Deborah Ann Googe (born 24 October 1962)[1][2][3] is an English musician, best known as bassist for the band My Bloody Valentine. She has also worked with Snowpony, Primal Scream and Thurston Moore.

Debbie Googe
Googe performing in 2015 with Thurston Moore
Background information
Birth nameDeborah Ann Googe
Born (1962-10-24) 24 October 1962 (age 62)
Yeovil, Somerset, England
GenresAlternative rock, shoegazing
OccupationBassist
Years active1985–present
LabelsFever Records, Kaleidoscope Sound, Lazy Records, Creation, Island, MBV.
Member ofMy Bloody Valentine Thurston Moore Group, Brix Smith, da Googie
Formerly ofPrimal Scream, Snowpony

My Bloody Valentine

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Googe was born in Yeovil, Somerset, England. Prior to joining My Bloody Valentine, she played for a band called Bikini Mutants in her hometown of Yeovil, who gigged with The Mob.[4] Googe had moved from Yeovil to London, and in early 1985, an ex-girlfriend of hers recommended her as a bass player to Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig of My Bloody Valentine. She joined the band after an audition in April 1985. She left the group in 1996, noting she "hadn't been happy for a long time".[4]

Googe is known for her raucous style of bass playing in MBV's live performances.

Googe joined My Bloody Valentine's 2007 reunion, and their subsequent tours.

Work outside My Bloody Valentine

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After leaving MBV in 1995, Googe briefly became a taxi driver. She formed Snowpony in 1996 with her then-girlfriend, Katharine Gifford, formerly of Stereolab.[4] They released three albums and four EPs between 1997 and 2003.

She occasionally plays keyboards with the massed fuzz organ experimentalists band Pimmel and also plays drums and sings backing vocals for Rockhard.

In 2012, it was announced that Googe would be the new bassist for Primal Scream, replacing Mani after his departure to rejoin The Stone Roses.[5] She was subsequently succeeded by Simone Butler.

On 4 August 2014, Googe joined Thurston Moore for his solo project The Best Day, and continued this collaboration with his subsequent albums Rock n Roll Consciousness in 2017 and By The Fire 2020, alongside Steve Shelley, and the UK musicians James Sedwards.[6] and Jem Doulton.

She also contributed bass for two tracks on the 2018 Tim Burgess album As I Was Now and collaborated with the American poet Ann Waldman for the 2020 album Sciamachy, along with William Parker and Laurie Anderson.

In 2022, Brix Smith announced that Googe would be part of her new, all women, live band.

In November 2023, Googe announced a new solo project under the name da Googie. She released a split 12" record with the duo Too Many Things on one side and three da Googie tracks: Slither/ Pipe Dreams/ November New, on the other side.

References

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  1. ^ Cavanagh, David. "3AM Eternal" Select 1992
  2. ^ Maconie, Stuart. "The Artery of Noise!" NME 21 April 1990
  3. ^ "Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006". Search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Googe, Debbie (August 2001). "My Bloody Valentine" (Interview). Interviewed by Creation Records. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  5. ^ "NME News Primal Scream name My Bloody Valentine's Debbie Googe as new bassist - NME.COM". NME.COM. 27 April 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  6. ^ Reed, Kayla (5 August 2014). "Thurston Moore forms new band with members of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine". The A.V. Club.