The Rezillos

So, last week, in the midst of the Nor'Easter that was the "dirty sanchez" left by Ma Nature on the East Coast, I ventured out and saw The Rezillos.

Yep- The Rezillos (file under late 70's Scottish Punk/New Wave/Bizarro) relanded their flying saucer and put on a fine show. The only original members I spied were Eugene Reynolds and Fay Fife (resplendent in some sort of leather /vinyl mishegas. ). However, the other band folk were spot on- and I wuz watching the bass player all note to make sure he hit all the great runs that are on those toons.

They played all the hits: "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In", "It Gets Me", "My Baby Loves Good Sculptures" and a head spinning version of Ike and Tina's "River Deep/Mountain High".

A smashing good high energy performance, considering a less than full house (thanks to the fact that 1/2 of Long Island was still without power).

They're touring the USA this month- so catch em when they come to yer town!

Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite

from the original Elvis inspired rockabilly meets British blues...



 to the Scottish Punk rave-up...



to the bushman's holidays version of The Slickee Boys (aka The Wanktones)


to the inevitable Cali rendition

Well now the cats are rockin' and everyone is feelin' alright - alright!
Said on a Wednesday evening there's sure
gonna be a fight - be a fight!
Somebodys's gonna get their head kicked in tonight!

Well everybody's moving and everyone just wants more - more!
So there's gonna be a pool of blood on the dancin' floor - floor!
Somebody's gonna get their head kicked in tonight!

We're gonna rip up the chairs - rip off the walls!
Tear down the walls - Tear down the wall!
All my boys are in distress and
I hope that floor's a bloody mess

Said everybody's rockin' and everyone is feelin' alright - alright!
Said on a Wednesday evening there's sure
gonna be a fight - be a fight!
Somebodys's gonna get their head kicked in tonight!


We're gonna rip off the halls!
Tear down the walls!
All those boys, gonna be a big fight!
All my boys are in distress and
And the whole dance floor's gonna be a doggone mess

Everybody is rockin' and everyone just wants more - more!
So there's gonna be a pool of blood on the dancin' floor - floor!
Somebody's gonna get their head
Somebody's gonna get their head
Somebody's gonna get their head kicked in tonight!

In The Wintertime...

Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway.

The trees had been stripped by a recent wind

of their white covering of frost,

and they seemed to lean toward each other,

black and ominous, in the fading light.

A vast silence reigned over the land.

Jack London.... "White Fang"

Toonage:

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Don't Eat The Yellow Snow

Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Winterlong (live Fillmore 1970)

Rezillos - Cold Wars

Lomas - Ice Cold Ice (Husker Du Cover)

The Rezillos - Top Of The Pops

The Rezillos

There’s a threat approaching from the stars
All the horrors from Venus and Mars
Everybody better be on guard
When the Flying Saucers land
(from Flying Saucer Attack)

The Rezillos (later to be known as The Revillos) were a Scottish Punk band best known for trash culture references and comic book 60’s clothing. Think of a Punk Rock B-52s.

The Rezillos started up at Edinboro College in 1976 and their first single was “I Can’t Stand My Baby”, released in the summer of ’77.
In 1978, they came to NYC to record their first album “Can’t Stand The Rezillos”. This is a must have record if you’re into 70’s style punk. The subject matter steered more to the Ramone’s aesthetic… glorified bubble gum played fast and hard with mostly innocuous subject matter (Flying Saucer Attack, My Baby Does Good Sculptures, Top Of The Pops) plus a helping of 60’s covers (Glad All Over, I Like It, Someone’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight).

To me, what really made the Rezillo’s great was the awesome bass playing of William Mysterious (the bass runs on “Can’t Stand” are more like he’s playing lead bass (ala John Entwhistle) and the twin vocals of Fay Fife (complete with sexy Scottish purr) and Eugene Reynolds.

The album had moderate success but the Rezillo’s broke up, reconfiguring in various entities such as Shake, The Human League (yes, THAT Human League) and The Revillo’s.

The Revillo’s attained some success (even here in the States) in 1981 with the album Rev-Up. This took the Rezillo’s concept further, adding 3 back-up singers to the Rezillo’s core of Fife and Reynolds. This album was poppier and more “New Wavey” than the Rezillo’s, but is still an excellent pick-up. Stand-out songs include: Motorbike Beat and Rev-Up).

That was pretty much the end of it for the Rezillo’s/Revillo’s. They still tour occasionally (mostly in the UK).

Have at em!

From Can’t Stand The Rezillos:
Flying Saucer Attack
Top Of The Pops
Land Of A Thousand Dances
From Rev Up:
Rev Up

Where’s The Boy For Me

Official Rezillo’s Website

Offical Revillo's Website
Rezillo’s Wiki

Buy Rezillos and Revillo’s albums







http://www.rezillos.com/