs, and apparently she loved badges!
Catch 23, by the way, should have been absolutely massive, there is no justice in this world!
Hi. I was in Emma Gibbs around 89/90. Played guitar on Absorb Me and Big League Complex.