Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls

Following the demise of Penetration, Murray (b. 8 March 1958, Durham, England) departed, with bass guitarist Robert Blamire, to form a new group. Producers Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins were claimed to be the ‘Invisible’ members, while the actual line-up comprised John Maher (ex-Buzzcocks), Dave Rowbotham and Dave Hassell. The Invisible Girls would also act as studio and road band for John Cooper Clarke, and included among its ranks Pete Shelley, Karl Burns (The Fall), Bill Nelson, Vini Reilly (Durutti Column) and numerous others. A self-titled album and single, ‘Dream Sequence’, announced the arrival of Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls in 1980, and gained strong critical support. The album featured guest appearances from Wayne Hussey (ex-Dead Or Alive, Sisters Of Mercy, The Mission) in addition to the previously mentioned Invisible luminaries. Despite this fine collection, the band split after two subsequent single releases from it: ‘Searching For Heaven’ and ‘Mr. X’. Blamire went into production work while Murray took two years away from the music industry: ‘I just... retreated from music really, just backed right out and decided what I wanted to do. Which took about a year to two years... I think Penetration to the Invisible Girls was such a vast leap that it lost everyone. It lost us as well’. Blamire and Murray reunited in the similarly short-lived Pauline Murray And The Storm, before retiring from the music business at the start of the following decade. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]