Girls at Our Best!
| Girls at Our Best! | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Leeds, England |
| Genres | Post punk |
| Years active | 1979–1982 |
| Labels | Record, Rough Trade, Happy Birthday |
| Past members | |
| Judy "Jo" Evans James "Jez" Alan Gerard "Terry" Swift Chris Oldroyd Paul Simon Darren Carl Harper Rod Johnson |
|
Girls At Our Best! were a post-punk group, founded in Leeds, England in 1979 under the name The Butterflies, who had several UK Indie Chart hits.
Contents |
[edit] History
The group initially consisted of vocalist Judy "Jo" Evans, guitarist James "Jez" Alan, bassist Gerard "Terry" Swift, and drummer Chris Oldroyd.[1] The band took its new name from a line in their track "Warm Girls", which first appeared on their self-financed 1980 debut single coupled with "Getting Nowhere Fast" on their own Record Records (catalogue number RR1). The song reached #9 on the UK Indie Chart, and was followed up by their second single, "Politics" c/w "It's Fashion!", also initially released on Record Records (RR2), but picked up by Rough Trade Records, reaching #12.[2]
Oldroyd departed to join Music for Pleasure, and was replaced briefly by the British musician Paul Simon[3] and then by Darren Carl Harper before the next single, "Go for Gold" c/w "I'm Beautiful Now" on Happy Birthday Records (UR4), their biggest indie chart hit, reaching #4.[2] In October 1981, the group released an album, Pleasure (now with the late Rod Johnson sharing drumming duties with Harper, who left the band) which came complete with a "Pleasure Bag" of stickers and postcards. It was also the first album to be released on the Happy Birthday label (catalogue number RULP1). The album reached #2 on the indie chart and #60 on the UK Album Chart.[1][2] Their fourth single "Fast Boyfriends" c/w "This Train" (Happy Birthday Records UR6) was released that same year. A final single, "Heaven", was issued in 1982, the band splitting later that year.[1]
Alan joined Sexbeat, and later The Tall Boys.[1] Evans made a guest appearance on Thomas Dolby's The Golden Age of Wireless album in 1982. Dolby had guested on synthesizer on Pleasure.[1]
They recorded one session for John Peel, on 17 February 1981, which was first broadcast 23 February 1981.[4] This was released as a 12" single in 1987 (Strange Fruit Records SFPS029) featuring "China Blue" and "This Train" on the A-side and a medley of other tracks entitled "Getting Beautiful Warm Gold Fast From Nowhere" on the B-side. There was a further BBC session for Richard Skinner.
"Getting Nowhere Fast" was covered by the Wedding Present on their "Anyone Can Make A Mistake" EP.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
- "Getting Nowhere Fast" / "Warm Girls" (April 1980) Record, RR1 (UK Indie #9)
- "Politics" / "It's Fashion" (November 1980) Record, RR2/Rough Trade, RT055 (UK Indie #12)
- "Go For Gold" / "I'm Beautiful Now" (June 1981) Happy Birthday, UR4 (UK Indie #4)
- "Fast Boyfriends" / "This Train" (October 1981) Happy Birthday, UR6 (UK Indie #19)
- "Heaven" / "£600,000" (May 1982) God, GOD1
- The Peel Session (17.2.81) EP (May 1987) Strange Fruit, SFPS029 (UK Indie #27)
[edit] Albums
- Pleasure (October 1981) Happy Birthday, RULP1 (UK Indie #2, UK Album Chart #60)
- Pleasure (1994) Vinyl Japan, ASKCD47 (Re-issued album plus singles and b-sides)
- Pleasure (May 2009) Cherry Red, CDMRED346 (Re-issued album plus singles, b-sides, Richard Skinner session and demo track)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Girls at Our Best", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0
- ^ a b c Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980–1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-9517206-9-4
- ^ Paul Simon biography notes at Ajanta Music
- ^ Girls at Our Best at the BBC's Keeping It Peel site
