The Trend – "Polly and Wendy" (1980)

Polly’s trendy

And so is her sister Wendy

I first heard the Trend’s “Polly and Wendy” on Steven Lorber’s “Mystic Eyes” radio show in 1980 – the year the record was released.

I’ve been curious about who Polly and Wendy were ever since then.  Recently, I tracked down Mark “Rev” Revell, the lead singer of the Trend, and found out that the two trendy sisters in “Polly and Wendy” were based on real girls.

“Our bassist, Steve Scott (who wrote the lyrics of the song) and I dated twins back in 1979,” Rev told me.  “Steve went on to marry his twin, and they are still very happily married.” 

Rev sent me a photo of the sisters taken in 2017 at a UK music festival that the Trend headlined:

But he didn’t tell me which one is Polly and which one is Wendy.

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Rev started singing in his parish church choir at the age of 10.  “I loved doing it, and still enjoy listening to a church choir,” he told me.  “My mother’s father was a guitarist, and I started playing guitar when I was 14.  I began to write my own songs a couple of years later.”

Rev said that the music he heard at home when he was growing up was a “massive influence” on him. 

“The radio was constantly on in my home, playing the Beatles and Rolling Stones and all the hits of the day,” he said.  “My mother had a great record collection – she had very eclectic tastes.  Her favorites included Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin.”

Rev’s favorites as a teenager included glam rockers like Alice Cooper and David Bowie.  Later, he became a fan of Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson.

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The Trend released their first single, “Teenage Crush” (co-written by Revell and Scott), in 1979 on their own label, Trendy Records.  The record’s success helped the Trend get a record deal with MCA, who assigned producer Liam Sternberg to work with them.

The Trend in 1979

Sternberg was an American who had written the Bangles’ hit, “Walk Like an Egyptian,” and produced records by Kirsty MacColl and Rachel Sweet (among others). 

“Liam Sternberg was an excellent producer who brought many things to the table,” Revell told me.  He gives Sternberg particular credit for the wonderful vocal harmonies on “Polly and Wendy” and the other tracks the Trend recorded for MCA.  “The backing vocals on those records are something we have always been very proud of.”

“Polly and Wendy” was released as a single by MCA in April 1980, but it got very little airplay.  The label sent the band out on tour with Wishbone Ash (which was also signed to MCA) in hopes that the Trend’s subsequent singles would sell better, but the strategy didn’t work.

So the Trend threw in the towel and broke a few months after the tour ended.

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In 2016, an old friend found Rev Revell on Facebook and gave him the idea of tracking down his old bandmates – some of whom he hadn’t spoken to since 1980 – and reforming the Trend to play one live gig together.

Rev was astonished by how good the group sounded when they got together to rehearse.  The first live appearance went so well that the Trend decided to keep going.  

The Trend in 2017

In 2017, the band released Woodseats Lane, a retrospective album that includes “Teenage Crush,” “Polly and Wendy,” and other Trend songs recorded back in 1979-1980.

The Trend is about to release a second album titled Bella Vega, which you’ll be able to find on Amazon, iTunes, and other digital music platforms.  Click here for a preview of some of the songs on that album.

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Click here to listen to “Polly and Wendy.”  I’m not sure that any American DJ other than Steven Lorber ever played it, but I was lucky enough to be listening to his “Mystic Eyes” program one Saturday night when he gave it a spin.

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: