Holly Golightly

Holly Golightly is a British singer-songwriter from London, born in 1966. She begins her musical career as a founding member of the all-female garage band Thee Headcoatees, a splinter group connected to Billy Childish and Thee Headcoats, in 1991. Before turning to solo work, she spends several years in the group.

Solo work and style

Golightly makes her solo debut with The Good Things in 1995. Her solo material moves away from the more three-chord garage-rock sound of Thee Headcoatees and instead draws on pre-rock electric blues, folk, soul and less frantic forms of rock and roll. She writes some of her own songs and also records versions of songs associated with artists such as Willie Dixon, Ike Turner, Lee Hazlewood, Wreckless Eric and Bill Withers.

Recordings and collaborations

From her debut album onward, she releases a large body of work, including fifteen albums and many singles on a wide range of labels. In 1999, Surefire issues In Blood, a duet album with Billy Childish. In 2001, she releases Desperate Little Town on Sympathy for the Record Industry, a collaboration with Dan Melchior that takes a more relaxed, mostly acoustic direction. That same year, she compiles her first thirteen singles and EPs on the double album Singles Round-Up.

She also works with several other acts. After touring and supporting The White Stripes in the United States and at London shows, she records the duet “It’s True That We Love One Another” with Jack and Meg White for the album Elephant. She records in the United States with The Greenhornes, with whom she issues the Christmas single “Little Stars” on Damaged Goods. She also appears on the Greenhornes album Dual Mono and sings lead on “There’s an End”, which is used as the title track for the film Broken Flowers. Her guest appearances include work with Mudhoney and on several Rocket From the Crypt releases.

Later release

Her album Slowly But Surely appears on Damaged Goods and is recorded at Toe Rag Studios in London with Liam Watson. A 7-inch single, “Walk a Mile”, is taken from the album and includes the exclusive B-side “Don’t Fuck Around With Love”, featuring Sexton Ming.