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Au Pairs
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Birmingham, United Kingdom (1979 – 1983)
The Au Pairs were a post-punk band who formed in Birmingham, UK in 1979. Musically they were very similar to bands such as Ludus, Gang of Four and Delta 5. That is, the rhythm section was tight and funky (obvious influences were James Brown and Funkadelic), but the guitars were light and “scratchy” (like Subway Sect). All these bands shared a strongly left wing social outlook, but the Au Pairs stood out due to their frontwoman, Lesley Woods, being an outspoken feminist and lesbian: the band were greatly influential in this respect on the riot grrrl movement a decade later. Music historian Gillian G. Gaar noted in her history of women in rock that the band mingled male and female musicians in a revolutionary collaborative way as part of its outspoken explorations of sexual politics.
Their first album Playing With a Different Sex is considered a post-punk classic with strong, sarcastic songs like “
It’s Obvious” and “We’re So Cool” taking a dry look at gender relations. Other songs, such as “Armagh” with its refrain,”we don’t torture” took a pro-republican look at the then ongoing “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, which caused some controversy at the time.
The band’s second album, Sense and Sensuality, showed an even greater influence of jazz, soul, funk and disco on the band’s sound, but was less well received. The band broke up in 1983 just before they were about to go into the studio to record an album with producer Steve Lillywhite. Woods formed an all woman band called the Darlings in the late ’80s, but then left the music industry.
Their first album Playing With a Different Sex is considered a post-punk classic with strong, sarcastic songs like “
It’s Obvious” and “We’re So Cool” taking a dry look at gender relations. Other songs, such as “Armagh” with its refrain,”we don’t torture” took a pro-republican look at the then ongoing “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, which caused some controversy at the time.The band’s second album, Sense and Sensuality, showed an even greater influence of jazz, soul, funk and disco on the band’s sound, but was less well received. The band broke up in 1983 just before they were about to go into the studio to record an album with producer Steve Lillywhite. Woods formed an all woman band called the Darlings in the late ’80s, but then left the music industry.
Top Albums
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Playing With a Different Sex
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Sense and Sensuality
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Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology
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Shocks to the System
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Top Tracks
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It's Obvious
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| 2 |
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We're So Cool
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| 3 |
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Love Song
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| 4 |
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You
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| 5 |
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Headache For Michelle
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| 5 |
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Repetition
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| 7 |
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Come Again
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| 8 |
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Dear John
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| 9 |
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America
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| 10 |
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Armagh
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| 11 |
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Unfinished Business
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| 12 |
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Shakedown
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| 13 |
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| 14 |
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Diet
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| 15 |
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Domestic Departure
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Shoutbox
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secretpassage wrote:
i don't mind if you want to sleep on yr own
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anna_c_robbiati wrote:
hey! check out http://www.themistakenpress.blogspot.com - concerts reviews, photos, albums, music videos, interview and more - annoying the music world thanx
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Micjen wrote:
best post punk
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wezman2k wrote:
the last.fm radio feature is pretty fucken rad. i'm discovering oodles of cool bands.
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sm0th3rl0v3 wrote:
v I do not know.
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earlyamericans wrote:
why isn't this more popular
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100PunkClub wrote:
I love this band, I honestly don't get why they are one of the less popular and often forgotten about post punk bands. They are ace.
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YesMother wrote:
I love this band.
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Grotessque wrote:
What kind of girl will you be tonight? Their Janis Joplin cover is amazing!
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MooMooKei wrote:
great great great, yes underrated
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beatyrheartout wrote:
do people really think this sounds like joy division? or are they fucking with us?
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Freelove_ wrote:
Join my group: Post-Punk.
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SOLOMUSIKA wrote:
Oh yes it's a real shame... but maybe it's because this band is only 4 the élite..few people but good! >> I love it so much..... *♫♪ ♫♪ ♥♥♥
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wooden_indian wrote:
Why so unknown????
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AzureIntro wrote:
Paul Foad taught me guitar when I was younger. I wish I'd listened more to what he taught me, ahh regrets.
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v4MP1r3 wrote:
sounds AMAZING ! .... joy division ripoff *rofl*
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MARLEYONETWO3 wrote:
ahhahah joy division!?
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ohgabieoh wrote:
joy division? that comment is really annoying...
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Snadra wrote:
Sounds a bit like Jefferson Airplane to me...
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ImACultHero81 wrote:
Sikth I think you may need to go get your ears checked out if you think this band sound like Joy Division, seriously WTF?
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Recent Activity
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rachunica connected Au Pairs to the group deMODE. 4 hours ago
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emmi_cakes, travishuxley, auntieterror and 4 other people added Au Pairs to their libraries. yesterday morning
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LittleOnion tagged Au Pairs with punk rock, john peel, 1978 and 10 other tags. Monday evening
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reyreykitten, hugslife, Musical-Heart-2 and 26 other people added Au Pairs to their libraries. Monday evening
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Urinator13 tagged Au Pairs with grrrls and post-punk. last month
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Urinator13 added Au Pairs to Urinator13’s library. last month
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skeletoneyes tagged Au Pairs with female vocalists and post-punk. last month
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skeletoneyes, schwarzkoppf, Rocketsetgo and 4 other people added Au Pairs to their libraries. last month
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metawirt wrote about Au Pairs in My top 50 albums. last month
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metawirt wrote about Au Pairs – Equal But Different - BBC Sessions 1979-1981 in My top 50 albums. last month
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