Playing With A Different Sex
by Au Pairs

Playing With A Different Sex by Au Pairs
Year: 1981
Release date: 1981-05-00
Overall rank: 3,659th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 83 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (61st)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (539th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,659th)

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Au Pairs bestography

Playing With A Different Sex is ranked as the best album by Au Pairs.

Au Pairs album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (3,659th)
Playing With A Different Sex
Lower ranked (30,164th) »
Sense And Sensuality

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Playing With A Different Sex track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 77 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Playing With A Different Sex rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,659th | 1980s rank: 539th | 1981 rank: 61st
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026matterhornriderTop 48 Music Albums of 198134/482
2026 cestuneblagueTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s67/1007
2026 imacgillTop 100 Music Albums of 198165/1002
2026 neilgeeTop 100 Music Albums of 19818/1005
2026JohnnyoGreatest albums of 1981 by Ultimate Record Collector18/55 -
2026 HaydenTop 100 Music Albums of 198115/1004
2026LittleM1971Top 89 Music Albums of 198139/893
2026 WasinskiTop 100 Music Albums of 198155/1002
2026Exist-en-cielTop 100 Music Albums of 198145/1003
2026 MadhattanJackTop 100 Music Albums of 198177/1001
2026SkernsTop 85 Music Albums of 198118/854
2026 Patman360Top 100 Music Albums of 198119/1004
2026joathomeTop 41 Music Albums of 198120/413
2026saltysurpriseTop 52 Music Albums of 198133/522
2025OFarrioTop 22 Music Albums of 198112/223
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s84/1003
2025mostlymor1981 (Listening Project Part 1)73/100 -
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1981 by Acclaimed Music37/47 -
2025JohnnyoGreatest albums of the '80's (201 - 300) by U R C20/100 -
2025 LadyGodivaTop 100 Music Albums of the 1980s70/1006
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 91
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 405
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Playing With A Different Sex collection

Playing With A Different Sex ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 83 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 83 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
03/16/2026 04:52 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  9,58570/100
 
100/100
 
01/28/2026 00:19 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  1,20997/100
 
65/100
 
11/12/2025 09:49 MadhattanJack  Ratings distribution  5,84666/100
 
80/100
 
05/06/2025 22:58 matterhornrider  Ratings distribution  5,03381/100
 
70/100
 
09/17/2024 22:28 BorderFreeAndrew  Ratings distribution  15,30274/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.3/100, a mean average of 77.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.2.

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Playing With A Different Sex favourites

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Playing With A Different Sex comments

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Rating:  
85/100
From 03/30/2021 06:06 | #267955
Well produced and performed and Lesley Woods has a great voice. Typical post-punk riffs over an often dub bassline. Gang of Four is the most obvious comparison. Lyrics are interesting especially the interplay with the backing vocalist. I think my favourite was 'Come Again' with it's realistic portrayal of sex and the political song 'Armagh' is powerful. But it's all great.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/15/2018 20:37 | #205762
Sharply written post-punk album about sex and the role of gender.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
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6. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Damaged by Black Flag
9. Dare by The Human League
10. Deceit by This Heat