This video originally appeared in this space ten years and one day ago, but it had since been pulled by YouTube.  Now it has returned, so we can restore this post, updated with new details.

Lili-Marlene Premilovich, better known as Lene Lovich, is a true New Wave pioneer and musical treasure. An artist on the legendary Stiff Records label, Lovich blended her extensive art and dance training with Slavic shtick and New Wave inventivness to create a unique body of work. Quite simply, nobody else has a voice like hers.

Born in Detroit, expatriated to Hull, England when she was thirteen, Lovich, before signing to Stiff Records, rubbed shoulders with such random and diverse people as Salvador Dali, Arthur Brown, and French disco star, Cerrone. Her first appearance on record may have been as an audience member on Chuck Berry’s sing-along live recording of “My Ding-A-Ling.”

It was when Lovich started releasing music made with her musical and life partner, Les Chappell, that ears perked up around the world. With a five-octave range and a voice that could range from delicate and operatic to bombastic and powerful, Lovich made a huge mark on the outsider music scene.

It’s been twenty years since her last new  studio album(my review of Shadows and Dust, written for the Gazz.com‘s now-defunct “New Sounds” blog will be restored to PopCult soon), but she has formed a new touring band and was the opening act on the DEVO/B 52s tour last year, which will continue with select dates in 2026 in Europe. She’s also formed a label to reissue her back catalog. You can learn more about that at her website and on her Bandcamp page. The above concert was recorded at Studio 54 in 1981, and features an embryonic Thomas Dolby as one of her keyboardists.