Optic Nerve

DISCO ZOMBIES - South London Stinks

"It was 1977, there may well have been "knives in West 11", but at a student's hall of residence in Leicester, a packed room of cross-legged intellectuals were about to witness the debut of the Disco Zombies; Andy Ross on vocals and guitar, Geoff Dodimead on bass, Johnny "Guitar" Hawkins on guitar, and Andy Fullerton on drums. They were loud, fast and they had some witty one-liners. The four-piece added Dave Henderson from The Blazers, a chirpy power pop punk quintet. Record Shop owner -- and now Mayor Of Mablethorpe -- Carl Tebbutt launched Uptwon Records with a Disco Zombies EP. The record was shelved, but unperturbed, the band pressed on and recorded a session at the local radio station, "TV Screen Existence" was the only track that survived. The band lost Johnny "Guitar", relocated to London and took The Foamettes' guitarist Steve Gerrard with them who returned to Leicester to become a part of The Bomb Party. Steve was replaced by Mark Sutherland in what was to become the recognized line-up of The Disco Zombies for several years. By 1978, Andy Ross launched South Circular Records to release the band's debut single, "Drums Over London" and John Peel played it regularly. South Circular wasn't to last but Dave Henderson launched Dining Out. Dave and Andy journeyed to Ipswich to record the debut EP from the Peel-approved Adicts, the plan being to follow it with a Disco Zombies' single and regain momentum. "Here Comes The Buts" was the second Dining Out release, featuring the breakthrough Dr Boss drum machine; it was likened to The Cramps meets Neil Young in NME. They recorded for Dining Out the follow-up "The Year Of The Sex Olympics", backed with "Target Practice" and "New Scars" -- it never saw the light of day. By now, the Zombies had been through their dark post punk phase and "Where Have You Been Lately Tony Hateley" was a clever upbeat anthem. It was released on the Cordelia label's Obscure Independent Classics album. In 2011, the drum machine line up descended on Mark's studio, and they recorded two of their lengthier tracks: "Night Of The Big Heat" and "LHO". A few years later Andy Fullerton returned to the fold recording three more originals "Hit", "Lenin's Tomb", and "Paint It Red" for an even more limited edition ten-inch in 2018. 20-track compilation, remastered. Double-LP vinyl version comes on pink (disc one) and green vinyl (disc two); gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves and poster." - Optic Nerve .
  • Sale
  • Regular price $35.00


After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
I understand these terms

Sale

Unavailable

Sold Out