Zoo Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 1978 |
Founder | David Balfe Bill Drummond |
Defunct | 1982 |
Distributor(s) | ABC-Paramount Records |
Genre | Post-punk, alternative rock |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Location | Liverpool, England |
Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band Big in Japan (the label's first release being the From Y To Z and Never Again EP). The label also released two singles by Lori and the Chameleons, a Balfe and Drummond band which they formed after Big in Japan folded. [1] Zoo Records went on to release early work from The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen. The label also released the first single, "Iggy Pop's Jacket", by the Liverpool band Those Naughty Lumps.
Only two albums were released on the label: a Scott Walker compilation put together by Julian Cope, called Fire Escape in the Sky , and a label compilation called To the Shores of Lake Placid. (In 1995, an American bootlegger took various Zoo singles and tracks from To the Shores of Lake Placid and released a bootleg titled The Zoo Uncaged 1978–1982.)
Fire Escape in the Sky had the catalogue number Zoo Two, while To the Shores of Lake Placid had Zoo Four. Zoo One was scheduled to be the Teardrop Explodes album Kilimanjaro (later released on Mercury Records) while Zoo Three was to be the same band's album Wilder.
To the Shores of Lake Placid | |
---|---|
Compilation album by Various | |
Released | 1982 |
Recorded | 1977–1981 |
Genre | Post-punk |
Label | Zoo Records (ZOO 4) |
To the Shores of Lake Placid was released in 1982 and was compiled by Bill Drummond and Mick Houghton.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Society for Cutting Up Men" | Big in Japan | Big in Japan | |
2. | "Iggy Pop's Jacket" | Peter Hart | Those Naughty Lumps | |
3. | "When I Dream" | Julian Cope | The Teardrop Explodes | |
4. | "The Pictures on My Wall" | Leslie Pattinson, Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant | Echo & the Bunnymen | |
5. | "Read It in Books" | Julian Cope, Ian McCulloch | Echo & the Bunnymen | |
6. | "Lonely Spy" | David Balfe, Bill Drummond | Lori and the Chameleons | |
7. | "The Winds" | David Balfe | The Turquoise Swimming Pools |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
8. | "Kwalo Klobinsky's Lullaby" | Milk, Kevin Stapleton | Whopper | |
9. | "A Suicide" | Alan Gill, Dave Hughes | Dalek (I Love You) | |
10. | "Burst Balloons" | David Balfe | The Turquoise Swimming Pools | |
11. | "Camera, Camera" | Julian Cope, Gary Dwyer, Mick Finkler, Paul Simpson | The Teardrop Explodes | |
12. | "Suicide A Go Go" | Big in Japan | Big in Japan | |
13. | "Villiers Terrace" | Leslie Pattinson, Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant | Echo & the Bunnymen | |
14. | "Take A Chance" | Julian Cope, Gary Dwyer, Mick Finkler | The Teardrop Explodes |
Lori and the Chameleons were a short-lived new wave band that existed during 1979 and 1980. Formed in Liverpool by ex-Big in Japan's Bill Drummond (guitar) and David Balfe (bass, keyboards), and the singer Lori Lartey, they combined synthpop, and post-punk styles in their songs. [2]
Lori and the Chameleons released only two singles while together, in 1979 and 1980. The first, "Touch", was written over the course of a year by Balfe and Drummond, based on Lartey's holiday in Tokyo two years earlier. [3] Tim Whitaker of Deaf School/Pink Military played drums on the single. [4] "Touch" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart in December 1979, at No. 70. [5] A second single, "The Lonely Spy" featured Gary Dwyer of the Teardrop Explodes on drums and Ray Martinez on trumpet. [4] Lartey went to art school, while Balfe and Drummond began to work with the Teardrop Explodes, as keyboardist and manager, respectively.
*on 12-inch single only
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. By 1980, Pete de Freitas joined as the band's drummer.
William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he famously burned £1 million in 1994. More recent art activities, carried out under Drummond's chosen banner of the Penkiln Burn, include making and distributing cakes, soup, flowers, beds and shoe-shines. More recent music projects include No Music Day, and the international tour of a choir called The17. Drummond is the author of several books about art and music.
Big in Japan were a punk band that emerged from Liverpool, England in the late 1970s. They are better known for the later successes of their band members than for their own music.
Julian David Cope is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side projects such as Queen Elizabeth, Brain Donor and Black Sheep.
The Crucial Three were a short-lived band that existed for approximately six weeks in early 1977. They are nevertheless notable on account of the individual success of all three founding members: Julian Cope formed The Teardrop Explodes and has enjoyed a long and successful solo career as an author, photographer and singer, Ian McCulloch formed the very successful Echo & the Bunnymen, while guitarist Pete Wylie formed Wah! Heat and enjoyed major chart success with "The Story of the Blues". In those early days, McCulloch sang, Cope played bass, and Wylie played guitar. A drummer, Stephen Spence, also joined at some point in their brief life.
Crocodiles is the debut album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen. It was released on 18 July 1980 in the United Kingdom and on 17 December 1980 in the United States. The album reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. "Pictures on My Wall" and "Rescue" had previously been released as singles.
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward", the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s. The group also launched the career of group frontman Julian Cope as well as that of keyboard player and co-manager David Balfe. Other members included early Smiths producer Troy Tate.
Dalek I Love You were a synthpop group from the Wirral, England. At various points in their existence, the band was also known as Dalek I. Record executives at Phonogram shortened the band's name without telling them for the "Freedom Fighters" single.
Heaven Up Here is the second album by the English post-punk band Echo & the Bunnymen, released on 30 May 1981. In June 1981, Heaven Up Here became Echo & the Bunnymen's first Top 10 release when it reached number 10 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also the band's first entry into the United States album charts when it reached number 184 of the Billboard 200. The songs "A Promise" and "Over the Wall" were released as singles.
From Y To Z and Never Again is an EP by the seminal punk band Big in Japan. It includes four of their six recorded songs and is notable for being the first release on Zoo Records, the label created by band members Bill Drummond and David Balfe. It was also one of the first releases that came from the late '70s-early '80s Liverpool rock scene. The EP has been out of print since 1978, but the tracks are available on the Zoo Records compilation Zoo Uncaged.
Alan David Gill is an English vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, who formed part of the synthpop band Dalek I Love You and the post-punk/neo-psychedelic band the Teardrop Explodes.
David Balfe is a musician and record company executive, most notable for playing keyboards with the Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food independent record labels, signing Blur and for being the subject of their first number one hit, "Country House".
Kilimanjaro is the debut album by the neo-psychedelic Liverpool band The Teardrop Explodes, released on 10 October 1980. It contains versions of the band's early singles – "Sleeping Gas", "Bouncing Babies", "Treason" and "When I Dream" – as well as their biggest hit, "Reward". The album also includes the song "Books" – originally a song by Julian Cope's previous band, The Crucial Three, it was also recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen. In 2000, Q magazine placed Kilimanjaro at number 95 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
Peter James Wylie is an English singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel.
The Wild Swans is a post-punk band from Liverpool, England, which originally formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson (ex-keyboards) left The Teardrop Explodes. The band's personnel has been subject to regular turnover, with vocalist Simpson being the only constant member.
Wilder is the second album by neo-psychedelic Liverpool band The Teardrop Explodes, and the final completed album released by the group.
Korova was a record label, named after the fictitious Korova Milk Bar that was featured in the film A Clockwork Orange, 'korova' also being the Russian word for 'cow'. The imprint was founded in London, UK in 1979 as a division of Warner Communications' WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) record company. Korova's first album release was Echo & the Bunnymen's debut album Crocodiles, with Zoo Records' Bill Drummond and David Balfe closely involved in the project.
World Shut Your Mouth is the debut solo album by Julian Cope.
Radio Blank was an English short-lived R&B and punk band formed on the Wirral Peninsula, in November 1976, by Alan Gill (guitar), Keith Hartley (vocals), David Balfe (bass) and Steven Brick (drums).
Everybody Wants to Shag... The Teardrop Explodes was the third and final studio album by neo-psychedelic Liverpool band The Teardrop Explodes. When the band reconvened to record their third album, they were reduced to the trio of Cope, Dwyer and a reinstated Balfe.