The Au Pairs formed in Birmingham in 1979, part of what became known as the “second wave” of punk, or simply “post-punk”. These groups were beginning to realize what excellent potential this new musical form had as a form of information dissemination and propaganda. The Au Pairs was fronted by Lesley Woods (on vocals and guitar (who was at the time one of only a handful of “out” lesbians in the whole punk music scene). The other members included guitarist Paul Foad, bassist Jane Munro and drummer Pete Hammond. As for influences, The Au Pairs shared political and musical kinship with the Mekons and the Gang of Four.

The Au Pairs were characterized by Munro’s heavy and prominent bass lines accented by two choppy, Jamaican style guitars. Although brittle and dissonant, the music was surprisingly catchy and extremely danceable. The group’s greatest asset was undoubtedly the fine and distinctive voice of Lesley, and live it was often the vocal interplay between Lesley and lead guitarist Paul that provided the most compelling spectacle. For a while, this group was considered very hip and was well-liked by critics. However, although the group released several singles during their career, they enjoyed only moderate success on the indie charts.

The Au Pairs were able to use their mixed line-up to highlight gender clash in their songs, with lyrics celebrating female sexuality and power stuggles between the sexes in relationships; they also took obligatory swipes at the conservative political climate sweeping England after Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister. The group released two studio albums, Playing with a Different Sex in 1981 and Sense and Sensuality in 1982. Interestingly, after their bootleg Equal But Different was released in 1983, an official version of the same concert was released as the LP Live in Berlin (with two less songs than on bootleg, however). Their last release was the BBC Sessions, also released in 1983. The group disbanded later that year.