It’s the 1960s and Britain is about to experience its golden generation of music bands, with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones reaching legendary status and becoming some of the greatest groups to ever do it.
Scottish sisters Sheila and Jeanette McKinley, who performed as The McKinleys toured with both the Beatles and the Stones and were the first girl band to perform at Wembley Stadium. So why are they never spoken about? Why has no one today ever heard of them? These are the questions that musician Carla Easton and filmmaker Blair Young try to uncover in their new documentary.
Starting with how The McKinleys disappeared off the map, they discover the sisters from Edinburgh were the start of a collection of incredible Scottish girl bands. ‘Since Yesterday’ tells their remarkable story.
Despite some sensational band names, we learn how the industry threw away inspiring groups like The Ettes, Sophisticated Boom Boom, Strawberry Switchblade, Sunset Gun, The Twinsets and Lung Leg.
Edited together with interviews from band members and archive footage of their performances, we learn how the girl bands went from high points like releasing hit albums and touring across the globe to the lows of getting dropped by labels not long after.
It was never just the numbers that saw these bands slowly fade into obscurity but also because the heavily male dominated industry was never sure what to do with them. One group was shut down amid talks of receiving a major investment while at the peak of their powers because of… wait for it… worries that a member would get pregnant. Some of the revelations will leave you just as speechless at the band members themselves.
While the companies looked to sales, the musicians kept their focus on the love and passion that music can give, while inspiring young girls to pick up a microphone and some instruments and have a bit of fun . As well as having fun and producing some terrific catchy songs, the documentary gives members of these girl bands give women a voice in this often forgotten aspect of musical history.
This enjoyable and informative documentary will have you loading up the discography of these bands to enjoy and appreciate the music they brought to Scotland and beyond.
