The Victims of Romance- Compilation Tracks
To kickstart another week, I’ve uploaded some loose compilation tacks by rare and forgotten U.K. post-punk outfit The Victims of Romance. Naturally, as with any band that has but a handful of songs in their (reported) discography, there’s little information to be found through various internet sources, but I’ve come up with a small dollop.
Victims of Romance was conceived in Gainsborough, featuring a female singer with the drawl of a passionate and operatic Patti Smith (complete with the occasional spoken word rant). The band’s style was gloomy, sharp, and minimal, with easy comparisons to early era Siouxsie and the Banshees, with a splash of synthesizer tossed in for good measure. The band split quickly after recording a handful of tracks, each of the members defaulting to various other projects, none of which got any further off the ground than The Victims of Romance.
The band released one cassette tape, which is incredibly scarce and hasn’t been circulated yet to my knowledge. The three tracks I’ve managed to acquire all hail from various compilations, while there’s yet another loose track floating around on the Nuclear Terra cassette.
The Victims of Romance- Compilation Tracks
1. 9 a.m.
2. All There Is
3. Abigail’s Party
“9 a.m.” hails from the We Couldn’t Agree on a Title comp., 1981
“All There Is” hails from the No Platform For Heels comp., 1982
“Abigail’s Party” hails from the Giraffe In Flames comp., 1984.
Happy Monday, ladies and gentlemen!
August 17, 2007 at 9:37 am
i have a slight obsession with female fronted bands… thanks for sharing this!
May 16, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Hi ! My name's MIchael Hatfield and I was the Bass player/sometime keyboards and songwriter with the Victims of Romance. Actually, we weren't from Yorkshire but a small town in Lincolnshire called Gainsborough. Thanks for the kind words- the classic lineup was Jo Jordon on vocals, Russ Booker on guitars, Paul Brittain on lead guitars and synths(it's his brilliant searing lead you hear on 9am) and a young prodigy called John Defriend on drums. We disbanded many years ago, but are still in touch- Russ is the guitar teacher in the school where I am an Assistant Principal. Happy to say hi to anyone who remembers us at mwhatfield@talktalk.net
keep up the good work- you never know who's listening!
May 6, 2017 at 9:35 am
Had one of their cassette demos – title was something thing to with the Northern Line, track Death in a Waiting room? “My life is undercooked, my mind raw with pride” ring any bells?
May 6, 2017 at 9:44 am
Four Stations on the Northern Line
https://www.discogs.com/ja/The-Victims-Of-Romance-Four-Stations-On-The-Northern-Line/release/7984827
Death in a Single Room..
September 6, 2018 at 10:36 am
I remember going to one of their relatively few gigs, can’t remember the date but it happened at The Drill Hall in Gainsborough. It was a tall building full of echo against which their sound system struggled very well. They drew quite a crowd for that gig. At the time I was personal friends with the band members. I remember the extrovert bass playing at that gig particularly.
April 4, 2024 at 4:32 pm
I did the cover photo for their cassette. Looked a bit two tone ish. I have lost the negs unfortunately. Would be nice to see it again.