First heard them on "Urgh....A Music War", which I featured in a post long ago......they were maybe the highlight of the set/movie with their stunning and hilarious rendition of "Come Again" ("....this is a song about faking orgasms, it's called "Come Again"").....checked out their two albums after that, both are worth while......how to categorized them? Maybe in a 1980's general "post-punk" cluster, along with perhaps Gang of Four and some others, they had a unique sound and took on politics, both sexual and otherwise, in their clever lyrics. The Au Pairs were guitarist/singer Lesley Woods, guitarist/singer Paul Foad, bassist Jane Munro, and drummer Pete Hammond. They released the stunning, classic "Playing With a Different Sex" in 1981. It is a fantastic album, packed with snotty, sarcastic lyrics (the aforementioned "Come Again" being the greatest, but also "It's Obvious" and "We're So Cool", among others, stand out as brilliant pieces of lyricism, it is one of the great lost classics of the early 1980's, trust your uncle on this one, would ya PLEEZE?
Release #2 was 1982's "Sense and Sensuality" in which they attempted to expand their sound, incorporating other genres into the sound, and still getting in a clever lyric or two in "Sex Without Stress" and "Tounge in Cheek"....personally, I like the album, many do not,and by no means is it on par with "Playing With a Different Sex."This is a band from which I don't have a lot of extra material......the track on "Urrgh..." is about all I've heard but their two full lengths.....apparently they had a bunch of singles, maybe an unofficial live disc, and perhaps a BBC session disc, have never seen or heard a single one of em.....any "blog friends", especially from the Continent, got anything? An underappreciated band if there was one!
PLAYING WITH A DIFFERENT SEX-01 We're So Cool/ 02 Love Song/03 Set Up/04 Repetition/05 Headache For Michelle/06 Come Again/07 Armagh/08 Unfinished Buisness/09 Dear John/10 It's Obvious/11 You/12 Domestic Departure/13 Kerb Crawler/14 Diet/15 It's Obvious (Single Version)/16 Inconvenience (12" version)/17 Pretty Boys/18 Headache For Michelle (Remix)SENSE AND SENSUALITY-01 Stepping Out of Line/02 Sex Without Stress/03 Instant Touch /04 (That's When) It's Worth It/05 Shakedown/06 Tongue In Cheek/07 Intact/08 Don't Lie Back/09 America/10 Fiasco
Hope you guys like these, and hope that I continue to bring to the table the type of musical VARIETY that gives this blog SOME SORT of personality.....let me know what you think of these, got a bigger one coming tomorrow or the next day, featuring one of my faves, The Jam, I know you guys will like THAT one!