One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) by A.C. Marias

I name this moment eternity
And wait for it to pass.

Three Rooms

There's no-one in the first room. A light shines in through the far side window, splintered by the vertical blinds into parallel courses, channels that guide dust from the ceiling to the floor and back again. The couch is red and comes to life under the play of filtered sunlight. "Dappled" is the word people use when they want to be poetic. A student of dance lives here; you can tell from the magazines on the coffee table. But she's not at home.

In the next apartment, several people have gathered for cigarettes and tea. The blinds are drawn. No faces can be seen in the shade and circling smoke. Eyes are closed in the pregnant twilight. Everyone concentrates, hands held in a circle. Above the couch (brown this time) a volunteer floats gently, swaying from side to side. It's as though he was suspended by an invisible string, an anchor extended from the ceiling to his heart.

Down the street a sign swings in the wind... tick... tock... tick... tock. It marks the corner pub where people gather at the end of their workday. Or maybe a little bit before the end. It's alright to be early; it's a friendly place. You can chew the fat and discuss how hot it was at noon, or who is most likely to win the big game this weekend. In the middle of the room a woman in red dances, solo. But she's not on her own; she's with everyone else in the bar. And everyone is with her.

Women share secrets. A man starts his own private dance, carefree. Another strums a guitar repetitively. Sunlight streams in the windows, bleaching the colour from the scene. It could be anytime. It could be the nineteen-thirties.

Later that evening, back in the first flat, the dancer is sitting on the couch, reading a book on aviation. From the radio comes a message. "We must be on you, but cannot see you -- but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet."

The dancer thinks about cataloguing the gestures of all the men she saw in the bar. She picks up a sketchbook and a medium-hard pencil and begins to draw. An hour passes in almost silence. If you were on an island in the Pacific ocean the time would be 8:43am. The island being small, you'd be able to hear the gentle surf no matter where you sat.

There is a burst of static from the radio. "We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait."

She looks up at the radio in anticipation. Nothing happens. Outside there is the sound of passing traffic, a sudden squeel of brakes.

"We are running on line north and south." The line crackles back to silence, one last time.

One of our girls has gone missing.



Angela Conway : dancer : choreographer : video director : musician
collaborated with Gilbert and Lewis from Wire in Dome and P’o
recorded as A.C. Marias:
"Drop" single, 1981
"The Whispered Year" on Touch cassette Meridians 1, 1983
"Just Talk" single, 1986
"Time Was" single, 1988
One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) LP, 1989

One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing)
01 Trilby's Couch
02 Just Talk
03 There's A Scent Of Rain In The Air
04 Our Dust
05 So Soon
06 Give Me
07 To Sleep
08 Looks Like
09 Sometime
10 One Of Our Girls Has Gone Missing
11 Time Was
UK LP Mute [STUMM 68]
UK CD Mute [CD STUMM 68]
released 29 August 1989
track 11 is on the CD version only

The Wolfgang Press Have Something To Show You

Outside there is a beautiful lake draped in fog, flocks of birds wheeling overhead. Inside the singer makes drunken bird impressions. Outside a white horse runs free, but inside the band ride it backwards, slapping its ass. Mick's got a headache because someone is pounding his skull in slow motion; he's dizzy because someone is spinning his chair. Why won't they stop? The water drips over the light socket; something's gonna blow! The alcohol is poured over the singer's head; something's gotta give!

Ever been drunk on tequila? The Wolfgang Press have, and decided to make "Cut The Tree" to show you what it's like.



In this video the band have apparently confused two states: Kansas and Texas. But oh well, they're English. For no reason the guitarist will run around a barn. For no reason there is a toilet in the field. For no reason the singer holds a pig. For no reason... aw, heck, it's The Wolfgang Press. For no reason it will all work beautifully.



From 1983 to 1991 these oddballs explored a dark internalised funk that revelled in texture and drone. The Burden Of Mules, The Legendary Wolfgang Press And Other Tall Stories, Standing Up Straight, Bird Wood Cage and even Queer have much to offer the adventurous listener.

Who gave that man a hammer? Big mistake!



Really they should have stopped long before it came to the following, but thankfully they only released one crap album. Mark Cox doesn't want to mime and Andrew Gray would rather take off his clothes. These girls are in big trouble; they just don't know it yet.



One could argue that TWP mellowed only to get a subversive message into America. Maybe it worked, but there's still no good reason to listen to the music on Funky Little Demons more than once. Still, the thought that someone might see this video and go on to hear tracks like "Prostitute" is cause for some small celebration.



Watch these before they are taken down.

-- Second Chameleon

Magazine Promo Vids

Magazine made five promo videos for their songs. These are straightforward affairs that emphasise mood. Though a girl dancer does make a business-as-usual appearance this is not at all Robert Palmer territory.

Magazine Live at the Metropol

Since you can never have too much Magazine live, here's a performance at the Metropol in Berlin on 30 October 1980, as broadcast by West Deutsche Rundfunk. A dozen tracks that really show off Barry Adamson's bass playing.

A Short History of Martha Ladly... Via YouTube

No-one's history should be told by YouTube. But since Crash The Driver did such a good job it's only fun to look at the flip side. Music videos are not the most forgiving medium, are they?

"Light Years From Love"
...in which we learn Martha has a pretty good back-stroke.



"Club Country" by The Associates
...featuring some naff violin miming but a hilarious Martha moment midway.



"Party Fears Two" by The Associates
...bad suit day?

...or maybe the flapper look?


"18 Carat Love Affair" by The Associates
...Billy loves Martha, Martha loves Billy?


"Addicted To Love" by Robert Palmer
Ladly toured to Japan with the band in 1986 and can be seen here having "fun" at 0:30 and 3:12. I say that in kindness so you can skip the rest of the video. But you do know that Palmer covered a Gary Numan tune and even co-wrote a song with Numan? It's a wonderful world!



-- Second Chameleon