Soho
Identical twin sisters Jackie (Jacquie Juanita Cuff) and Pauline (Pauline Osberga Cuff) were both born on 25 November 1962 in Wolverhampton, England. Together with guitarist Tim London (b. Timothy Brinkhurst, 20 November 1960) they comprised the briefly successful dance band Soho. They started singing in the early '80s as student nurses in St Albans. After meeting London they became Tim London's Orgasm, and Tim London and the Soho sisters before settling on Soho. London had left school in 1977 and played in several small punk bands. Another early member was Nigel Dukey D who left in 1989. They signed to Virgin for early singles You Won't Hold Me Down (1988), and Message From My Baby (1989). However, these and their first LP proved flops. Despite garnering lots of press, their brand of dance was a little less frenetic than the burgeoning Acid House scene and they were dropped from the label in 1989. They spent the next year singing covers in an Italian disco, before signing a new deal with Savage Tam Records. Their breakthrough came with their second single for the label, Hippychick, which sampled Johnny Marr's guitar effervescence from the Smiths How Soon Is Now. Lyrically, it challenged the prevailing new age ethos of blissful hegemony (‘Got no flowers for your gun’). However, Soho proved unable to capitalise on the Transatlantic success of the single. Tim and Jacqueline had a daughter in 1993, Charlie, and they were finally encouraged back into the studio for a new album to celebrate his arrival. The band re-emerged, as Oosh, in 1994, with a single and album entitled The View.