Genre Alternative rock Distributor ABC Records | Country of origin United Kingdom Founded 1978 Defunct 1982 | |
Parent company Coca-Cola Communications Artists |
crew interview on souhaite faire de seine zoo records une r f rence
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. 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.
Contents
- crew interview on souhaite faire de seine zoo records une r f rence
- To the Shores of Lake Placid
- Release notes
- The Zoo Uncaged 19781982 track listing 1995
- Lori and the Chameleons
- Discography
- References
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
To the Shores of Lake Placid was released in 1982 and was compiled by Bill Drummond and Mick Houghton.
Release notes
The Zoo Uncaged 1978–1982 track listing (1995)
- "Suicide A Go Go" – Big in Japan
- "Nothing Special" – Big in Japan
- "Iggy Pop's Jacket" – Those Naughty Lumps
- "Pure and Innocent" – Those Naughty Lumps
- "Sleeping Gas" – The Teardrop Explodes
- "Camera Camera" – The Teardrop Explodes
- "The Pictures on My Wall" – Echo and the Bunnymen
- "Bouncing Babies" – The Teardrop Explodes
- "Touch" – Lori & The Chameleons
- "Love on the Ganges" – Lori and the Chameleons
- "To See You" – Expelaires
- "Frequency" – Expelaires
- "Treason" – The Teardrop Explodes
- "Books" – The Teardrop Explodes
- "Revolutionary Spirit" – The Wild Swans
- "God Forbid" – The Wild Swans
- "Society For Cutting Up Young Men" – Big in Japan
- "Taxi" – Big in Japan
- "Cindy and the Barbi Dolls" – Big in Japan
Lori and the Chameleons
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.
Lori and the Chameleons only released 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. Tim Whitaker of Deaf School/Pink Military played drums on the single. "Touch" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart in December 1979, at No. 70. A second single, "The Lonely Spy" featured Gary Dwyer of The Teardrop Explodes on drums and Ray Martinez on trumpet. Lartey went to art school, while Balfe and Drummond began to work with the Teardrop Explodes, as keyboardist and manager, respectively.
Discography
*on 12-inch single only