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Girls at Our Best!

 
Artist: Girls at Our Best!
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Biography

Formed in Leeds, England in 1979, the pop-punk unit Girls at Our Best! comprised vocalist Judy Evans, guitarist James Alan and bassist Gerald Swift. Originally dubbed the Butterflies, they kicked around the British punk scene, and were on the verge of disabanding when they responded to an advertisement posted by a Cambridge area recording studio offering half-off session rates. With the aid of drummer Chris Oldroyd, the group recorded two tracks, "Warm Girls" and "Getting Nowhere Fast." In the spring of 1980, the demo was released as a single on Rough Trade under the name Girls at Our Best!, an appellation taken from a lyric in "Warm Girls." With session drummer Paul Simon, the band soon re-entered the studio to cut their second single, "Politics," which like its predecessor topped the U.K. indie charts. After the permanent addition of former Expelaires drummer Carl Harper, Girls at Our Best! issued a third single, "Go for Gold," followed in 1981 by the release of their long-awaited debut LP Pleasure. Though no formal announcement of their break-up ever appeared, the record was the group's last. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Girls at Our Best!
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Girls at Our Best!
Origin Leeds, England
Genres post punk
Years active 1979-1982
Labels Record, Rough Trade, Happy Birthday
Former 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

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 Paul Simon (not to be confused with the american singer-songwriter)[citation needed]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 Rod Johnson sharing drumming duties with Harper, who left the band) which came complete with a "Pleasure Bag" comprising 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 the 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.[3] 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.

Discography

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)

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)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Girls at Our Best", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1 84195 335 0
  2. ^ a b c Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-95172-069-4
  3. ^ Girls at Our Best at the BBC's Keeping It Peel site

External links


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