SEPARATED AT BIRTH?
Martin Short's "Ed Grimley" (Left) & La Roux's Elly Jackson

In all fairness, Jackson and her posse served much more than a bad hair day. While coming across as a sugary little morsel of retro-80s New Wave in recorded form, La Roux's music is actually far more engaging live. And despite being admittedly hoarse (a fact only somewhat noticeable to the live audience), Jackson's pipes are still better than most of what the recording industry pawns off as "singers" these days. In fact, what sounds to be a coy, fairly frail voice in recorded form actually proves to be a powerful, emotive tool that Jackson handles with ease!

During the 30-minute performance, Jackson and crew blazed through a seven-song set taken from their self-titled debut, which hit U.S. retailers on Sept. 29. The crowd went wild for favorites like "In For the Kill," "I'm Not Your Toy" (reportedly the group's next single) and "Colourless Colour." As requested, the audience (mostly twenty-something hipsters) joined in on the chorus of each, allowing the singer to rest her already aching vocal chords. During ballad "Cover My Eyes," some audience members even produced lighters. Of course, to cap the evening, La Roux -- French for "the red-haired one," a reference to Jackson's fiery if bizarre hair -- performed their biggest Stateside hit, the Billboard Magazine "Hot Dance/Club Play Chart" #1 single "Bulletproof."

All that aside, though, I simply couldn't help but stare at Jackson's ridiculous upward-swept locks! Mark my words: One day -- hopefully sooner rather than later -- she is going to live to regret what has already become her trademark look.

As Jackson and her backing band performed, my thoughts turned to another British synth-pop act: A Flock of Seagulls. Despite an impressive body of work throughout the '80s, the Grammy-winning band is widely considered a one-hit wonder. While most anyone who lived through that era can name the group's sole U.S. Top 10 hit, the 1982 smash "I Ran (So Far Away), the majority also remember lead singer Mike Score's equally mortifying hairdo. When I interviewed Score nearly two decades after the group's hey-day, I still asked about that look, much to the singer's dismay.
Mike Score (Below)
Jackson should take serious note. No matter how many hits La Roux is able to string together, people are likely to still ask where her mind was when she first decided to sport that insane Lollipop Guild swirl. And, in the unthinkable (yet all-too-realistic) event that the group never lands on U.S. charts again, the hair -- not "Bulletproof" -- is going to be what she's remembered by.

Of course, I hope the universe has far more in store for this poor girl than being an unfortunate fashion footnote. It'll be a sad state of affairs if she's traveling the globe in 25 years, singing that one hit and still sporting or answering questions about her Ed Grimley.

Needless to say, Jackson certainly has more talent than this scenario might suggest, but talent doesn't always account for much in the recording industry. It certainly doesn't equate to longevity or success. And it might very well be what we see of an artist, not what we hear, that makes the most lasting of impressions.

Just ask A Flock of Seagulls.

Pollo Del Mar is a San Francisco drag personality, entertainer, celebrity journalist and columnist as well as the City's reigning Grand Duchess. Follow her at through her official Facebook or Twitter pages.

Live image of La Roux courtesy of Jason Villalobos.