The Invisible Girls were a

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

band, formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1978, to provide a musical backdrop to the recorded output of Salford punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The band's nucleus was Joy Division and New Order producer Martin Hannett and keyboardist Steve Hopkins, with contributions from, amongst others, Pete Shelley of

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

and Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe. The band also played on the first solo album by Pauline Murray (lead singer of Penetration), the eponymous ''

Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls The Invisible Girls were a British rock band, formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1978, to provide a musical backdrop to the recorded output of Salford punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The band's nucleus was Joy Division and New Order produc ...

'' and some singles, and later with Nico for the single "Procession".

History

The band was formed to provide backing music for punk poet John Cooper Clarke. It initially featured

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...

producer Martin Hannett on bass guitar, Steve Hopkins on keyboards,

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

drummer Paul Burgess and guitarist Lyn Oakey. This line-up played on Cooper Clarke's debut album ''

Où est la maison de fromage? ''Où est la maison de fromage'' is the debut album by John Cooper Clarke, originally released in 1978. It comprises a mix of live performances, demos and rehearsals. The name means "where is the cheese house?" in French. Clarke has criticised ...

'', before they named themselves the Invisible Girls. ''

Disguise in Love ''Disguise in Love'' is the second studio album by John Cooper Clarke, first released in 1978. (It followed '' Ou est la maison de fromage?''). Most of the tracks are spoken over musical accompaniment provided by Clarke's band The Invisible Girl ...

'' (billed as being by "John Cooper Clarke with the Invisible Girls") was produced by Hannett and released in 1978, and featured collaborations with Be-Bop Deluxe's Bill Nelson and Buzzcock Pete Shelley. John Scott was also either a collaborator or full-time member. A second album, ''

Snap, Crackle & Bop ''Snap, Crackle & Bop'' is the fourth album by John Cooper Clarke, originally released in 1980. As with ''Disguise in Love'', the album featured The Invisible Girls as the backing band and was produced by Martin Hannett. Original first pressings ...

'', followed in 1980.

Pauline Murray

In 1980, the band began to work with Pauline Murray, who in the same year dissolved her punk band Penetration. Burgess had left The Invisible Girls by this point to dedicate more time to 10cc. During Murray's period with the band, Hannett worked as producer, being replaced on bass by

Robert Blamire Robert Blamire (born c. 1959) is known primarily as bassist for the punk and new wave band Penetration. He founded the band along with singer Pauline Murray in 1976 after seeing a performance by The Sex Pistols. After the band split up, he and ...

, also a former member of Penetration. The band's first single, "Dream Sequences", was released in August 1980, featuring Murray, Hannett, Hopkins, Blamire, and Alan Rawlings from

Cowboys International Cowboys International (also stylised as Cowboys International®) were a new wave and synthpop band formed by vocalist and songwriter Ken Lockie that put out one album in 1979, the influential '' The Original Sin'', and a handful of 45s befor ...

as guest guitarist. Shortly afterwards, the line-up was extended to the Durutti Column's Vini Reilly and

Dave Rowbotham Dave Rowbotham (1958 – 8 November 1991) was an English rock musician who played guitar and bass with various Manchester bands in the 1970s and the 1980s, and as a studio musician. Biography Born in Didsbury, Manchester, he went to school ...

(then with the Mothmen) on guitar, Dave Hassell on percussion plus John Maher from Buzzcocks on drums. They released an eponymous album in September, followed by a second single, "Mr X", in November 1980. To perform live, the band recruited guitarist

Wayne Hussey 250px, Hussey performing at the M'era Luna Festival in 2004. Jerry Wayne Hussey (born 26 May 1958) is an English musician who was born in Bristol, England. He is best known as the lead singer of The Mission, and the guitarist with The Sisters ...

(ex-Walkie Talkies), who had answered an advertisement in the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' magazine. The band (comprising Murray, Blamire, Hopkins, Hannett, Maher and Hussey) recorded a final single, " Searching For Heaven", which they released in 1981: the A-side featured (but did not credit) Bernard Sumner as guest guitarist. After this, Hannett and Hopkins continued as the only remaining members, with Paul Burgess re-joining; Murray and Blamire went on to form the Storm; Hussey joined

Dead or Alive Dead or Alive most commonly refers to: * Dead or Alive (band), a British pop band * Dead or alive, a phrase on a wanted poster Dead or Alive may also refer to: Film and television * ''Dead or Alive'' (1921 film), an American silent film dir ...

; Maher (after the demise of the Buzzcocks in early 1981) continued with his new band,

Flag of Convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state ...

; Reilly continued with The Durutti Column; Rowbotham continued with The Mothmen for a short time but was murdered in 1991.

Later projects

In 1982, the band returned to work with John Cooper Clarke; his final album, '' Zip Style Method'', was released the same year. At the time, Nico, former singer with the

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

, was living in Manchester, and she worked with the band. They released only one single, "Procession", produced by Hannett. The title track featured Philip "Toby" Tolman (formerly of the Nosebleeds and Ludus) on drums. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of " All Tomorrow's Parties", featured Burgess on drums. Shortly afterwards, Nico and Toby went to work with Blue Orchids.

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (1978) *''

'' (1980) *''

Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls The Invisible Girls were a British rock band, formed in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1978, to provide a musical backdrop to the recorded output of Salford punk poet John Cooper Clarke. The band's nucleus was Joy Division and New Order produc ...

'' (September 1980) *'' Zip Style Method'' (1982) * ''Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins: The Invisible Girls'' (2015)

Singles

*"Dream Sequences" (Illusive, August 1980) *"Mr X" (Illusive, November 1980) *" Searching For Heaven" (Illusive, April 1981) *"Procession" (as Nico & The Invisible Girls) (1/2, 1982)

References

External links

Cult of the week – Pauline Murray And The Invisible GirlsPauline Murray & the Invisible Girls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invisible Girls, The English new wave musical groups English post-punk music groups Musical groups from Greater Manchester Music in Salford