The band had one minor hit with "Remembrance Day" in 1981, peaking at No. 61 on the UK Singles Chart. If remembered at all, however, that's not the one that comes to mind. The first time I recall hearing "Nowhere Girl" anywhere other than on my turntable was around '85 or even '86 when I started going with my friends to the all-ages night on Fridays at a dance club roughly 25 miles from my rural hometown. Hey, it beat going to our high school football game with the rest of the sheep. The music was great, and you got to meet kids from other schools with similar tastes. The six-and-a-half minute extended version got quite a few spins at this place. It's tough for me to believe now, but I actually did get out on the floor when it was played.
I would find out much later in life that this song was a favorite of Los Angeles-based DJ Richard Blade, and that he worked it into his show often. He still champions B-Movie and plays it it quite a bit on his satellite-radio show. Here is the entire 12". This is going to be like kryptonite to some of you. Prepare yourself for a trip to 1982.
"Nowhere Girl" (Short Version)
"Nowhere Girl" (Version)
"Remembrance Day"
8 comments:
A song that bring back wonderful memories of nights out in NYC. Nowhere Girl was one of those ubiquitous songs of the early 80's. When they toured and played The Peppermint Lounge I was among 20 rabid fans who were all close friends and close friends of those friends. This song was/is dark and grand. But they were among those bands that crossed the Atlantic as "semi-one hit" wonders. They just didn't follow up Nowhere Girl with ANYTHING. By the time they caught the attention of their record company in the US, Sire, they had lost much of their original members and their sound migrated to pop friendly territory. They went from "Darkwave" progenitors to pop boffins in 3 years and I just lost interest.
Then in 2013 they released The Age Of Illusion and most of the original members were back and the sound contained echo's of times passed without sounding like they were attempting to rest on the past.
This year they have released a new album Climate Of Fear which is even darker and more impressive. I've been listening to it a lot.
This is weird. I recognise 'Remembrance Day' vividly, but have absolutely no recollection of 'Nowhere Girl' at all. I got the 'Some Bizarre Album' in 1981 along with various early spin-off singles (The Fast Set, Soft Cell, The The etc) so maybe I had the 'Remembrance Day' single for a while too - it still sounds good. I had no idea at all that the band made any impression in the USA.
back in the golden days when I still worked as a DJ, this one got played each and every night ... a guaranteed dancefloor filler and also an often requested record ...
Oh, B Movie just scream out 'Peel!' to me! It was on his show that I first heard Remembrance Day and promptly bought the single, absolutely loved it, also a great session which I've just reminded myself, of thanks to your post...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDraXpS0n_Y
My god, so long ago.
They seemed so very British and I had no idea that they would be getting any attention in the US in the '80s; it's really interesting to read about your experiences.
Nice to see some love for this one. A pleasant surprise. Yes, a little attention in America back in the day and fondly remembered by a few. Sounds like big in Germany as well. I think I like that Peel Session better than my 12" single. Have already gone for seconds. I saw that the band had new material, and I was floored they went with Nowhere Girl for a fourth time ('80, '82, '85, '16). Have to admit I'm curious.
Funnily enough remembrance day is the one that gets played in the UK , one of those great lost singles
FORW, Kind of funny that their biggest hit was included as a B-side to this single. My copy is Canadian. I would be surprised if the UK version (if there was a UK version) had that same flip side. Decent enough song, but I'm partial to Nowhere Girl.
You might have picked this uo 30 years ago....I got the 12" in a charity shop about 18 months ago.....just before the prices of 2nd hand vinyl in such places began to go through the roof thanks to the fucking hipsters!
It's a great record as evidenced by the love shown by so many contributors above.
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