The Beach Bullies were the brainchild of James A. Smith, aka The Great One (guitar/vocals), friend and sometime collaborator of Robyn Hitchcock. Along with vocalist Jill Fricker (vocals/guitar on Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale"), he recorded just one LP under the Beach Bullies moniker, We Rule The Universe, that was released on Musclebound Records in 1980. Close friends of The Soft Boys and frequently on tour together, the album was recoderd at the same time and in the same place of The Soft Boys' "Underwater Moonlight", it features the original version of "Zip Zip", which was a live cover favourite of the Soft Boys (also on the b-side of the 7" included with the "Underwater Moonlight" vinyl reissue). "Zip Zip" was originally recorded by James Smith's late '70s Cambridge band The Containers (with Stella Baker later with The Bodysnatchers and The Belle Stars).
