Fatal Microbes/Pete Fender/Honey Bane

Left to right: Gem, Sid, Honey Bane and Pete Fender.

     In 1978, four really young teenagers came together thanks to the mother of two of them, Vi Subserva, to form The Fatal Microbes. Their line-up consisted of Gen Stone(Gemma Sansom) on drums, Pete Fender(Dan Sansom) on guitar, It(Quentin North) on bass and Honey Bane(Donna Tracey Boylan) on vocals. Future members included Sid Attion on drums and Scotty Boy Barker(Scott Barker) on bass. Gem and Pete were Vi Subversa, the singer/guitarist from Poison Girls' children, and Sid was a chef, but had lost his job for arguing with his boss and ended up living with The Poison Girls. Honey Bane had run away from Social Services so she was "on the run".

     In 1979, the label Small Wonder released a split between Poison Girls and The Fatal Microbes titled "Violence Grows" which later was re-released as a single with a bonus track for the Fatal Microbes due to the bands sudden increased popularity.

Pete Fender released this single as a one-man band in 1980

     However, The Fatal Microbes split soon after, but did manage to play some gigs. Several of the members went on to do solo projects and ended up playing roles in several important anarchist punk bands.

     Honey Bane sang in a single released with a disguised Crass called Donna and the Kebabs titled "You can be You" on January 19th, 1980, before going solo on E.M.I.(Crass deleted her single off the catalog soon after for "selling out"). She married "Fox" from the band Dirt until he tragically died in 1985 from an epileptic fit at the age of 22(they were together for three and a half years), leaving behind a daughter.

     Sid went on to drum for Rubella Ballet and then briefly in Flux of Pink Indians,(he only drummed in the "Neu Smell" E.P. for songs such as "Tube Disasters" and "Sick Butchers")but left Flux of Pink Indians soon after the "Neu Smell" E.P. to come back and focus on Rubella Ballet.

     Gem went on to play bass for the very colorful Rubella Ballet.

     Pete released a one-man band single titled "Four Fomulas" in 1980 on Poison Girls' Xntrix label, played guitar for Rubella Ballet and eventually ended up playing guitar for Omega Tribe.    

"You can be you" lyrics coming soon. I don't have any for Fatal Microbes or Pete Fender's "Four Formulas" single.

Soon to come Downloads:

Fatal Microbes "Violence Grows" Single Small Wonder/Xntrix 1979

Fatal Microbes "Live in Guilford, England 5-10-80"

Honey Bane "You Can Be You" 1979 Crass Records

Pete Fender "Four Formulas" Xntrix 1980