- Stripey Zebras
Stripey Zebras were a
post punk band fromSouthend on Sea inEssex , UK. The group formed in1980 with a line up consisting of*Martin Fulton - Vocals
*Graham Burnett - Drums
*Martin Hardy - Guitar
*Stephen Dobson - Bass/Vocals
*Paul Brown - GuitarThe band was also augmented, at various stages, by
*Wayne Avrili - Guitar
*Colin Dobson - Guitar
*Julian Ware Lane Guitar
*Sheena Fulton - VocalsIn the summer of 1980 they played their first gig at Zero 6 club in
Rochford and did their final gig in1981 . Amongst the songs they played live were:"Monsters on TV (
Godzilla )", "I love Disco", "Sergeant Bilko Plays Pop", "Donny & Marie ", "Greta Garbo Goes Shopping", "Skellington Flat", "Sore Eyes Party".Covers included
The Troggs ' "Wild Thing" and a very free adaptation ofRon Grainer 's 'Old Ned', better known as the theme from "Steptoe and Son ".the band were an important part of the
cassette culture movement, in 1980 they released their first cassette album -"Live in Burnetts Bedroom" and this was name checked in the 'Garage Bands' section of TheNew Musical Express . The group was also mentioned in 'Smash Hits ' and 'Sounds'. They frequently featured in 'The Obscurist Chart' section of the latter musical publication.Paul and Graham compiled a CD in 1998, which, along with "Live in Burnett's Bedroom", included live performances and tracks from rehearsals.
Influences included The Fall, T. Rex,
Bay City Rollers , Sparks andthe Residents .The group played live, mostly around the Southend areas in venues such as (the aforementioned) Zero 6 and Focus Youth Centre.
The usual 'musical differences' caused the band to disintergrate during 1981. Graham formed '
Autumn Poison ' and Stephen joined another Southend band,The Get . The band reformed for a one off gig at The Spread Eagle on 05.12.81, this turned out to be their last performance.Martin Fulton died in 1999.
Discography
*"Live in Burnett's Bedroom" (
New Crimes Tapes , 1980)
*"Why Are Pianos Rude?" (Rasquap Tapes , 1981)
*"Live in Burnett's Bedroom and Other Places" (1999)External links
* [http://www.southendpunk.com/html/stripeyz.html A history of the Stripey Zebras from the 'Southend Punk' website]
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