BIS (and the Powerpuff Girls)

Bis will be performing at the end of the event, as the band who created the iconic end song for The Powerpuff Girls TV show, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary. Also in attendance will be show creator Craig McCracken and the original voices of the Powerpuff girls themselves, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. 

“They sent us VHS videos of what the cartoon was going to look like and what we needed to work the song around,” Amanda says. “I remember watching them in our old manager’s office and coming up with the lyrics. Some of it is bonkers. I listen to the lyrics on the Cartoon Network Compilation that we did just before that, and some of the lyrics are like, ‘You’ve got the brainpower of a sunflower’!

“When I listen to that song, I find it hard to believe it’s me singing. Sadly, our version isn’t available on the internet. People doing covers of it are getting half a million views, so they get something for it and we get bugger all!

“Because it happened so long ago, it rose to being really big. You’d be on an aeroplane and see kids watching it, and you’d think, ‘do they know it’s me singing that song?’. Then it just kind of dipped. All of a sudden, now you can get Powerpuff Girls things on Shien and Temu and all the shops. My daughter loves it and watches all the episodes, and she’s only eight!

“I remember my daughter’s school were doing this really cool thing all about cartoon theme tunes and they were singing along to all these common ones, then they included The Powerpuff Girls! I didn’t know the headteacher knew but it must have been talked about behind the scenes.”

Very soon, BIS will celebrate thirty years since the release of their first album, The Transistor Heroes. They are heading out on a headline tour with six gigs in total before next year, they start writing a brand new album, their first in five years. 

Back in the nineties, they had a hell of a great time. Among the very best memories, they performed twice on Top of the Pops, in part to promote their co-headline tour with Britpop icons Super Furry Animals. 

“When I watch myself on that, I feel sorry for me, because I look so nervous and out of my comfort zone! It’s so amazing that we’ve done that, and even trying to explain to my kids what Top of the Pops was, they don’t have a clue what it is. We didn’t have to play live. We sang live. But we got a call at Southwait Service Station and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is so crazy, we haven’t charted, what the hell!”. Ric Blaxill, the producer, was a big fan.

“The Super Furrys had proper hotels, not Travelodges like us, and we went back to watch it with them, and it was so crazy!”

BIS were not only big in the UK, and Glasgow, particularly, but were also big in Japan. 

“The Japanese were very heavily influenced by what was the big thing in the UK, and the NME had picked up on us. The first time we went over was for an instore, and it was so crazy, the stage moved. There’s people waiting at the airport, at the train stations, at the hotel, and it’s so short-lived. You go there, it’s crazy, then you go home, and you’re like ‘what just happened’. You’re whisked about, taken everywhere, and treated like a major celebrity. I’d do anything to do it again! I wish I had a phone that took photos of everything!”

Closer to home, the sheer amount of venues in Glasgow and the tight-knit community of local bands in the city helped BIS a lot in the early days. Even now, they have spent this month supporting Arab Strap at some huge venues they last performed at decades ago. Last year they also supported Belle and Sebastian. 

“I hope we can do that in turn for other, newer bands. There’s a band we’re very supportive of in Glasgow called Slime City. They’ve not done the same thing as us but they’re so cool and such great guys.”

The all-important bizz for BIS right now is the big Powerpuff Girls celebration on November 7th. But who is Amanda’s favourite Powerpuff Girl? “Most recently, Blossom has really done it for me because she just looks like my daughter, who has blonde hair, blue eyes and is a feisty wee thing. My daughter and her two best friends - which is weird, because they’re a trio too - just look like the Powerpuff girls too. It’s kinda freaky!”

You can get your tickets now for The Heroes of Townsville on The Alex Theatre website, but if you are unable to make it, please consider donating to the amazing cause, Starlight Children’s Foundation.