Formed in June 1983 in Gillingham, Dorset, Virus were one of the more obscure bands to come out of the UK anarcho punk scene of the late 70s, early 80s. The band’s original line-up consisted of Des on vocals, Jaz on bass, Bowzer on guitar and Rich on drums. This short-lived four piece recorded an 8-track demo tape in the Spring of 1984 and unimpressed by the results, Des left the group in May of that year. After a short search, they recruited Dave as their new vocalist, who made his live debut in August 84 at the Dirt, Polemic and Virus squat gig in Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth.

In November 1984, Shane was added as a second guitarist and the new 5-piece line-up went to Monitor Studios in Milborne Port, Somerset to record the 16-track cassette album You Can’t Ignore It Forever. Recorded in the first week of December 1984, as a ‘live’ album with very few overdubs, the album was recorded and mixed in 16 hours and was released on the bands own label, Subversive Haircuts at the end of December 1984.

The tape was met with a very favourable response within the scene and Virus were offered many gigs with the likes of the Subhumans, Conflict, Organised Chaos and more. There was some talk with Mortarhate about Virus possibly releasing a record through the label and one track (with an alternate title) from the album ended up on the compilation We Won’t Be Your Fucking Poor.

Virus continued playing live until May 86 before going a ten-year hiatus, temporarily returning in the winter of 1996 to play some gigs, before again disappearing in an on/off manner for another 10 years, before finally committing to becoming an on-going band again in 2006. Since their return they have released 5 singles and 4 albums, and have played hundreds of gigs.

Although some tracks from You Can’t Ignore It Forever have appeared on compilation albums, the cassette album itself has never been fully released on vinyl. Front cover artwork is by Wilf, famed for his work with The Mob. The original piece started out as artwork for the Yeovil trio before Wilf adapted it to go with a fanzine interview with Virus in late 1985.

FEATURES

A1 3rd World Wonders

A2 Screaming

A3 No Bloody Use

A4 Death After Life

A5 One Summer's Day

A6 Build Up

A7 Oven Overture

A8 We're Not Just Saying

B1 How Can You Stand

B2 Rich Man, Poor Man

B3 6 Second Slaughter

B4 Amen

B5 G-Rule

B6 We Don't Want Your Fucking War

B7 Martial Law

B8 Hiroshima