The Zapotecs are an indigenous people of Mexico. The population is concentrated in the southern state of Oaxaca, but Zapotec communities exist in neighboring states; the present-day population is estimated at 800,000 to 1,000,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects. In pre-Columbian times, the Zapotec civilization was one of the developed cultures of Mesoamerica, among other things, included a system of writing. Many people of Zapotec ancestry have emigrated to the United States over several decades, they maintain their own social organizations in the Los Angeles and Central Valley areas of California; the Zapotec tribe has about 1,000,000 tribal members, according to Jimmy Nelson. There are four basic groups of Zapotecs: the istmeños, who live in the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the serranos, who live in the northern mountains of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, the southern Zapotecs, who live in the southern mountains of the Sierra Sur, the Central Valley Zapotecs, who live in and around the Valley of Oaxaca.

The name Zapotec is an exonym coming from Nahuatl tzapotēcah, which means "inhabitants of the place of sapote". The Zapotecs call themselves Ben'Zaa, which means "The Cloud People". Although several theories of the origin of the Zapotec peoples exist, including some influenced in the post-conquest period, scholars agree the Zapotecs inhabited the Central Valley of Oaxaca as early as 500–300 BCE, during what is considered the Monte Alban I period, it was during this period that the Zapotecs established a significant system of governance over the population of the region. The Monte Alban periods, of which five have been categorized, lasted from 500 BCE to the time of conquest in 1521 AD, yet archaeological evidence from the site of Monte Alban, "the first city in ancient Mesoamerica" has revealed settlement of the region as far back as 1150 BCE. Through these discoveries, scholars have been able to correlate with the Formative and post-Classic periods of civilization in the region within the greater Mesoamerican history.

The Formative stage, from about 500 BCE to 200 AD of which the periods of Monte Alban I and II are attributed to, is characterized by a shift to sedentary settlements and the practice of agriculture for subsistence. From 200–900 AD in the Monte Alban III period, the Classic stage witnessed the rise of social and political structures in the Zapotec civilization; this period saw a surge in religious activity within the state leadership of the society. During the “Militaristic stage” of Monte Alban IV–V from around 900–1521 AD, a rise in military influence common among Mesoamerican societies led states to become mired in warfare and "cults of war"; the Zapotecan language group is composed of over 60 variants of Zapotecan, as well as the related Chatino language. The major variant is Isthmus Zapotec, spoken on the Pacific coastal plain of Southern Oaxaca's Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Though the Zapotecs are now Catholics, some of their ancient beliefs and practices, such as the burial of the dead with valuables, still survive.

Some images of local Catholic saints resemble the old gods of the Zapotecs. One example is of San Pedro; the first missionaries among the Zapotecs were Bartolomé de Olmeda, a Mercedarian, Juan Díaz, a secular priest, killed by the natives in Quechula near Tepeaca for having "overthrown their idols". At the time of the Spanish conquest of the New World and state were not separate in Zapotec society. In fact, the Zapotec lord was trained in religious practice as a requirement prior to taking power. There were large temples built called yo hopèe, the house of the vital force, in which the priests performed religious rites. In the spiritual realm the pè, or life force, lived within various natural elements including wind and was believed to be the spirit, or vital force, of all beings; the priests, known as copa pitào, who were selected from the nobility, were provided their religious training before taking a position among the religious hierarchy. Commoners were selected and trained to join the priesthood, but they were only allowed to join the lower ranks.

The highest position was held by the uija-tào, great seer, likened to the Pope in the Catholic church by Spanish accounts of the sixteenth century. However, the uija-tào did not live in Monte Alban, but rather in one of the other urban centers of the Zapotecs in the sub-valley area of Mitla; as a polytheistic religion, the Zapotecs attributed several elements of the natural world to their gods. In the religious practice of the Valley Zapotecs the primary god was Pitao Cozobi, associated with maize and agriculture. Other gods include, Cocijo the god of lightning. Zapotec women in the Mexican state of Oaxaca play a variety of social roles in their families and communities; as is true for many other cultures, Zapotec women have had a different place in society than men. These roles are in the context of marriage and work. Within them, they make up a vital part of the fabric, Zapotec Oaxaca. Much of Zapotec social life is segregated by sex. Men and women work separately, coming together to eat in the morning and evening, during ritual occasions, they remain separate except when dancing."

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Secession was a Scottish synthpop band, active between 1983 and 1987. The original incarnation comprised Jack Ross, Jim Ross and Carole L. Branston; the band used a small pre-programmed drum machine. Before being named Secession, the band played at least one concert as The Gift, during which Jim Ross performed with one arm in a full plaster cast following an accident. After a performance at Buster Brown's nightclub in Edinburgh, the band were introduced to Hamish Brown, a local entrepreneur, who offered to manage them; this was followed by the addition of a fifth member, Alistair MacLeod, a friend of the original members who had provided the photograph for the sleeve of the band's independently released debut single "Betrayal". Shortly after recording demo material at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh, Jack Ross, disillusioned with the direction the music was taking, left the band. MacLeod was asked to divide his contribution between percussion and synthesizer/sequencing, the band continued in this form for a short period of time until Jim Ross left, cutting the line-up to a threesome.

This was the unit that produced the original demo of "Fire Island" at Planet Studios in Edinburgh, which came to the attention of the Beggars Banquet Records A&R department. After being signed by Beggars Banquet, the trio re-recorded "Fire Island" at REL Studios in Edinburgh remixed by the production team associated with Freeez and John Rocca. Before its release, MacLeod left the band to concentrate on photography, was replaced by Charlie D. Kelly; the final incarnation of Secession, associated with the entire released catalog, consisted of Thomson, Kelly, J. L. Seenan, their singer, who penned "Touch", their most commercially successful song, died in 2001. Secession was on two different record labels during their short career, Beggars Banquet and Siren Records, they released a number of singles starting in 1983 until they released A Dark Enchantment, their only album, in late 1987. After Secession split and Seenan joined The Vaselines with Charlie's brother and Frances McKee. 1987: A Dark Enchantment 1983: "Betrayal" 1984: "Fire Island" 1984: "Touch" 1986: "Michael" 1987: "The Magician" 1987: "Promise" 1987: "Radioland" 1987: "Sneakyville" IAmNottheBeatles.com archived link Odessa unlinked, no URL given

SuperpinkyMandy is the debut studio album of British singer Beth Orton. In the style of electronica, produced with boyfriend William Orbit, it was a limited Japan-only release, with about 5000 copies pressed; as such, it is much sought after. Orton passes over the release when interviewed, citing 1996's Trailer Park as her first release. "Don't Wanna Know'bout Evil" and "Where Do You Go" would appear on the collection Pass in Time. "Don't Wanna Know'bout Evil" is a cover of the song "Don't Want to Know" by John Martyn from his album Solid Air. "Don't Wanna Know Bout Evil" – 5:33 "Faith Will Carry" – 6:11 "Yesterday's Gone" – 4:32 "She Cries Your Name" – 5:03 "When You Wake" – 4:11 "Roll the Dice" – 5:35 "City Blue" – 1:30 "The Prisoner" – 4:28 "Where Do You Go" – 3:45 "Release Me" – 4:56