There were so many good indiepop bands in the the late 80s who came, who were seen by a few and then left. Girl Of My Best Friend were one of those bands. They had one single and (of course) a flexi disc, both of which came out at the start of 1990 (at least, that's when I bought them).
I first heard GOMBF on the excellent Something's Burning In Paradise compilation tape in 88. They appeared on a few other tapes, then came the records, then nothing. I don't know why. Anyway, back in 88 I wrote to them in their Wellingborough, Northants, mansion and the singer Jo sent very nicely sent me a tape of demos and a live recording.
I can't remember if cash was exchanged. Sometimes bands sent out tapes for free, sometimes in exchange for a blank tape, sometimes they sold them. I'm pretty sure this was a free one. Maybe they didn't have many people writing to them to say they how much they enjoyed their music. They should have.
Now? I still really enjoy their music. This first demo is from 1987 and is called Girl Of My Best Friend.
This second demo is from 1988 and is called My Best Friend. I guess their song-name generator was stuck. Ignore the opening riff, which is borrowed from Billy Bragg's Levi Stubbs' Tears; everything else is their own.
Hi, Great blog, can you please post their track "military days"? Thanks so much !!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, anon. I haven't digitised Military Days so can't post it.
ReplyDeleteAh, you found the tape then Ben!
ReplyDeleteHow you doing? Been a while since I've been in touch!
Yeah, I finally rescued boxes of old stuff from my dad's attic. Doing well, thanks. If you find yourself in London any time, let's have a beer.
ReplyDeleteWell that was a blast from the past! I just stumbled over the web site! I was the bass player for GOMBF in 1987 and this brought back some fond memories, so thank you! I lost the only copy of the demo tape when I moved the following year and have'nt heard this since then! If you ever put the other tracks on I would love to hear them again! Ivan.
ReplyDeleteHi Ivan. Happy to help - email me your postal address and I'll send you a CD (after I've found a moment to digitise them).
ReplyDeleteHello Ben, that's very kind of you, thank you! Not being that familar with technology, how do I find your e-mail? Ivan.
ReplyDeleteAh, I cunningly hid the email address under the contact heading: didnotchartATgmail.com
ReplyDeletePlease re-up demos :)
ReplyDelete