Pauline Murray, John Cooper Clarke and the Invisible Girls Newcastle City Hall 1980
I went to see Penetration play a lot in the North East during the late 70s, and was sad when they split. I always thought they deserved greater recognition and success than they achieved. But not to worry, lead singer Pauline soon bounced back with her own solo career, releasing an album and touring in late 1980. This home-coming gig featured Pauline and punk poet John Cooper Clarke each performing their own set. Both performers were backed by the Invisible Girls who had originally been formed to provide backing music for John Cooper Clarke. The Invisible Girls were Manchester producer Martin Hannett’s house band at the time and featured various members including at one point Wayne Hussey. I can’t be certain who was in the band at the City Hall concert but do remember that it featured the excellent Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly on guitar, Buzzcocks drummer John Maher, and Penetration’s Robert Blamire on bass. 
I think the Invisible Girls may have played their own short instrumental set before John Cooper Clarke came on stage. Vini Reilly had a particular guitar style, very atmospheric, beautiful and melodic. I never quite understood the need to add music to John Cooper Clarke’s poetry, which is strong enough to stand in its own right. I enjoyed seeing him with the Invisible Girls, but his set that night didn’t have the same edge as previous performances I had witnessed; the music somehow almost stifled John’s poems, and didn’t allow him to experiment with phrasing and rhythm in the way that he normally did. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable performance. Pauline’s solo material was much more melodic and poppier than the punk rock of Penetration, and her set that night featured songs from her first album, which is a classic of the time, and quite under-rated. The music is very atmospheric, dark, almost goth in parts. I remember this gig as an enjoyable evening with some uplifting music.
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