Life’s Gamble – Pauline Murray Omnibus 2023
Life’s A Gamble is the autobiography of singer-songwriter Pauline Murray who is the vocalist for punk band Penetration and later on the post-punk Invisible Girls.
Penetration are an old school early Punk band who were tipped for great things while all Virgin punk signings were having hits but never broke through and suddenly split up in late 1979 after their second album came out.
First off the book is exquisite. It’s an A4 hardback with a fantastic picture by Ray Stevenson of Pauline in a beret on the front in Johnny Rotten’s old pulled-apart pullover (I’m sure Rotten was photographed in the same pullover with beret). Inside is equally as sumptuous, from the way the writing is laid out to the choice of images pulled from the very early stages of their career (mainly from her ex-husband Cindy Stern) through their lifespan. The only thing missing is one of those lovely bits of string in the binding to enable you to bookmark a suitable spot.
A point to notice is that the whole book, as you’d expect because it’s an autobiography of Pauline, is all from her viewpoint and that essentially by the end of 1977 Pauline and Robert Blamire were the key people and decision-makers in the band which would have consequences to what happened to the band.
The other notable thing about the book is out of all of the punk bands that came into being Penetration came from a background so different from the tower blocks and urban London or Manchester city life. Their roots was a working class mining village. A strength of the book is the way Pauline doesn’t just recount a standard rock tale but also tells the story into her roots of where she lived and her parents and you can see how it informed some of her lyrics which are also shown.
The book could just as easily have been called Being In A Band Is A Gamble or Danger Signs and I would suggest it is essential reading for any aspiring band just setting out on their journey or getting some attention on the pitfalls of being in a band.
Punk short-circuited the need to spend years developing and improving your stage presence and ability. At the same time that created its own problems as inexperienced musicians and interpersonal relationships were at the mercy of savvy record companies and management and thrust into the spotlight at such a rapid speed it pressured and forced cracks in those bands.
And Penetration had it all and arguably made every mistake. As their history unfolds they get dodgy contract offers for a first single and to appear on the Live At The Roxy album having only played a couple of gigs. A one-off deal with Virgin Records takes an age to turn into something bigger and that offer, though big, basically means the band will have nothing unless there is a big success. Meanwhile, they have key members leave the band and new members join and they have Virgin suggesting they need additional members which causes friction and unbalances the band when Pauline & Robert make their choice.
There’s very little mention of Pauline being a female-fronted band. It doesn’t appear that Virgin pressured the band into trying to focus on Pauline which is admirable. The portrayal of touring of late nights, poor food then home and no respite as friends and family visit, is always in the background and there’s the unspoken continued support of her husband. In fact the only time personal relationships come in is during the Invisible Girls period where Pauline splits up with her husband after she realises her and Robert Blamire are in love and their manager then declares his love interest in her as well!
They have management troubles with another poor contract and end up on an endless cycle of tours as Virgin unsuccessfully try to get a hit. They finally end up in the States on the harshest of tour treadmills and then the demand for another record before they have enough material causes guitarist Neale Floyd to quit and the band call it a day with nothing and actually owing Virgin money.
It’s a relieved Pauline who comes across most proud of her work in the Invisible Girls and then her solo stuff which again aren’t successfully commercially and she loses her record deal before stepping away and then Penetration coming back again in the 2000’s.
Highly recommended book. For an alternative view see Neale Floyd’s memories here. Neale has a much more negative view of the band and the decisions that were made. Check out the Punk77 interview with Pauline as well here.
TalkPunk
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