Biography

A loud blip in the history of their label and the post-punk era at large, Rema-Rema broke up before the then-nascent 4AD 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 This Mortal Coil and Big Black, and their members went off to such acts as Adam and the Ants, Psychic TV, 4AD's Mass and the Wolfgang Press, and Renegade Soundwave. 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 Step Forward label. A decidedly wayward and unstable by-product, Rema-Rema attracted 4AD co-founder Peter Kent 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 Wally Brill. By the time the 12" reached shops in April 1980, Rema-Rema had gigged with Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, and the Human League. They had also split, hastened by Adam Ant's acquisition of Pirroni. Rema-Rema alumni shot off in many directions. Later in 1980, Prior released through Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records a pop single submitted for Eurovision consideration, and went on to play in a series of bands, including Psychic TV for a short spell. Asquith, Allen, and Cox formed Mass, who released a 1980 single and a 1981 album for 4AD. The latter two musicians went on to establish yet another 4AD act, the Wolfgang Press, and Asquith eventually co-founded Renegade Soundwave. Meanwhile, Rema-Rema were covered multiple times. This Mortal Coil, guided by 4AD co-founder and head Ivo Watts-Russell, reinterpreted "Fond Affections" (with Mark Cox on synthesizer), and Big Black 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 Inflammable Material label. Four years later, 4AD released Fond Reflections, an extensive archival anthology guided by Asquith. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi