Rema-Rema

A loud blip in the history of their label and the post-punk era at large, Rema-Rema broke up before the then-nascent <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a> label issued their lone proper recording, Wheel in the Roses (1980). Short lifespan notwithstanding, the English band made a lasting impact. Two of their four original songs were covered by <a href="spotify:artist:5OK8j1JnhoBlivN32G7yOO">This Mortal Coil</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5EYkvHZuGM3pwU3DZUrrZ3">Big Black</a>, and their members went off to such acts as <a href="spotify:artist:2DppeCnNtvrLfEobq9Pw5r">Adam and the Ants</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3oi0s3WIuxBU5oh87n7za2">Psychic TV</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a>'s Mass and <a href="spotify:artist:30JExXexrTakSa79ce2mn8">the Wolfgang Press</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:34wtf7GZVapHNvysEvuFzY">Renegade Soundwave</a>. A series of archival releases, most notably the extensive Fond Reflections (2018), has kept the band's name alive while enhancing their legacy.

Named after a Polish machine manufacturer, Rema-Rema consisted of Michael "Mick" Allen (bass, vocals), Gary Asquith (guitar, vocals), Mark Cox (keyboards), Marco Pirroni (guitar), and Dorothy "Max" Prior (drums). Allen and Pirroni previously were in a punk band called Models, who in 1977 released their one and only single on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Step+Forward%22">Step Forward</a> label. A decidedly wayward and unstable by-product, Rema-Rema attracted <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a> co-founder <a href="spotify:artist:617bVGwrvCdXDx5qnX9o70">Peter Kent</a> with an early performance and obliged by recording an EP for the label. Wheel in the Roses, a four-song EP of hectoring and inscrutable post-punk, split studio and live recordings co-produced by the band and <a href="spotify:artist:4S7NPBGppsklAR8P5xmEpv">Wally Brill</a>. By the time the 12" reached shops in April 1980, Rema-Rema had gigged with <a href="spotify:artist:2kS4yz85MaZlxp2VaS3BEe">Cabaret Voltaire</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1UYhxPY1oqFUg1HfF8nV3k">Throbbing Gristle</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1aX2dmV8XoHYCOQRxjPESG">the Human League</a>. They had also split, hastened by <a href="spotify:artist:3QP0XPDwbvGivqDAaJ5f5G">Adam Ant</a>'s acquisition of Pirroni.

Rema-Rema alumni shot off in many directions. Later in 1980, Prior released through <a href="spotify:artist:1UYhxPY1oqFUg1HfF8nV3k">Throbbing Gristle</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Industrial+Records%22">Industrial Records</a> a pop single submitted for Eurovision consideration, and went on to play in a series of bands, including <a href="spotify:artist:3oi0s3WIuxBU5oh87n7za2">Psychic TV</a> for a short spell. Asquith, Allen, and Cox formed Mass, who released a 1980 single and a 1981 album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a>. The latter two musicians went on to establish yet another <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a> act, <a href="spotify:artist:30JExXexrTakSa79ce2mn8">the Wolfgang Press</a>, and Asquith eventually co-founded <a href="spotify:artist:34wtf7GZVapHNvysEvuFzY">Renegade Soundwave</a>. Meanwhile, Rema-Rema were covered multiple times. <a href="spotify:artist:5OK8j1JnhoBlivN32G7yOO">This Mortal Coil</a>, guided by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a> co-founder and head Ivo Watts-Russell, reinterpreted "Fond Affections" (with Mark Cox on synthesizer), and <a href="spotify:artist:5EYkvHZuGM3pwU3DZUrrZ3">Big Black</a> pounded out "Rema-Rema."

Out of print following a 1984 re-press, Wheel in the Roses was issued on compact disc nearly 20 years later in an edition of 1,000 copies. During 2014 and 2015, a pair of singles consisting of previously unreleased material was issued on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Inflammable+Material%22">Inflammable Material</a> label. Four years later, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%224AD%22">4AD</a> released Fond Reflections, an extensive archival anthology guided by Asquith. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi