Poison Girls / Fatal Microbes – Small Wonder Records 1978

Poison Girls – Closed Shop / Piano Lessons

Fatal Microbes – Violence Grows / Beautiful Pictures

Released after the Patrik Fitzgerald and Crass 12″, this was the recording debut of Essex based Poison Girls and Fatal Microbes, and the third 12″ put out on the Small Wonder Record label.

The Fatal Microbes side was re-released in 1979 as a 7″ single with an extra track (search for that release on this site). Both The Poison Girls and Honey Bane from The Fatal Microbes were to work very close with near by neighbours Crass in 1979 sharing gigs and having records recorded at Southern Studios and released on Crass Records.

This release was recorded at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge. During the lifespan of the group, Poison Girls became a massive influence to the audiences in the UK. Fatal Microbes split, Honey Bane first went on to release the first (non Crass) record on the Crass Record label, then she went solo and worked with Jimmy Pursey releasing records on EMI.

Pete Fender and Gem Stone formed Rubella Ballet with fellow Essex punks Sid and Zillah Minx. Use the search function for more Poison Girls and Honey Bane material.

3 comments
  1. Nick Hydra
    Nick Hydra
    May 24, 2023 at 11:26 am

    17/05/79
    “They are drilling in the playground/ They are training on the green/ There’s a million of them out there/ And their guns are made of steel/ You don’t know them/ But they know you/ And their bayonets are real”

    Oh dear. This isn’t very good, too worthy cabaret for my liking. If I’d heard this first, I probably wouldn’t have bought ‘Hex’, which would have been a terrible mistake. Of historical interest only.

    “My ideas – they’re as good as the rest/ You tell me straight/ You only deal in the best/ You say ‘Don’t come here/ Wasting my time’/ You say ‘I’m not a musician/ But the company’s mine'”

    PG moan about people not liking/ promoting/ taking them seriously. If they’d played me this I wouldn’t have given them a gig either.

    “While you’re getting kicked to death in a London pedestrian subway”

    This more like it, although the lyrical naivety make it sound a bit like a Daily Express editorial.

    “Some are big and some are small and some of them oblong”

    Brilliant line! Could have been an X-Ray Spex lyric

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