Back Pages of (Post) Punk, Chapter 4: Pauline Murray

Hailing from Durham, a small college town in Northeast England, Pauline Murray was eighteen when the U.K. punk scene first came to prominence in 1976, and after attending a Sex Pistols show in Northallerton in May of that year, she and her friends became very prominent and loyal devotees of the Pistols, to the extent that they were dubbed "the Durham Contingent" by N.M.E.  Pauline Murray: "Punk pulled everybody together- all total strangers, but we were all at the same place in our lives. We were all poised for something we didn't realize." Within a few months, Murray had formed her own band in Newcastle called Penetration, a name borrowed from a song by Iggy & The Stooges. Murray: "When we picked the name Penetration it was done very hastily and was very punk rock. We didn't think for a minute that the band would have gone as far as it did as it started out as a hobby. I think we outgrew the name and musical genre but it's difficult to change things once people know you as that." The story of Penetration's brief rise to prominence in 1977 on the back of their brilliant debut single and their precipitous fall from grace a year later is the kind of thing that could only have occurred in the context of the U.K. punk scene of the time, as Murray's band virtually embodied the D.I.Y. ethos of the movement by forming and then becoming a mainstay on the burgeoning punk scene almost literally overnight- by their second gig together, they were opening for none other than The Stranglers at Newcastle City Hall. As Murray recalls, "Because there weren't many punk bands around, we used to get offered all the supports up here [Northern England]. The Vibrators called us and we played Middlesbrough Rock Garden. We got a lot of exposure and a lot of experience."

Original Cover of First Single

In retrospect, Penetration's first single, Don't Dictate / Money Talks, was a stunning achievement for such an inexperienced band, and while it is rightly considered one of the enduring gems of the original U.K. punk movement, even at this early stage in their development, Penetration's taste for New York art-punk à la Patti Smith and their proclivity for displaying some level of musical acuity on their recordings suggested that they might not be a comfortable fit for the slam-dancing crowd. Pauline Murray: "'Don't Dictate' was with our first line-up; that was us learning, we'd never done it before. But we'd always try and push ourselves- we were never just content with a three-chord bash." Nevertheless, it wasn't until the release of their debut album, Moving Targets, in 1978 that the band, now counting decidedly un-punk guitarist Fred Purser among its ranks, that Penetration began hearing murmurs from the punk community that they weren't punk enough. In actuality, the band's second single, Firing Squad, which preceded the album, had clearly signaled that Penetration was quickly outgrowing the aesthetic austerity of their punk origins. And while "Stone Heroes" comes closest to echoing the unadorned fury that made "Don't Dictate" a Punk anthem, overall, the album pays very little heed to Punk orthodoxy. For example, on "Vision," a moody, atmospheric number that eventually mutates into a glammed-up rocker, Penetration seem to explore a darker, almost Post-Punk sound before lapsing into conventional hard-rock histrionics. However, on "Silent Community," perhaps the highlight of the album, Murray & co. hit on an intriguing mix of Punk aggression and New Wave atmospherics, creating a sound that is reminiscent of Blondie's work of the same period but with considerably more grit. All questions of musical style aside, what is undeniable about Penetration's debut album are the consistently brilliant vocal performances by Murray, who, though not as self-consciously arty or experimental as Siouxsie Sioux, possessed one of the great (and incredibly under-appreciated) voices of the Punk / Post-Punk era.

Pauline Murray and Fred Purser

Penetration's sophomore album, Coming Up for Air, produced by Steve Lillywhite, saw the band being pushed toward a more conventional hard-rock sound, and the results were nothing short of disastrous. Pauline Murray: "The second album, Coming Up for Air, was a bit of a rush job compared to Moving Targets. We had half of it written, then went to America for five weeks, and when we came back, we went straight into the studio. The rest of the band were coming up with backing tracks, giving them to me, and I had to put the words and the tune to them; the pressure was just unbearable. It was at that point that Neil [Floyd] said he wanted to leave the band, which sent us into an implosion. I was feeling the pressure. We had a full tour booked. I thought, 'I can't carry on.' It was too much. It was a burn-out situation. I'd had enough. It started out as fun and enjoyment- but this was just a hassle. I wanted out. I was twenty-three at the time." While the pressure of being expected to replicate the success of their debut album under less-than-ideal circumstances took a palpable toll on the band, it seems clear, based on the artistic direction Murray took after the demise of Penetration, that she was also growing restless within the confines of the band's punk-tinged hard-rock aesthetic. Murray: "After Penetration, I stayed together with Robert [Blamire] on bass. I didn't want to get another band together, I'd had enough of musicians. Robert and I went away and wrote some new songs and RSO took them on [....] I didn't have a regular band so we chose Martin Hannett, who was part of the Factory Records team, as producer. Martin had done work without bands; he did John Cooper Clarke with The Invisible Girls, and Jilted John; he used session musicians, so we did the Invisible Girls album with him using Manchester session musicians apart from me and Robert. That was a very strange album as well; an album on the edge of punk and the start of the 80s- on a cusp, right on a turning point."

In 1980, after the somewhat acrimonious demise of Penetration, Murray and Blamire, looking to put their new-found artistic freedom to good use, decided to leave Newcastle for Manchester, ostensibly in search of a more artist-friendly environ, but it also happened to be the home of producer Martin Hannett, who, during the course of the preceding two years, had made quite a name for himself as the sonic architect of Joy Division's iconic albums, Unknown Pleasures  and Closer. Hannett's unorthodox recording methods and Svengali-like presence in the production booth had lent Joy Division's work a unique and unprecedented approach to creating a sense of spatiality in the music, something he had borrowed from Dub Reggae artists such as Lee "Scratch" Perry. After deciding to work with Murray, Hannett coupled her with his "house band," The Invisible Girls, who had been initially assembled in 1978 as a backing group for post-punk poet laureate John Cooper Clarke. Originally, the band featured Martin Hannett on bass, Lyn Oakey on guitar, Steve Hopkins on keyboard  and drummer Paul Burgess of 10cc fame, but by the time of Pauline Murray's arrival, Burgess had been replaced with Buzzcocks drummer John Maher and Durutti Column mastermind Vini Reilly had been brought in on guitar (he had known Penetration from his days in the Manchester punk group, The Nosebleeds), and Hannett promptly abdicated bass duties to Blamire.

Pauline Murray in 1981

In contrast to Hannett's better known work with Joy Division, Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls is, unapologetically, a pop record, but one that dresses its uniformly excellent songs in ethereal textures and dark, often edgy hues. This works to great affect on the opener, "Screaming in the Darkness," which bears the imprint of Hannett's obsessive emphasis on creating space between the various instruments and features one of Murray's most memorable vocal performances, managing to sound fey, melancholic, and stunningly beautiful all at once. And then there's the lovely first single, "Dream Sequence I," one of the poppiest moments on the album to be sure, though Hannett's arrangement is still off-kilter enough to give it some edge. Maybe more so than any other song on the album, "Dream Sequence I" makes it clear that Murray had finally found a sympathetic setting for her soulfully sad voice, especially as she belts out the devastatingly catchy chorus that makes the song impossible to forget. While the album was predictably overlooked by the record-buying public, many critics took notice. Perhaps the most eloquent was Paul Morley's review: "This is sophistication, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is no pretense that a ragged edge or a discordant solo is the password to credibility. The music is wildly eclectic- look for Chic slick, Springsteen hope and glory, wonder, resource, gothic spaciousness, post-punk passion, all ethnically touched up yet very distinctive. This is the romantically infused easy listening epic Patti Smith never made with Easter, Murray's personal touches, the quiet fire of her bewilderment and almost lullaby-like disillusionment transforming into a great work of passion." While listening to Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls more than thirty years after it was first released, it is hard not to wonder how Murray failed to become one of the bigger names of the Post-Punk movement, as much of the album seems anticipatory of (if not a direct influence on) many of the paths Post-Punk was to take later in the decade. Needless to say, this album is, without a doubt, one of the great lost gems of the early eighties.

Penetration

Moving Targets

Captain Oi! ~ 2006/1978

Tracklist-

01. Future Daze  (2:58)

02. Life's a Gamble  (2:59)

03. Lover of Outrage  (3:56)

04. Vision  (3:23)

05. Silent Community  (3:29)

06. Stone Heroes  (3:14)

07. Movement  (3:22)

08. Too Many Friends  (3:13)

09. Reunion  (3:58)

10. Nostalgia  (3:45)

11. Free Money  (4:48)

12. Don't Dictate  (2:54)

13. Money Talks  (1:42)

14. V.I.P.  (2:35)

15. Firing Squad  (3:07)

16. Never  (2:15)

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Part I       Part II       Part III

Penetration

S/T

Griffin ~ 1995

This compilation originally saw the light of day as an official bootleg titled Race Against Time, released in 1979 just after Penetration decided to call it quits. Grouping together a batch of early demos, some excellent Peel Session recordings, and several live cuts recorded in Newcastle, the band's hometown, this album, renamed Penetration and given a proper release, is an essential chapter in a very limited but highly under-appreciated discography.

Tracklist-

01. Duty Free Technology (1977/1978 Demo)  (1:56)

02. Firing Squad (1977/1978 Demo)  (2:41)

03. Race Against Time (1977/1978 Demo)  (2:05)

04. In the Future  (1977/1978 Demo)  (2:22)

05. Free Money  (1977/1978 Demo)  (3:30)

06. Never Never  (1977/1978 Demo)  (2:32)

07. V.I.P. (1977/1978 Demo)  (2:42)

08. Silent Community  (1977/1978 Demo)  (3:21)

09. Don't Dictate  (1977/1978 Demo)  (2:55)

10. Movement (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (3:07)

11. Stone Heroes (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (3:24)

12. Vision  (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (3:27)

13. Future Daze  (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (3:52)

14. She Is the Slave  (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (1:50)

15. Danger Signs  (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (2:41)

16. Last Saving Grace  (John Peel Session- July 5, 1978)  (2:28)

17. Come into the Arena (Live at Newcastle)  (2:55)

18. Movement (Live at Newcastle)  (2:55)

19. Lovers of Outrage  (Live at Newcastle)  (3:47)

20. She Is the Slave  (Live at Newcastle)  (3:12)

21. Too Many Friends  (Live at Newcastle)  (2:27)

22. Killed in the Rush  (Live at Newcastle)  (1:52)

23. Danger Signs (Alternate Version)  (Live at Newcastle)  (3:18)

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Part I       Part II       Part III

 

 Penetration

Live: 1978-1979

Easy Action ~ 2008

While their studio albums brought them in for a good bit of criticism for not being punk enough, no one can deny that Penetration was a punk band to be reckoned with on stage, and nowhere is this captured as magnificently as on Live: 1978-1979. Comprised of two complete shows, both of which find the band insistently pushing against the limits of the punk genre, this compilation is a powerful reminder of Pauline Murray's singular voice, as well as her all-too-often overlooked contributions to the U.K. punk scene of the late seventies and the beginnings of post-punk.

Tracklist- Disc I: Live at Thames Poly, Dec. 16, 1978

01. Future Daze  (2:21)

02. Life's a Gamble  (3:13)

03. Lovers of Outrage  (4:20)

04. V.I.P.  (2:48)

05. Vision  (3:50)

06. Too Many Friends  (3:17)

07. Nostalgia  (4:07)

08. Movement  (3:14)

09. Neverr  (2:23)

10. Stone Heroes  (3:40)

11. Free Money  (4:27)

12. Silent Community  (2:53)

13. Don't Dictate  (3:52)

14. Duty Free Technology  (1:43)

15. Firing Squad (3:31)

16. Money Talks  (2:00)

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Part I       Part II

Tracklist- Disc II: Live at Newcastle, Oct. 14, 1979

01. Shout Above the Noise  (4:16)

02. Life's a Gamble  (2:31)

03. She Is a Slave  (3:34)

04. Lifeline  (2:29)

05. What's Going On?  (3:07)

06. Movement  (3:20)

07. Party's Over  (2:38)

08. Lovers of Outrage  (2:47)

09. Too Many Friends  (2:29)

10. Killed in the Rush  (2:13)

11. New Recruit  (2:53)

12. On Reflection  (2:23)

13. Nostalgia  (4:06)

14. Come into the Open (3:04)

15. Danger Signs  (3:13)

16. Free Money  (3:35)

17. Stone Heroes (Split Announcement)  (3:48)

18. Future Daze  (2:53)

19. V.I.P. (2:21)

20. Money Talks  (1:26)

21. Neverr  (1:59)

22. Duty Free Technology  (1:28)

23. Don't Dictate  (3:52)

24. Firing Squad  (3:02)

25. Don't Dictate  (3:35)

26. Danger Signs (2:46)

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Part I       Part II       Part III       Part IV

 

Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls

S/T

Polestar ~ 1993/1980

Tracklist-

01. Screaming in the Darkness  (3:37)

02. Dream Sequence I  (3:20)

03. European Eyes  (3:21)

04. Shoot You Down  (2:07)

05. Sympathy  (2:48)

06. Time Slipping  (4:04)

07. Drummer Boy  (3:04)

08. Thundertunes  (3:23)

09. When Will We Learn  (3:35)

10. Mr. X  (4:27)

11. Judgement Day  (4:26)

12. The Visitor (Searching for Heaven EP)  (3:44)

13. Animal Crazy (Searching for Heaven EP)  (3:17)

14. Searching for Heaven (Searching for Heaven EP)  (2:59)

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Part I       Part II

Back Pages of (Post) Punk: Additional Chapters