Girls At Our Best! were a British post-punk band, founded in Leeds, England in 1979 under the name The Butterflies. They had several UK Independent Singles Chart hits during their three-year existence.
The group initially consisted of vocalist Judy "Jo" Evans, guitarist James "Jez" Alan, bassist Gerard "Terry" Swift and drummer Chris Oldroyd. They took their new name from a line in their track "Warm Girls", released as the B-side to their self-financed 1980 debut single "Getting Nowhere Fast". The single, released in April 1980 on their own Record Records, reached No. 9 on the UK Indie Chart.
(Read more at Wikipedia.)
Links to Peel
- The band's catchy tunes and Evans' lively vocals evidently found favour with Peel as he played their music freely, particularly their first two singles "Getting Nowhere Fast" and "Politics".
- They never made the Festive Fifty but "Getting Nowhere Fast" was later covered by The Wedding Present and reached No.31 in 1987.
- After playing a track by the band on his 30 March 1981 show, Peel mentioned attending a "most enjoyable" gig by them in Scarborough and added "Judy did dedicate a song to the bald-headed man standing at the back, but I can scarcely believe that was intended for me".
Festive Fifty Entries
- None
Sessions
Girls At Our Best! - Peel Session 1981-0
One session only. Released as The Peel Sessions (12", Strange Fruit, 1987).
1. Recorded 1981-02-17. First broadcast 23 February 1981. Repeated 21 May 1981, 12 August 1981, 02 September 1986.
- China Blue / This Train / Getting Beautiful/Warm Gold/Fast From Nowhere
Other Shows Played
- 1980
Girls At Our Best - "Going Nowhere Fast" (UK, 1980)
- 31 March 1980: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record Records
- 07 April 1980: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 10 April 1980 (BFBS): Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 14 April 1980: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 26 April 1980 (BFBS): Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 07 May 1980: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 17 May 1980 (BFBS): Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 19 May 1980: Getting Nowhere Fast (7 inch) Record
- 14 June 1980 (BFBS): Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 07 July 1980: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 30 August 1980 (BFBS): Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 21 October 1980: Politics! Politics! (7") Record RR2
- 28 October 1980: Politics! Politics! (7") Record RR2
- 30 October 1980 (BFBS): Politics! (7") Record RR2
- 22 November 1980 (BFBS): Politics! (7") Record RR2
- 20 December 1980 (BFBS): Politics! (7") Record RR2
- 1981
- 09 March 1981: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record Records
- 29 March 1981 (BFBS): Politics (7") Record
- 30 March 1981: Fashion
- 16 April 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7 inch-B side of Go For Gold) Happy Birthday
- 11 May 1981: Go For Gold (7": Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday
- 12 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7": Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday
- 13 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7": Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday (JP: "That is terrific you know, I'm very partial to that indeed" and "That's the sort of record everybody ought to be playing every hour on the hour I reckon. But on the other hand this is a world where half the Radio 1 typing pool was going barmy yesterday afternoon for an LP of TV theme tunes so I mean what can you do?")
- 14 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7": Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday
- 19 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7") Happy Birthday
- 21 May 1981 (BFBS): Go For Gold (7") Happy Birthday
- 21 May 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7") Happy Birthday
- 25 May 1981: Go For Gold! (7" - Go For Gold! / I'm Beautiful Now) Happy Birthday
- 28 May 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7") Happy Birthday
- 02 June 1981: Go For Gold! (7") Happy Birthday
- 04 June 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7": Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday
- 07 June 1981 (BFBS): Go For Gold (7") Happy Birthday
- 18 June 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7") Happy Birthday
- 15 September 1981: Getting Nowhere Fast (7" - Getting Nowhere Fast / Warm Girls) Record
- 15 October 1981: Fun-City Teenagers (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Fun-City Teenagers (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Too Big For Your Boots (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Heaven (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 25 October 1981 (BFBS): Goodbye To That Jazz (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 26 October 1981: Fast Boyfriend (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 12 November 1981 (BBC World Service): Heaven (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 22 November 1981 (BFBS): Fast Boyfriend (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 1982
- 15 March 1982: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 08 December 1982: Getting Nowhere Fast (7") Record
- 29 December 1982 (BFBS): Politics! (7") Record RR2 / Rough Trade RT 055
- 1983
- 27 August 1983 (BFBS): Politics! (7") Record RR2 / Rough Trade RT 055
- 1984
- 17 March 1984 (BFBS): Fast Boyfriend (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 1987
- 07 April 1987: Fast Boyfriends (v/a LP - Seeds I : Pop) Cherry Red (Peel plays a track from Girls At Our Best, who did the original version of the Wedding Present's session track Getting Nowhere Fast.)
- 12 June 1987 (BFBS): Getting Beautiful Warm Gold Fast From Nowhere (12"-The Peel Session) (Strange Fruit)
- 22 June 1987: Getting Beautiful Warm Gold Fast From Nowhere (12" - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
- 1990
- 06 August 1990: Politics (single) Record
- 2004
- 14 December 2004 (Rob Da Bank): Getting Beautiful Warm Gold Fast From Nowhere (Peel Session)
Covered
(The list below was compiled only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.)
Artist | Track | First Known Play
- Wedding Present: Getting Nowhere Fast (session) 18 March 1987
See Also
- Peel Sessions Releases
- Cover Versions
- Indie Charts
- Dale Griffin: Peel Sessions produced
- Leeds: Sessions
