Fatal Microbes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Image of Fatal Microbes on back of their Violence Grows 7"

The Fatal Microbes was a UK punk group that existed in the late 1970s. Honey Bane (Donna Tracey) was the lead singer. Other band members were Gem Stone (Gemma Sansom) on drums, Pete Fender (Daniel Sansom) on guitar, and Scotty Boy Barker (Scott Barker) who was replaced as bassist by It (Quentin North).

In 1979, they released a split 12" EP entitled "Violence Grows", which also featured the at that time Epping based Poison Girls (whose singer, Vi Subversa, was also the mother of Gem Stone and Pete Fender). Due to the popularity of Fatal Microbes a 7" single featuring "Violence Grows" was released, and hailed as a classic by the late John Peel^{[citation needed]}. Both releases were on Small Wonder records.

Honey Bane later released the EP "You Can Be You" with the band Crass under the name Donna and the Kebabs. This featured the track Girl On The Run, which was recorded whilst Bane was on the run from a children's home. Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69 vocalist), in his capacity as talent scout for EMI-subsidiary Zonophone, signed her on a 5 year contract. 3 singles were issued in the spring of 1981, including the top 40 hit Turn Me On, Turn Me Off. Honey Bane has two singles in the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles.

Pete Fender subsequently went on to form Rubella Ballet with Sid the drummer who was also in Flux of Pink Indians. Gem Stone also joined Rubella Ballet and It made a brief appearance. Pete Fender also released a 7" EP, "Four Formulas", under his own name on XNTrix records. Pete Fender, Gem Stone and It had originally met when they formed the band Punktuation in 1976. With an average age of just 13 years, it would make them probably the youngest punk band in the country at the time.