Back in 1987, PO! was a great name for a band: This was the exact moment when we decided to call the band PO! - outside a white-tiled cinema in Leicester ................... and look at my Walkman on the ground! PO! was short, so that you could print it in font size 300 to be easily seen on a poster. It was trendy to have an exclamation mark back then. I chose the word PO! because it meant lots of different things in different languages; it was a common word around the world but a bit intriguing for the English. In 1987, there were no other bands called anything like PO! as far as I know. This photo session was done while we were talking about possible names. The original band members were me - Ruth Miller, bass player Julian Glover and Drummer Marc Fuccio. If only we had thought a bit harder about possible future inventions that might impact on us.... In 2019, PO! is about the worst possible name for a band. Internet protocol means that an unknown ban
When I started PO! I had some thoughts that could have been principles but I never stuck to them. 1. It's important that females play instruments in bands and girls shouldn't just be the singer. 2. Girl guitarists are particularly cool when they can play interestingly well. 3. Don't form a band with someone you're in a relationship with. 4. Don't have a relationship with anyone in the band. 5. Don't get in a more competent male player to cover up any female lack of ability. These ideas came from punk, from bands like The Raincoats and The Au Pairs which I liked when I was younger. It has proven hard to stick with them and I'm not even sure that they're right. The original version of PO! (Ruth, Julian Marc) and the second version of PO! (Ruth, Jan, Mary) hit my targets, only to be disrupted by the much more tuneful, jangly and downright competent sound when Terri Lowe joined the band, countering principles 4 and 5. From Ducks and Dr