Before
Tracey Thorn established herself with
Everything but the Girl, she produced mellow, spare indie pop with the all-female act the Marine Girls. Inspired by
the Raincoats and
the Young Marble Giants,
Thorn formed the Marine Girls with her schoolmate Gina and
Jane Fox in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, in 1980. At first,
Thorn played guitar with Gina on vocals and
Fox on bass. Since they knew no drummers, the group decided to focus on a minimalist approach to music. After Gina kept missing rehearsals, she was replaced by
Jane Fox's younger sister, Alice Fox, on vocals;
Thorn would eventually sing as well. The trio recorded a tape called A Day by the Sea and sold it to their acquaintances. The Marine Girls eventually released two albums in the U.K., 1982's Beach Party and 1983's Lazy Ways. Lazy Ways was produced by one of the band's influences, Stuart Moxham of
the Young Marble Giants. While attending Hull University,
Thorn began writing songs for herself; she was only able to gig with the Marine Girls during holidays. The Marine Girls broke up after
Thorn and Alice Fox had an argument following a concert in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1983.
Thorn then recorded her solo album
A Distant Shore before joining
Ben Watt in
Everything but the Girl. In 1997, Cherry Red Records combined both of the Marine Girls' albums onto one CD; spinART reissued the albums in the US four years later. ~ Michael Sutton