''Playing with a Different Sex'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

Au Pairs The Au Pairs were a British post-punk band that formed in Birmingham in 1978 and continued until 1983. They produced two studio albums and three singles. Their songs were said to have "contempt for the cliches of contemporary sexual politics ...

. It was released in 1981 by Human Records. In its retrospective review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the album as "one of the great, and perhaps forgotten, post-punk records." The album peaked at No. 33 in Britain and produced the single "It's Obvious", which reached No. 37 on the

Club Play Singles Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart in America in 1981.

Themes

Many of the songs on the album deal with sexual politics. In "

Repetition Repetition may refer to: * Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

", a

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

cover,

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

is explored ("I guess the bruises won't show/If she wears long sleeves"), and the possessiveness underlying an

open relationship An open relationship is an intimate relationship that is sexually non-monogamous. The term is distinct from polyamory, in that it generally indicates a relationship where there is a primary emotional and intimate relationship between two partners ...

is pilloried in "We're So Cool" ("you must admit/I'm prepared to share/At off-peak times"). Allegations of rape and torture of Irish women imprisoned in the city of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

in Northern Ireland are the core content of the song "Armagh", which challenges the notion that "civilized nations" do not torture. The refrain, "We don't torture, we're a civilized nation / We're avoiding any confrontation / We don't torture..." is repeated throughout the song. The lyrics point out that the "American hostages in Iran, reheard daily on the news..." while "You can ignore the 32." They continue: "There are 32 women in Armagh jail / Political prisoners here at home," before describing alleged incidents of abuse. The song led to limited distribution of the album in Ireland, when Northern Irish record distributors refused to carry it. The song "Come Again" refers to the social pressure to "achieve orgasmic equality"; a 1982 profile in ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

'' notes that the song depicts sex "as a dreary ritual in which partners as joyless as lab rats press bars and nose buttons in the hopes of an orgasm as dry and quantifiable as kibble." The song, directed at "those who changed the game" and "brought in new rules", asks "is it real? Are you feeling it?", before turning into a dialogue between the female lead singer and male back up who is evidently attempting to satisfy her: "Am I doing it right?" he asks, and the woman reassures him, "You're not selfish/You're trying hard to please me – please, please me/Is your finger aching?/I can feel you hesitating." The song was banned from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Critical response

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

''Playing with a Different Sex'' was ranked at number 17 on ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''s list of the best albums of 1981. Describing the album in ''The Rough Guide to Rock'' (2003), Owen James referred to the band's mix of humour and righteous anger, stating "They don't make them like this anymore." In 2002's ''She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll'', Gillian G. Gaar suggested that "the taut rhythms and aggressive lyrics of ''Different Sex'' make it a classic example of how the influence of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

could steer

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

into exciting new areas." The song "Diet", originally released as a single in 1980 and recorded for a session for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

in 1981, was later released on ''Equal but Different'' (1994), a compilation of twenty of the band's BBC performances, and included on the extended reissue of ''Playing with a Different Sex''; it was described by ''

Fact A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

'' as a "masterpiece of feminist rock" with an almost unparalleled "power and pathos".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Paul Foad, Peter Hammond, Jane Munro and Lesley Woods, except where noted.

Side A

#"We're So Cool" – 3:29 #"Love Song" – 2:51 #"Set-Up" – 3:21 #"

" (

) – 3:34 #"Headache for Michelle" – 6:39

Side B

#"Come Again" – 3:54 #"Armagh" – 3:37 #"Unfinished Business" – 3:29 #"Dear John" – 2:57 #"It's Obvious" – 6:19

Reissue bonus tracks

#"You" – 2:52 #"Domestic Departure" – 2:22 #"Kerb Crawler" – 2:47 #"Diet" – 4:19 #"It's Obvious" (single version) – 5:47 #"Inconvenience" (12" version) – 2:56 #"Pretty Boys" – 3:40 #"Headache for Michelle" (remix) – 6:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Au Pairs * Jane Munro – bass guitar,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Lesley Woods – guitar, vocals, production * Paul Foad – guitar, backing vocals, production * Peter Hammond – drums, production Technical *

Eve Arnold Eve Arnold, OBE (honorary), FRPS (honorary) (née Cohen; April 21, 1912January 4, 2012) was an American photojournalist, long-resident in the UK. She joined Magnum Photos agency in 1951, and became a full member in 1957. She was the first woma ...

– cover photography * Martin Culverwell – production, sleeve design * John Dent – mastering * Rocking Russian – sleeve design * Ken Thomas – production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Charts

References

Sources * * * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control 1981 debut albums Au Pairs (band) albums Albums produced by Ken Thomas (record producer)