Play Dead were an English post-punk band from Oxford that grew out of the English punk scene of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band made three

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s and one-off singles for four different small labels — Fresh Records, Jungle Records,

Situation 2 Situation Two (a.k.a. Situation 2) was a British independent record label founded in 1981 by Peter Kent as an offshoot of the Beggars Banquet label. At the time, Beggars Banquet releases were often distributed by WEA; to appeal to the indie a ...

and

Clay Records Clay Records was an independent record label founded by Mike Stone in 1980 and based in a record shop in Stoke-on-Trent, England. History Clay's first signing was local Stoke punk band Discharge who released the ''Realities of War'' single in ...

— before forming their own label, Tanz, for their final album, ''Company of Justice'', produced by Conny Plank, which they released in 1985. The original line-up of Play Dead consisted of Rob Hickson ( vocals), Pete Waddleton ( bass guitar), Mark "Wiff" Smith (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) and Re-Vox ( guitar). In July 1981, Re-Vox was replaced by Steve Green. During their active years, Play Dead supported a number of acts, including the likes of

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

, The Cult and The Sisters Of Mercy in the UK. They also appeared on Channel 4's music TV show, '' The Tube'' in late 1984. A string of singles were released (many through Stoke-based

) from late 1983, throughout 1984 and early 1985. Play Dead toured frequently around the UK and Europe and by 1985, felt they had enough material to be able to put out their first ever live album, ''Into The Fire'', which was released in May of that year. However, against the backdrop of similar artists such as Spear Of Destiny, The Cult, The Sisters Of Mercy and Fields Of The Nephilim, whose success was evident through having higher profiles in the music press, Play Dead struggled to compete. In 1984, Rob and Pete created the project

Mankind's Audio Development {{Infobox album , name = Sunfeast/Craving Single , type = Album , artist = Mankind's Audio Development , cover = Mankind's_Audio_Development_Cover_1.jpg , alt = , released = 1984 , recorded = July 1984 , venu ...

(nicknamed M.A.D.). Only one

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

was recorded, with the two songs "Craving" and "Sunfeast." Waddleton left the group in 1986 and, after a brief period as The Beastmaster Generals, the band dissolved.

Discography

Albums

*1983 - ''

The First Flower ''The First Flower'' is Play Dead's debut album, recorded at the Jungle Records studio in March 1983. Originally titled ''The First Flower: A Six Track Album'', this album came totally unexpected as the group had disappeared since their last r ...

reud 3' *1984 - ''

From the Promised Land ''From the Promised Land'' is a 1984 album by Play Dead, and the original version of the band's ''Resurrection'' (1992). Only 1000 copies of this LP were pressed because the band members decided they were dissatisfied with the album. When this ...

LAY LP 11' *1985 - ''Into the Fire

LAY LP 16 Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) ...

' *1985 - ''

Company of Justice ''Company of Justice'' was the final studio album of Play Dead. After an early series of signing with independent record labels (Fresh, Jungle, Situation 2 and Clay), Play Dead created their own record label called Tanz in early 1985 (under th ...

ANZLP1' *1992 - '' Resurrection''

12" singles

*September 1983 - "Shine/Promise/Gaze" IT 28T*March 1984 - "Break/Blood Stains/Blood Stains Pleasure" 2 CLAY 31*July 1984 - "Isabel/Solace (Extended Version)" 2 CLAY 35*1984 - "Propaganda (1984 Mix)/Sin of Sins (1984 Mix)" UNG 17*1984 - "Conspiracy/Silent Conspiracy/Conspiracy (Saigon Mix)" 2 CLAY 40*1985 - "Sacrosanct/Pale Fire/Holy Holy (Catholic Mix)/Sacrosanct (Heretic Mix)" 2 CLAY 42*1985 - "This Kind of Heaven/This Kind of Heaven (Serious Mix)/Last Degree" ANZ 1*1985 - "Burning Down (MezCal Mix)/Still in Chains/Burning Down" ANZ 2

7" singles

*1981 - "Poison Takes a Hold/Introduction" RESH 29*1981 - "T.V. Eye/Final Epitaph" RESH 38*1982 - "Propaganda/Propaganda (Mix)" UNG 2*1983 - "Shine/Promise" IT 28*1984 - "Break/Blood Stains" LAY 31*1984 - "Isabel/Solace"

LAY 35 Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) ...

*1984 - "Conspiracy/Silent Conspiracy"

LAY 40 Lay may refer to: Places * Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname ...

*1984 - "Propaganda (1984 mix)" UNG 17*1985 - "Sacrosanct/Pale Fire" LAY 42*1985 - "This Side of Heaven"

BBC Radio 1 - John Peel Sessions

*1982 - ''Metallic Smile/Pray to Mecca/Propaganda/Effigy'' *1983 - ''Total Decline/The Tenant/Gaze'' *1984 - ''Break/Return to the East/No Motive''

Bootlegs

*1983 - ''May 12, 1983 Leeds Warehouse'' *1983 - ''Live in Norwich, Ska Ballroom - May 13, 1983'' *1983 - ''Live - July 28, 1983 Hull, Dingwalls / Live October 13, 1983 Hammersmith, Klub Foot'' *1984 - ''Live in France at Forum Des Halles - July 1, 1984'' *1984 - ''Oct 7th, Kolingsborg, Stockholm, Sweden'' *1984 - ''Live in Norrkoping Sweden - October 10, 1984'' *1985 - ''Dec 18th 1985, Tufnel Park, Penthouse, London''(previously listed as 1984 ) *2003 - ''The Final Pieces (Bootleg)''

Album appearances

*1985 - ''The Final Epitaph Live'' *1985 - ''The Singles 1982 ~ 85'' *1986 - ''In the Beginning - The 1981 Singles'' *1986 - ''Caught from Behind: Live in England, France, Germany, and Switzerland'' *1992 - ''Gothic Rock Volume 1'' *1995 - ''Gothic Rock Volume 2: 80's Into 90's'' *1998 - ''Gothic Rock Volume 3: Black on Black''

Side projects

- 1984 by Rob Hickson and Pete Waddleton

References

External links

Official Play Dead websitePlay Dead Biography on Yahoo Music Launch
{{Authority control English post-punk music groups English gothic rock groups Musical groups from Oxford Situation Two artists Fresh Records (UK) artists