| 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 |
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 Simonand 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.[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.