SOUNDTRACK4LIFE: THE B-SIDES: the rezillos

Showing posts with label the rezillos. Show all posts

Wednesday, 20 July 2016

45RPM: #94 Top of The Pops - Rezillos (1978)

Top of the Pops / 20,000 Rezillos Under the Sea

Sire

Produced by Rezillos and Alan Taylor

Released July 1978

UK Chart #17

Top of the Pops

Live on Revolver 1978

Formed in 1976 in Edinburgh the Rezillos were very different to the many of the early UK Punk bands as their influences of 1950s Rock and Roll, 60s Pop, B-Movies and Science Fiction dominated everything from their stagewear to the songs they were performing.

Top of the Pops was their third single (the 2nd on Sire) and turned out to be a biggish hit for them. The band sadly didn't quite make it to the end of the year as they split up playing their final show together in December 1978.

What's quite ironic about the single is that they got to perform it on Top of the Pops despite the obvious digs at the show in the lyrics (see below).

Let me say a quick word about Punk and Top of the Pops. It was maybe not the best show musically speaking to appear on but I can remember the absolute joy of seeing the likes of Generation X and The Jam etc appearing on it. A lot of people point back to moments like Bowie performing Starman on Top of the Pops as a life altering, who knows what moments The Clash could have created had they gone on, but they stuck to their "principles" - though I've clearly forgotten exactly what the principles were with regard to Top of the Pops.

So as Isaid pretty much all the bands who had hit records went on: Generation X, The Damned, The Jam, Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees to name but a few, abd they appeared on the show a number of times. Even the Sex Pistols were on the show (though their performance was actual a film). The Clash were one of the only bands who held out and never appeared (though there's that famous moment of Legs & Co dancing to Bankrobber!). They seemed to hold onto their non-compliance as if it was some kind of credibility badge which I thought was actually quite sad (I was glad that Mick Jones when he formed Big Audio Dynamite took a different stance!).

It still sounds like a great record all these years on I think and a worthy single to be part of the 45RPM Series.

Top of the Pops - Rezillos

On Top of the Pops!

Top of the Pops

(John Callis)
Hold Tight - Now we're on our own
Cue light - Now it's ready to roll
Tonight - How I've waited for aggravated for years
It's fun - Oh I just can't wait
Hold on - Do I look up to date
Your on - I'll do anything if that's the right thing to see

Does it matter what is shown
Just as long as everyone knows
What is selling what to buy
The stock market for your hi-fi

Take the money - Leave the box
Everybody's on Top Of The Pops

There's one - Born every day
Sing song - Then fade away
Ding dong - What's the future in the pop music industry
Alright - So you make the grade
Hold tight - To the buck you made
Just wait - You been rated for constipated peak viewing time

Does it matter what is shown
Just as long as everyone knows
What's in fashion what is seen
On the front of a television screen

Take the money - Leave the box
Everybody's on Top Of The Pops

Hold Tight - Now we're on our own
Cue light - Now it's ready to roll
Tonight - How I've waited for aggravated for years
It's fun - Oh I just can't wait
Hold on - Do I look up to date
Your on - I'll do anything if that's the right thing to see

Does it matter what is shown
Just as long as everyone knows
What is selling what to buy
The stock market for your hi-fi

Take the money - Leave the box
Everybody's on Top Of The Pops
Pay the money - Watch the box
Everybody's on Top Of The Pops
Everybody's on Top Of The Pops

Friday, 27 November 2015

The S4L Comeback Album of The Year 2015 - Penetration + The Rezillos

Making a decision as to what would be The S4L Comeback Album of the Year 2015 was actually not too difficult except for the problem that there were two contenders, both of whom had not released an album in 30+ years!

First up there was Resolution by Penetration. It had been 36 years since the last album Coming Up For Air. Having been back playing live since 2002 and only to have released a couple of singles (Our World - 2008, The Feeling - 2010) a brand spanking new album from them was most welcome indeed.

Second up was Zero by The Rezillos. It had been 37 years since their debut studio album Can't Stand The Rezillos was recorded and released in July 1978 on Sire Records, and less than a year later a live album Mission Accomplished...But The Beat Goes On also hit the stores (You can listen to both albums here!). By time the live album came out they had already been split up more than 8 months and had played their final show together in December 1978 (which was recorded for the said album). The band have been playing live again since 2001 and vocalists Faye Fife and Eugene Reynolds, and drummer Angel Paterson are the only remaining original members of the band.

Like Penetration, The Rezillos have only released a few singles since reforming (2009's No.1 Boy, 2011's Out of This World and a live version of Top of the Pops in 2012) so a full length Second Studio album after 37 years is well worth the wait.

It seemed a shame to give one the honour and exclude the other so they both share the distinction of being The S4L Comeback Album of the Year 2015.

Resolution - Penetration

Polestar
Produced by Robert Blamire

Released 9th October 2015

Louder Than War Review.

Louder Than War Interview with Pauline Murray.

NE:MM Interview with Penetration.

Vinyl Guru on The Resolution of Penetration.

Beat Goes On (Promo Video).

Zero - The Rezillos
Metropolis Records
Released 16th March 2015

Update 22/12/15: You Tube seem to have removed the Full Album which they themselves had uploaded (they seem to be doing this with a lot of albums these days). Apologies. So here's a couple of tracks from the album.

Pop Matters Reviews Zero.
Louder Than War Review.
Punk News Review.
Record Collector Review.

Friday, 8 May 2015

Alphabet Beats #122: R is for....The Rezillos

R is for....

The Rezillos are a punk/new wave band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1976. Although emerging at the same time as other bands in the punk rock movement, The Rezillos did not share the nihilism or social commentary of their contemporaries, but instead took a more light-hearted approach to their songs, preferring to describe themselves at the time as "a New Wave beat group". Their songs are heavily influenced by 1950s rock and roll, 1960s English beat music and garage rock, early 1970s glam rock, and recurring lyrical themes of science fiction and B movies, influences that mirrored those of US bands The Cramps and the B-52s who were starting out at the same time. The Rezillos' biggest hit in their home country was the UK Top 20 single "Top of the Pops" in 1978, but they are best known outside the UK for their cover version of "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight", which featured on the soundtrack to Jackass: The Movie in 2002. Since The Rezillos recorded it, the song has been covered by other punk bands, including Youth Brigade and Murphy's Law.

Released in July 1978, The Rezillos' debut studio album Can't Stand the Rezillos is now considered a classic album of the first wave of British punk, but the group split up four months after its release, following internal arguments about their future direction. After The Rezillos split the band's guitarist and principal songwriter Jo Callis briefly joined a couple of unsuccessful Edinburgh post-punk groups, before being invited to join The Human League. He went on to co-write some of The Human League's best known songs during their most successful period, including their biggest worldwide hit, "Don't You Want Me". The Rezillos' vocalists Eugene Reynolds and Fay Fife formed The Revillos, a group with an ever-changing line-up that continued where The Rezillos left off. The Revillos split up in 1985, briefly reforming in 1994 for a tour of Japan, and again in 1996 for a UK tour. In 2001 The Rezillos reformed after being invited to play at Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations, and have continued to play live ever since, as well as releasing new singles occasionally and in March 2015 they released a brand spanking new album Zero!