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When Tracy Thorne was 17, she bought an electric guitar through a small ad in melody maker.

Only when she got it home did she realise something was missing.

She needed an amp.

She played the guitar anyway and got into the habit of making very little noise. A couple of years later, with Ben Watt,

she formed the band Everything But the Girl. In the last 30 years, they've been signed,

dropped, re-signed, mixed and remixed, while selling

around 9 million records.

Thorn grew up in the suburbs 20 miles north of London.

She describes herself as a shy but confident child.

I felt central, liked for who I was, special. There was no need to raise her voice.

When punk was at its height, she was, like most of us, listening to Nilsson and Brotherhood of Man.

Halfway through 1977, aged almost 15, she changed from being someone who had barely noticed pop music

into someone who cared about very little else. From this point on, her diary filled up with music

while retaining its hormonal underlay. J.J. Bernel is so hunky. Love his jeans.

In September, she bought drain pipes.

Dead, punky, triple exclamation mark.

In October, she had her first spiky haircut and realized it was impossible to carry on being civil to your parents

while claiming to light the stranglers.

Music to your parents while claiming to like the stranglers. The Sex Pohletal and other people are missing. I don't want a holiday in a sun I want to call to the new bell.

The Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bullocks

was released around the time thorn as having that haircut.

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