Rema-Rema

English post-punk band

Rema-Rema

Origin| England
Genres| Post-punk, Art punk, Noise rock
Years active| c. 1979– December 1980
Labels| 4AD
Past members| Gary Asquith
Marco Pirroni
Mick Allen
Mark Cox
Dorothy Max Prior

Rema-Rema were an English music group consisting of Gary Asquith (guitar/vocals), Marco Pirroni (guitar), Michael Allen (bass/vocals), Mark Cox (keyboards) and Dorothy Prior –known as "Max"– (drums), .[1]

Rema-Rema were signed to the English indie label 4AD, but broke up in December 1980.[2] They are today best known for their song "Fond Reflections", reinterpreted as "Fond Affections" and sung by Gordon Sharp for This Mortal Coil's 1984 album It'll End in Tears.[3]

## History

[edit]

Asquith and Allen went to the same school. After his departure from punk band The Models, Allen asked Asquith to join in a new project, called Rema-Rema. However, the group dissolved when Marco Pirroni joined Adam and the Ants.[4]

Pirroni had been an original member of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and was a member of Adam and the Ants. Asquith, Allen and Cox went on to form another short-lived band Mass, which then split up to form Renegade Soundwave (Asquith) and The Wolfgang Press (Allen and Cox). Max later joined Psychic TV, and also recorded a single "I Confess" under the name Dorothy, co-written with Alex Fergusson, released on Industrial Records in 1980.

Their sole four-track EP, Wheel in the Roses (released 1980 on 4AD), featured one side of studio recordings and another of live material. Their songs "Fond Affections" and "Rema-Rema" were later covered by This Mortal Coil and Big Black respectively. Two live tracks from the Acklam Hall gig of April 1979, "Why Ask Why?" and "Christopher" appeared on the tape only release, The Men with the Deadly Dreams, on White Stains in 1981.

In 2022, a documentary about the group, What You Could Not Visualise, was directed by Italian-Canadian filmmaker Marco Porsia and premiered on 10 November 2022 at the Doc N Roll Film Festival in London.[5]

## Discography

[edit]

Releases

* Wheel in the Roses EP (1980)
* Fond Reflections 2x CD (2019)

Compilation appearances

* "Feedback Song" on Natures Mortes – Still Lives (1981)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Read an extract from 69 Exhibition Road by Dorothy Max Prior – The Wire". The Wire Magazine – Adventures in Modern Music. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
2. ^ "Send No Flowers \ Rema-Rema \ by Martin Aston". 4AD. Retrieved 25 June 2025
3. ^ Aston 2013, pp. 35, 51, 155.
4. ^ "MVRemix Urban Interviews – Lavender Pill Mob | Online Rap Magazine | US and Canadian Underground Hip Hop and Soul". Mvremix.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
5. ^ "Rema Rema -Fonder Recollections". Outsideleft. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

## Sources

[edit]

* Aston, Martin (2013). Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD. London: The Friday Project. ISBN 978-0-00-748961-9.

## External links

[edit]

* 4AD Rema-Rema Profile
* Eyesore database: Rema-Rema
* The Story of "I Confess"
* Doc'n'Roll documentary What You Could Not Visualise: REMA REMA - 2022 by Marco Porsia

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI

Artists|

* MusicBrainz