Girls at Our Best! -- a thread of their own

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There's a shared thread somewhere based on the Party Party soundtrack or something but to heck with that. I suspect many of us first heard of them thanks to the Wedding Present cover of "Getting Nowhere Fast" but if you've never heard the original, do yourself a favor and find it. Some years back Vinyl Japan rereleased the Pleasure album with all the studio tracks the group released and it's great, giving it a listen for the first time now -- who knows if they would have had it in them for more than the one album but it's great fun regardless, of its time but very creative -- a trad jazz arrangement tweak here, witty sloganeering there, songs that often adhere to a Wire-like "Stop when the song is over" approach, and a great lead singer in Judy Evans. Any other fans?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Christ, I haven't heard anyone mention Girls At Our Best since... well, whenever it was they were around, which was when exactly?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 19:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't know that much of their stuff but their original of "getting nowhere fast" is utterly fantastic. i always think of them in the same breath as the (generally underrated) au pairs.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

... and Delta 5

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

They split up in 1982. I love everything they did, more or less. "Warm Girls" is just amazing. The album is surprisingly eclectic and could have easily been huge.

― everything, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been a little obsessed with them lately, despite only managing to get a handful of tracks in my possession; I wanted to write about them for Pfork's Found Sound feature, but didn't find quite enough time to get any of the re-released stuff ordered in. Pretty much in love with everything I've heard. Midway through election day, when exit polls were looking favorable, I kept listening to "Politics" over and over: "I love to hear the Democrats when they're partying all night long."

― nabiscothingy, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 20:22 (twenty-one years ago)

(Anyone who feels like gmailing more tracks would obviously be the greatest person on the planet -- n!tsuh @ etc.)

― nabiscothingy, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Apparently nobody knows how to get in touch with any of them any more--even Vinyl Japan. (I tried to reach them a while ago about posting a track on lacunae.) "Getting Nowhere Fast," "Politics," "Heaven," oh man they're good.

― Douglas (Douglas), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Oooooh yes. "Politics" is clearly the best song ever.

Who are the 'Democrats' in this early-80's English context anyway? Is that small-l democrats, or indeed commentary on the US?

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

giving it a listen for the first time now

Wait, first time, am I on crack? First time IN A WHILE -- had this for years and loved it.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"Fast Boyfriends" is my current favorite (out of like 7 tracks that I actually have around). (Between that chorus and the "culture and art" delivery, geez.)

― nabiscothingy, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that small-l democrats...

Haha, I too am on crack! "small-d democrats" obv.

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 22:35 (twenty-one years ago)

(I'm going to use this as an example in the future to say, "You mean to tell me there's a thread about Girls at Our Best but not [name of artist]?!")

― RS, Tuesday, 22 February 2005 22:54 (twenty-one years ago)

they're on the party party soundtrack? now i have to dig that out. isn't bananarama's cover of "no feelings" on there too?

― jbr (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 23:12 (twenty-one years ago)

and altered images' "little town flirt" too iirc.

― jbr (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 22 February 2005 23:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I have the reissue of Pleasure on mp3...I need to give it another listen, nothing from it has really smacked me upside the head but it's a pleasant experience.

― Ian Riese-Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 24 February 2005 00:09 (twenty-one years ago)

They're one of my favourite ever bands, and I guess they're kind of like Mari Wilson in that they're one of the obscure things from back then that still mean a lot to me. I remember when "go for gold" came out, hearing it on the radio a lot, it grew on me pretty quickly. It stood out because of Judy Evans' weird mannered/tralala singing, which was almost like something from the '50's, then I read this interview w/them from smash hits and I must admit I found her quite incredibly attractive, so, you know, sold. I missed out in a way, though, because before then, they used to play live a lot, and I could have seen them, if only I'd known about them! I still have all the 7" singles, one of them even autographed, though I have nothing to play them on - as I remember one of them is pretty ropey, but the rest of them are great. Occasionally they stray over to the wrong side of twee, but apart from that, they're just incredibly, you know, GOOD. The band played w/a nice zippy feel, and Jude E sang with this kind of loveable glee. The best thing they did, I think, is the medley on the John Peel session 12". I wish that had come out on CD. Actually I can think of 2 CD reissues that would still get me all bothered - that's one of them and the other one is the original Icicle Works 7" of "Nirvana" on Troll Kitchen records. Oh yeah, "Oceanic Explorers" by Ex-Post Facto as well.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 24 February 2005 09:37 (twenty-one years ago)

That Smash Hits article made quite an impression on me too! It went on for too much about some big cardboard promo thingy as I recall.

"I'm Beautiful Now" the b-side of "Going For Gold" is completely classic proto-twee. And I'm sure the earlyish Reception Records labels were cribbed (at least in part) from the Happy Birthday labels.

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 24 February 2005 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I definitely remember the name but noen of the song titles mentioned so far are ringing any bells.

I did start confidently singing "Welcome To The Time Of My Life...." in my head - but I now have a horrid suspicion that was by The Martian Schoolgirls rather than Girls At Our Best....

Can anyone suggest any song titles that might help me to kick-start my aging and damaged brain on a cold February morning?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 24 February 2005 10:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"Time of My Life" was Fresh Records act Manufactured Romance.

http://www.videosick.com/manufactured.html

― mnm, Thursday, 24 February 2005 11:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh bollocks.

So wtf did the Martian Scholgirls do then?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 24 February 2005 11:30 (twenty-one years ago)

they're on the party party soundtrack? now i have to dig that out. isn't bananarama's cover of "no feelings" on there too?
-- jbr (theundergroundhom...), February 22nd, 2005.

i've never seen any mention of this songs on any bananarama site - so this is news- who did original ?

― jacqui, Thursday, 24 February 2005 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.cybercomm.nl/~gugten/album121.htm
i gotto get this for bananarama,sting and midge ure

― jacqui, Thursday, 24 February 2005 12:04 (twenty-one years ago)

i've never seen any mention of this songs on any bananarama site - so this is news- who did original ?

that's the sex pistols song. i'll digitize the record when i have a chance.

― jbr (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 24 February 2005 12:13 (twenty-one years ago)

that i must hear!
i managed to find a copy of the 'pleasure' LP with all the bits & pieces inside recently, and the albums good but a whole album of that singing is just too much for me to sit through. its a lot different to the singing on 'getting nowhere fast' as well - about 2 octaves different.

― zappi (joni), Thursday, 24 February 2005 12:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Just played their four A-sides back to back. Didn't enjoy them as much as I had hoped; where the vocals used to enchant, now they grate. "Go For Gold" came out tops, though I used to be obsessed with "Politics" and played it four or five times a day for a month or so.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 24 February 2005 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I only have the Warm Girls/Getting Nowhere Fast 7", but that's one of the best records ever!! I keep meaning to get the Vinyl Japan CD but it's OOP and doesn't ever seem to turn up anywhere.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 24 February 2005 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Googled the Martian Schoolgirls. They did "Life in the 80's" ???
They weren't schoolgirls apparently (or even girls).

http://punkmodpop.free.fr/martianschoolgirlsep.htm

― mnm, Thursday, 24 February 2005 13:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Aaah yes, Life in the 1980's - brilliant song!

The only other thing I remember about them is that one of them had previously been in the 101ers with Joe Strummer.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 24 February 2005 14:05 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

I tracked down a vinyl copy of Pleasure at the wkend. Haven't heard this for years and years. The title track is fantastic, the band are as norman said 'zippy' - it sits at the dead centre of a triangle with Danielle Dax, The Clapping Song and a punk Steeleye Span (if such a thing existed) at the three corners. Too Big For Our Boots is pretty good, as is Fast Boyfriends, but honestly I can't say I enjoyed it as a whole listen. Her voice is too much to take over the course of 11 tracks. To carry off that kind of style you mustn't sing flat...ever. And she does. The best tracks are with the basic 4-piece line-up - the 5 tracks with the expanded line up (Thomas Dolby!!) are not great. They sound thinner and less powerful somehow. I'll give it another spin in a day or so.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 13:42 (twenty years ago)

a punk Steeleye Span

Sounds good to me!

― Pradaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 13:58 (twenty years ago)

Isn't there a song where they sing "Girls at our Best" as part of the lyrics? Which song is that? Or am I just old and hallucinating?

― steve-k, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 14:42 (twenty years ago)

That was the medley from the john peel session, which is probably the best thing the ever did, & to the best of my knowledge unavailable on CD.

Dr C is totally right abut the thomas dolby tracks on the album.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 14:45 (twenty years ago)

No it's the normal (I think) version of "Warm Girls". In fact it IS, cos they ended up getting told to call themselves that.

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 26 April 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

eleven months pass...

oh yes we were, schoolgirls, martian schoolgirls and more remember "Fight for the right to land"

― steve martian, Monday, 24 April 2006 13:02 (nineteen years ago)

I've got an awesome Martian Schoolgirls single...Motion on Albion...sounds quite dBs-ish.

I've actually gotten in touch with the guitarist of Girls at Our Best, heard back from him but then not again...don't know if anything can come of that, but it's a start.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 24 April 2006 13:29 (nineteen years ago)

The phrase "Girls at our best" is from "Warm Girls" and also crops up on 600,000 Pounds - "I want girls at our best today".

― everything, Monday, 24 April 2006 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

from their website:

A CD is due out in January [2008] on Cherry Red Records. Track listings and any other news will appear here as soon as we have it.

I'm guessing it'll be similar to the (readily available on slsk) expanded edition of Pleasure that Vinyl Japan put out in the mid-'90s. It's about time, seeing as their stuff has been fetching upwards of $150 on Amazon.

― hawth, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 18:15 (eighteen years ago)

Cool! I've been looking for the Pleasure CD for ages but never found it. What's been fetching $150?? I've got the Warm Girls/Getting Nowhere Fast 7" but that was quite cheap so I guess not that.

― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 1 January 2008 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

fourteen years pass...

Ah now this is cool -- massive 3 CD reissue

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/girls-at-our-best-pleasure-3cd-deluxe-digipak-edition/

DISC ONE
Pleasure Plus Singles and Radio Sessions
1 Pleasure
2 Too Big For Your Boots
3 I’m Beautiful Now
4 Waterbed Babies
5 Fun-City Teenagers
6 £600,000
7 Heaven
8 China Blue
9 Fast Boyfriends
10 She Flipped
11 Goodbye to That Jazz
Bonus tracks
12 Getting Nowhere Fast (Single A Side)
13 Warm Girls (Single B Side to ‘Getting Nowhere Fast’)
14 Politics! (Single A Side)
15 It’s Fashion (Single B Side to ‘Politics’)
16 Go for Gold (Single A Side)
17 This Train (Single B Side to ‘Fast Boyfriends’)
John Peel 17/02/1981 BBC Session
18 China Blue
19 This Train
20 Getting Beautiful Warm Gold Fast From Nowhere
Richard Skinner 23/02/1981 BBC Session
21 Fast Boyfriends
22 £600,000
23 I’m Beautiful Now
24 Pleasure
DISC TWO
Live at Edinburgh University 02/11/1981 Plus Demos
1 Pleasure
2 It’s Fashion
3 I’m Beautiful Now
4 China Blue
5 Heaven
6 Water Bed Babies
7 Politics!
8 Go For Gold
9 She Flipped
10 This Train
11 Getting Nowhere Fast
12 Fast Boyfriends
13 Warm Girls
14 Too Big For Your Boots
Demos
15 Attribute (The Butterflies Demo 1978)
16 Boys at Their Best! (Demo 1981)
DISC THREE
Live at The Peppermint Lounge 06/11/1981 Bootleg
1 Pleasure
2 It’s Fashion
3 I’m Beautiful Now 4 China Blue
5 Heaven
6 Waterbed Babies
7 Politics!
8 Go for Gold
9 She’s Flipped
10 This Train
11 Getting Nowhere Fast
12 Fast Boyfriends
13 Warm Girls
Bonus track
14 Girls At Our Best New York Interview

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 12 March 2022 01:52 (four years ago)

damn that is office. i love to hear the democrats when they're partying all night long.

― treeship., Saturday, 12 March 2022 02:06 (four years ago)

This is a post.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 12 March 2022 03:00 (four years ago)

i think i meant to say awesome not office. hoo boy i'm tired.

― treeship., Saturday, 12 March 2022 03:26 (four years ago)

anyway i enjoy the post punk stylings and wryly satirical lyrics of this band from the early 80s.

― treeship., Saturday, 12 March 2022 03:27 (four years ago)

Why not release these live gigs on their own, unattached to the studio stuff that's been excellently compiled twice already?

― everything, Saturday, 12 March 2022 08:43 (four years ago)

one month passes...

Best band ever

― even the birds in the trees seemed to whisper "get fucked" (bovarism), Sunday, 1 May 2022 23:37 (three years ago)

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