Play Dead

Play Dead were a Post-Punk/Gothic Rock band from Oxford. It was formed in November 1980 with members Rob Hickson on vocals, Pete Waddleton on bass guitar, Mark "Wiff" Smith on drums and Re-Vox on guitar (who in 1981 was replaced by Steve Green). Over the course of 5 years the group released 3 albums, a six-track mini-album and a swathe of singles, as well as forming their own label in 1985.

In 1984 Hickson & Waddleton created the Darkwave project [a=Mankinds Audio Development] with keyboardist , Play Dead's guitarist and backing vocalist of . More had been produced for the outfit, but after the dissolvement of Play Dead in 1986 future plans were scrapped.

In 1992 a remixed edition of their 2nd album was released under the title '[m=1176412]', featuring bonus tracks. This was the third edition of the original record (it would be reissued again under its former title on CD in 2007).

In 2023 would release '[m3001529]', a compilation documenting the back catalogue of the group. That same year would see the label also releasing the bands' John Peel Sessions on vinyl.