The 2 LPs by seminal early-80s post-punk band Au Pairs are being reissued on vinyl.
Pete Harvey spoke to singer, guitarist, song-writer Lesley Woods for Louder Than Battle
The primary Au Pairs album Enjoying with a Totally different Intercourse (1981), displays the instances it was created in. After two years of Thatcher’s authorities, Britain was within the grip of social and political turmoil, marked by deep divisions over race, class, and identification. With industrial motion, police brutality, battle within the North of Eire and the very best unemployment in fifty years, the nation grappled with rampant racism, widespread gender inequality, and a tradition of intolerance, notably in the direction of LGBTQ+ people.
Enjoying with a Totally different Intercourse (PWADS) dealt head on with the problems of the day, not least of which was the maltreatment of feminine political prisoners in Armagh. The file sounds as contemporary and confrontational at this time because it did then. The percussive rush of Jane Munro (bass) and Pete Hammond (drums) helps the reducing, slashing twin guitar assault of Paul Foad and Lesley Woods. Woods’ sprechstimme vocal delivers a payload of ideology, criticism, ardour and ache. I believe this one of many strongest debut albums of the put up punk period.
The opening observe ‘We’re so cool’ offers with the difficulties of negotiating an open relationship. The music units out the Au Pairs stall completely; it’s thematically difficult and laden with imaginative hooks and mantra-like wordplay. Every successive music continues the discourse and explores the outer limits of pop music.
I requested Lesley whether or not The Au Pairs have been shaped particularly to ship a socio-political message?
“I needed to stand up and play music, I needed to be in a band. However then I didn’t need to sing the boy meets lady pop songs of the day. This was like 40 years in the past, there have been no homosexual artists or no less than none that have been out. There have been a number of issues to be offended about, there are a number of issues to be offended about now. There was apartheid there was abortion there have been equal rights and a girl’s proper to decide on There was a number of discrimination and all of the anti-discrimination legal guidelines that we’ve now got here into existence within the Eighties. Just like the 1979 UK pay act, it’s one factor to have a legislation nevertheless it takes a very long time for the legislation to seep via and practices which can be endemic in workplaces to vary.”
You’ll be able to’t learn a evaluation of The Au Pairs with out coming throughout the phrase ‘sexual politics’. You have been one of many few bands instantly addressing these points. How do you assume the songs slot in a contemporary context?
“I believe one of many issues that younger individuals need to their benefit at this time is that it’s common for them to reside with mother and father which have very egalitarian relationships. There’s far much less stereotypical position taking part in, the place mum stays at residence and cooks the dinner. Dads prepare dinner, dads wash, dads washup, dads play an equal half in operating the family.
There’s not that division of labour. These children develop up in these environments and once they go on to have relationships they’ve higher position fashions. There’s much less ‘my father was violent and used to beat my mum up and subsequently I’ll beat my spouse up’.”
That’s the theme of the Bowie cowl ‘Repetition’, did David ever remark in your model?
“I don’t know, we actually needed to get his permission to do it and likewise to make use of the Eve Arnold {photograph} of Mongolian girls doing navy coaching on the duvet.”
I learn that the duvet of (the second album) Sense and Sensuality was not authorized by the band? “The place did you learn that?” Wikipedia “Nicely, I don’t know the place they acquired that from, it’s by Kandinsky and so far as I bear in mind all of us authorized it. Martin Culverwell got here up with the creative concepts and he’d at all times ask us what we considered issues, single covers and so forth.
In distinction to the important, concentrated, frenetic power of the debut album the second album ‘Sense and Sensuality’ (1982) introduces a wider palette of devices and for my part is a much less profitable file.
“I believe there are some good tracks on it, like ‘Shakedown’,’
I learn that the band had achieved 200 gigs previous to moving into the studio the second time and also you had misplaced your voice?
“Sure, my voice was shot. We had monetary constraints and we have been up in opposition to it. It might have been good to have spent extra time, to have had the posh of spending extra time. We weren’t in an excellent place for one purpose or t’different. We have been ‘solid asunder’ from one another, we weren’t as tightly bonded. Once I have a look at pictures of us within the PWADS days I can see we have been so completely happy, we have been so completely happy collectively. A relationship that at that time of time was actually working properly. After we acquired to the Sense and Sensuality (S&S) level there had been fairly a couple of damaging influences that had acquired to us individually and we weren’t we have been not tight collectively.”
If there was an Au Pairs ‘recipe’ on PWADS consisting of unusual tonality, twists of path, stabbing guitars and astonishing percussion. It sounds such as you have been operating out of concepts on S&S?
“I believe that’s proper. I used to be like what the fuck shall I write about now? and there was no-one to bounce concepts round with. Quite a lot of these lyrics have been penned within the studio on the fly. I’m not notably happy with them they really feel half-worked”
Had the sexual political songs turn into merely ‘sexual’?
“No, there are political songs on Sense and Sensuality”
In truth the final three songs on aspect two; ‘Stepping out of line’, ‘Shakedown’ and ‘America’ are simply that, starting from the refusal of gender stereotyping through Thatcher and Reagan to America’s violently paranoid international coverage.
“Paranoia in America, I like that and I just like the drums on that. It’s my plan to rewrite it, about Gaza and the Israeli tanks rolling in regardless of the ceasefire.”
American politics are centre stage as soon as once more with the Trump administration busily eradicating human rights from the structure. I discussed the US Supreme court docket overturning ‘Roe v. Wade’ (1973) and permitting particular person states to manage or ban abortion.
“What no-one appears to grasp is that the Roe vs Wade ruling was a part of a recognition of a girl’s proper to privateness. Which is a part of your human rights, your proper to a personal life. The judges mentioned there’s no proper to abortion within the American structure and have ignored what Roe vs Wade really mentioned about a person’s constitutional proper to privateness.”
Lesley Woods is passionate and resolute in her position as a spokesperson for human rights. It’s astounding that so many societal issues have remained unsolved for millennia. Lesley distils the fundamentals of those issues right into a single pithy phrase which encapsulates not simply the humanitarian points however the political stance of a proficient and important British band on the final observe of ‘Enjoying with a Totally different Intercourse’.
“You’re equal however completely different, you’re equal however completely different, it’s apparent.”
Each LPs can be found to order through Music on Vinyl
Enjoying with a Totally different Intercourse launch date: 21 March 2025
Sense and Sensuality launch date: 7 February 2025
Lesley Woods is on Fb. She is supporting Gavin Friday at Earth Theatre, London on 6 April 2025 and gigging in Might with Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew: Stay In Gentle UK tour
Interview by Pete Harvey
Picture by Mick Geoghegan
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