
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! (7") Record RR2
- 28 October 1980: 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 RR2
- 30 March 1981: Fashion
- 16 April 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 11 May 1981: Go For Gold! (7") Happy Birthday UR 4
- 12 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 13 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4 (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 UR 4
- 19 May 1981: I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 21 May 1981 (BFBS): Go For Gold! (7") Happy Birthday UR 4
- 21 May 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 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" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 02 June 1981: Go For Gold! (7") Happy Birthday UR 4
- 04 June 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 07 June 1981 (BFBS): Go For Gold (7") Happy Birthday UR 4
- 18 June 1981 (BFBS): I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- Dr Mango Tape1 (mixtape): I'm Beautiful Now (7" - Go For Gold!) Happy Birthday UR 4
- 15 September 1981: Getting Nowhere Fast (7" - Getting Nowhere Fast / Warm Girls) Record
- 15 October 1981: Fun-City Teenagers (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Fun-City Teenagers (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Too Big For Your Boots (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 22 October 1981 (BFBS): Heaven (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 25 October 1981 (BFBS): Goodbye To That Jazz (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 26 October 1981: Fast Boyfriends (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 12 November 1981 (BBC World Service): Heaven (album - Pleasure) Happy Birthday RULP 1
- 22 November 1981 (BFBS): Fast Boyfriends (7") Happy Birthday UR 6
- 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
- 1983
- 27 August 1983 (BFBS): Politics! (7") Record RR2 / Rough Trade RT 055
- 1984
- John Peel February March 1984: Fast Boyfriends (LP - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 17 March 1984 (BFBS): Fast Boyfriends (LP - 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.)
- 19 May 1987: Goodbye To That Jazz (LP - Pleasure) Happy Birthday
- 12 June 1987 (BFBS): Getting Beautiful Warm Gold Fast From Nowhere (12"-The Peel Session) (Strange Fruit)
- 19 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