Zoo Records

Lore & Background

Zoo Records was formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978, primarily to release music by Big in Japan, a Liverpool band that had struggled to find a label. The label's first release was the single 'From Y to Z and Never Again' (catalogue number Zoo 1). After Big in Japan folded, Balfe and Ian Broudie formed their own band, Lori and the Chameleons (Drummond was not a member), and released two singles through Zoo.

The label also issued early singles by The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen, as well as the first single by Those Naughty Lumps, 'Iggy Pop's Jacket'. Only two albums were released on Zoo: a Scott Walker compilation compiled by Bill Drummond and Mick Houghton titled *Fire Escape in the Sky* (catalogue number Zoo Two) and a label compilation *To the Shores of Lake Placid* (Zoo Four), compiled by Bill Drummond and Mick Houghton and released in 1982. Zoo One was scheduled to be the Teardrop Explodes album *Kilimanjaro* and Zoo Three the single 'When I Dream' by The Teardrop Explodes, but both were later released on Mercury Records.

Reader's Guide

Zoo Records holds significance as a small but influential independent label that documented the early post-punk scene in Liverpool. It provided a platform for bands that would later achieve wider success, such as The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen, and preserved the work of short-lived acts like Big in Japan and Lori and the Chameleons. The label's compilation *To the Shores of Lake Placid* and the later reissue compilation *'The Zoo' Uncaged 1978–1982* (released by Document in 1990) serve as archival records of this period. Zoo's catalogue numbering system—with planned albums for The Teardrop Explodes that were never released on the label—illustrates the transitional nature of the independent music industry at the time. The label's legacy is tied to the DIY ethos of the late 1970s and early 1980s British independent music scene.

Did You Know?

• Only two albums were released on Zoo: *Fire Escape in the Sky* (Zoo Two) and *To the Shores of Lake Placid* (Zoo Four).
• Zoo One was scheduled to be the Teardrop Explodes album *Kilimanjaro*, but it was later released on Mercury Records.
• Zoo Three was the catalogue number for the single 'When I Dream' by The Teardrop Explodes, not the album *Wilder*.