#THE REVILLOS band

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

FILE UNDER: LADIES OF THE EIGHTIES, SCOTTISH PUNK, NEW WAVE, '80s STYLE, 80s FASHION...

PIC INFO: Spotlight on punk singer Fay Fife of Scottish power pop/new wave band THE REVILLOS, performing at the The Lyceum, London, UK, c. 1981. 📸: Steve Rapport.

Source: www.picuki.com/media/3367567675313319723.

[punkrockhistory]

Happy Birthday to Sheila Hynde aka Fay Fife, singer and founding member of punk rock band The Rezillos and post-punk band The Revillos, born on this day in 1954, Dunfermline, Scotland.

#punk #punks #punkrock #womenofpunk #fayfife #Rezillos #punkrockhistory #otd

[vikintor]

Draa'zvir would be a huge fan the Plasmatics (She would want to perform like Wendy O. Williams) and bands like, Girls at our Best, Delta 5, The Gymlips, Mo-Dettes, Chin-Chin, The Revillos, Scary Bitches, Creature Feature, Suburban Lawns...

Jez'rathki would be into Universal Hall Pass, Saada Bonaire, Strawberry Switchblade, Drab Majesty, La Punta Bianca, Klaus Nomi, Rhema (the band from The Voyage of the Rock Aliens), KaS Product, Camlann, Art of Noise...

Can say Draa'zvir is more into punk and post-punk, mostly with woman vocalists, while Jez'rathki is into synth pop, minimal wave and some random stuff here and there.

Draa'zvir needs more "noise" to keep being happy and active. Jez likes to listen to music while sitting in front of her tent, as much as she enjoys dancing as well, she's just not as energetic as Draa'zvir.

[anothersilentplace]

[berlysbandcamp]

Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike—an indie pop band formed in 1981 by siblings Mark and Melanie Litten—may have gotten their start on England’s Isle of Wight, but their music occupies an even smaller space, sequestered in its own world. Asked about their contributions to Feet on the Street, a compilation of bands from the island, Mark Litten admitted in a 2012 interview: “We really didn’t have any contact with other Isle of Wight bands. We never heard anyone from there with even a remotely similar approach to music.”

All Day Long in Bliss, a retrospective collection of everything the band ever released (and some that they didn’t), is a push to make their world a little bit bigger, but also an attempt at correcting the record. “The Trixie’s archive was in a mess, with dodgy MP3s floating around the internet, nobody knowing our discography properly, lost photos from the ‘80s, etc.,” Mark said in that same interview. “So I tried to bring everything together on the album.”

Insulated from what was happening in their local scene, Mark and Melanie found influence in a menagerie of other sources instead: Television theme songs, advertising jingles, British chart hits, and UK punk from the late ‘70s, namely Buzzcocks and The Rezillos. (The band’s name comes from the song “Rev-Up!” by Rezillos splinter group The Revillos, which makes mention of a cool chick named Trixie.) Mark also cites the all-female post-punk group Marine Girls’ Beach Party as an important touchstone that inspired him to start writing his own songs.

Their recording studio, which would be affectionately referred to as Trixieland, was simply Mark’s bedroom—a cramped 7 x 7 x 7 foot space stuffed with all the instruments he owned, his record collection, two tape recorders, and a bed. The first song they recorded, “Invisible Boyfriend,” featured only Melanie’s half-spoken, soft-spoken vocals and Mark playing a bouncy guitar rhythm and simple bassline. Proud of what they’d accomplished, they decided they wanted to make a record—but rather than searching for a label, they got their hands dirty and did it all themselves. They designed the sleeves by collaging together photos and clippings, photocopied them as cheaply as possible, and stapled them together by hand. They pressed a humble 100 copies of the single and sold them by mail order.

Mark and Melanie would have wildly different outlooks on what the future would bring. “Melanie expected exactly nothing to happen,” Mark said, “and I expected to be a superstar within a few weeks. We have different personalities.” Being asked to do a recording session for DJ and indie kingmaker John Peel’s radio show on the BBC in 1982, however, would be a shock to them both. Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike, so on the fringes of the music business, were surprised that the gig even paid.

The band had been slowly building up recognition by word of mouth, but Peel’s endorsement significantly sped up the work. They were able to print 1000 copies of their second release, 5 Songs, and 2000 of the “Norman and Narcissus” single, which became a minor hit. They were even able to collaborate with one of their musical heroes, Jane Fox of Marine Girls, who Mark had become pen pals with; she sings backup on both sides of the “Norman and Narcissus” single, and lent Mark the acoustic bass that gives both tracks their more laid-back, jazzy feel.

By 1986, Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike had finally run out of gas. “Melanie went to live in Brighton with Jane and some other friends, and I stopped writing songs,” Mark recalls. “So we just called it a day.”

Mark Litten would, sadly, pass away in September of 2015, only three years after putting together All Day Long in Bliss. The compilation’s release brought the band a new audience, which allowed them to do a modest tour of Europe and Japan. Melanie, too shy to perform and comfortably settled into her day job, declined to join, so Mark brought his daughter Jane along to sing—her voice, he said, is “uncannily like Melanie’s.” Mark had plans to record and release more material that would ultimately go unfulfilled, but he was grateful to share the music he created with his sister one more time, with fans both new and old.

“I’m quite proud of what we achieved all by ourselves,” he writes in the liner notes of All Day Long in Bliss, adding: “It’s really good to see new young bands doing the same kind of thing today, using the internet.” He’d be happy to see that DIY spirit is still going strong.

-  Shy Thompson

[trevorbarre]

“I Can’t Stand My Baby” by The Rezillos - a Punk Madeleine?

For some reason best known to my subconscious, I pulled down from the rack of my singles, I Can’t Stand My Baby by the Scottish band The Rezillos, released in the Punk Autumn of 1977, and it took me back, as being somewhat emblematic of that brief period when it seemed possible that music would return to some degree of ‘authenticity’ (inverted commas are deliberately sarcastic). This was a gaudy package from an independent label (Sensible Records) by an unknown band of very basic musical ability, but with a ‘twist’ or an’angle’ which made it stand out from the very crowded field of hopefuls at that particular time. In fact, they were a bunch of no-hopers, who happened to just catch the crest of the punk wave of that summer, through a clever use of signifiers and a catchy, if hardly inspirational, song. Somehow it’s snotty negativity was in tune with the brief, mannered nihilism of that time, and they (in a later iteration, the Revillos) managed to eke out a’ career in music’ for some years after.

Older readers will no doubt find other examples of ‘pop punk’ in 1977 - The Vibrators’ ‘Baby, Baby’ also springs to mind, as do several songs by The Stranglers. But this Rezillos product (and it was a product) remains particularly redolent for me. For instance, it had a lime green cover, which was fine by the time of The Cramps a couple of years later, but which was striking in its ‘bad taste’ in 1977. It was a fashionably ‘anti-love’ song, but was clearly humorous in intent, using the negating ‘No’ as a modish highlight (as opposed to ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’). (And a rather self-conscious use of  the regional word ‘radge’, which most of us softie southerners had never heard of!) Not forgetting the utterly disingenuous “This Is Uncool!!”  The ruthless cut-off at the end reminds me curiously (and rather fancifully) of the use of such studio devices in the early free improv ‘second generation’ album Teatime (1975). This was as opposed to the ‘fade out’ schema, favoured by more ‘impressionistic’ producers.

My wife (born 1961) often reminds me that ‘punk music’ was started in London by ‘Art School types’ (as was, in its turn, ‘Hippie Music’?) A 1970 album by the poet Pete Brown and his short-lived band Piblokto! (much more commercial than his Battered Ornaments project) was called Things May Come and Things My Go, But the Art School Dance Goes On Forever, a title that certainly applies to the early punk scene. I could go on about this forever, but bands like The Monochrome Set and The Television Personalities (never mind The Not Sensibles) were in many ways ‘arty clever-dicks’. And that’s before considering the ‘born before 1955′ crew, acts like Elvis Costello. The Stranglers and The Only Ones, who made their names as ‘punks’ (meta-punks, even?), but who were, in fact anything but.

The B-side of our Rezillos track was Lennon/McCartney’s I Wanna Be Your Man (immortalised by The Rolling Stones), so there was a ‘knowing’ aspect to these Art Schoolers (like the Pistol’s covering Small Faces and Who numbers). The wonderful sleeves of the 45s of this time of 1977 were often a backwards (retromanic?) reference to 50s and 60s singles and albums (Costello’s 1980 Get Happy!!! being only the most obvious). ‘Punk’ was never a ‘pure’ creature: Rotten’s ‘I Hate Pink Floyd’ stance was constantly being diluted by the very artists who were supposed to be celebrating this ‘movement’. (Even as early as February 1977, Television’s Marquee Moon was seen as ‘betraying’ Punk, with it’s guitar solos and whatnot.) Punk’s ‘Year Zero’ was clearly a load of contradictory nonsense right from the get-go. By Magazine’s 1978 sophomore record, Secondhand Daylight, Pink Floyd were a genuine reference point.

Thankfully. ‘Post Punk’ gave us some genuinely challenging music, from Pere Ubu and Public Image onwards, after a year or so of mostly the opposite. I Can’t Stand My Baby is a brief reminder of what we hoped Punk could be, short, sharp and maybe even a little bit shocking.

[weneverlearn]

Fun, if somewhat fumbled list. No Nikki Corvette?! For shame! But a fun run-through nonetheless. Some others I’ve tossed in here below...

Nikki & the Corvettes, 1980

Girls At Our Best, 1980

Revillos, 1980

[stillunusual]

Emetick (issue #2) YEAR: 1980 CREATED BY: PS, Fiona, Robin, Linda, Marc Strangled, Alex, John, Tony Two, PP, Mick and Lyn LOCATION: Northampton SIZE: A4 WHAT'S INSIDE.... The front cover of the second issue of Emetick describes it as a "punk magazine" and the next page begins with a brief history of fanzines in general and of Marc Strangled's involvement with East Midlands zines Burnt Offering and Suspect Device, before he helped to set up Emetick. There seems to have been a friendly rivalry between Emetick and a Milton Keynes zine called Don't Dictate, and this issue includes an ad for issue C of Don't Dictate, which was published at roughly the same time in January 1980. Issue #2 of Emetick features well known artists like Madness, The Revillos, Bauhaus and The Damned, as well as obscure local bands like The Zeros, Guillotine, Zoom Club, The Russians, Suicide Victims and Zyclon B. An article about a group called Essential Personnel had to be updated prior to publication after doubts had emerged about their future, which led to a second article being written about the fact that they had decided to stay together but changed their name to The Filters. Emetick's review of a gig by Adam And The Ants at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on New Year's Eve 1979 mentions that the band played a cover version of the Village People hit “YMCA” - cunningly renamed as “ANTS” - a song that was later recorded and included on a flexi disc that was given away with Flexipop magazine. There are some brief reviews of recent vinyl releases, which include "London Calling" by The Clash and "Setting Sons" by The Jam (who are described as "the ancient new wave/mod group"). David Bowie also gets a fairly reverential mention. Click on the title above to see scans of all the zine's pages.... my box of 1980s fanzines flickr

[vmonteiro23a]

40 YEARS AGO: The Revillos - Peel Session 1981

40 YEARS AGO: The Revillos – Peel Session 1981

40 YEARS AGO: The Revillos – Peel Session 1981 “May 13, 1981 THE REVILLOS are back down at the BBC for a fourth time, to record another session for the John Peel show. The band turn in versions of four brand new songs that aired tonight. They were: “Caveman Raveman,” “She’s Fallen In Love With A MonsterMan,” “Snatzomobile,” and “Man Attack.” None of these tracks will be available on record…

[rocksbackpages]

New for RBP subscribers this week

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PLUS pieces on...

• Groups and singers (1965) • Ready, Steady, Go! (1966) • The Monkees (1967) • George Duke @ Trident (1968) • The Pretty Things (1969) • Steve Miller's Saving Grace (1970) • "Chaos" at rock concerts (1971) • John Mayall in Auckland (1972) • Chicago (1973) • Barry White (1974) • The Guess Who (1975) • Nils Lofgren live (1976) • Alan Parsons (1977) • Bob Marley's Babylon by Bus (1978) • Judas Priest (1979) • The Revillos live (1980) • KCRW (1981) • Paul McCartney's Tug of War (1982) • King Sunny Adé (1983) • Style Council live (1984) • Great voices (1985) • Anne Pigalle (1985) • Prince @ Wembley (1988) • Crime & City Solution (1990) • Baaba Maal @ Jazz Café (1992) • Teenage Fanclub (1993) • Stone Temple Pilots (1994) • Sonic Youth (1995) • Notting Hill Carnival (1996) • Thompson Twins (1997) • Travis' Good Feeling (1997) • Mariah Carey (1998) • Bonnie "Prince" Billy (1999) • Melanie B's Hot (2000) • Stephen Malkmus (2001) • Fine Young Cannibals live (2002) • The Magic Band (2003) • Little Steven's garagefest (2004) • The Clash's Cut the Crap (2005) • Jarvis Cocker (2006) • Arcade Fire (2007) • Keane's Symmetry (2008) • Steve Van Zandt (2009) • Nitzer Ebb's Industrial Complex (2010) • Beth Ditto (2011) • Dirty Projectors live (2012) • James Chance (2013) • GoGo Penguin's v2.0 (2014) • Debbie Harry (2015) • ELO live (2016) • Rock festivals (2017) • Florence & the Machine (2018) • Beck & Scientology (2019) • Grimes (2020)

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[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THIS MONTH IN SCOTTISH POWER POP, NEW WAVE, POST-PUNK, PUNK ROCK HISTORY.

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on a photosession of Scottish power pop/new wave group THE REVILLOS (formerly THE REZILLOS), somewhere in Canada, c. September 1981, featuring Kid Krupa, Fay Fife, Eugene Reynolds, and Vince Santini. 📸: Peter Noble.

Sources: www.picuki.com/media/3392603622314115340 (Picuki 3x), Facebook, Getty Images, various, etc...

[punkrockhistory]

Happy Birthday to Sheila Hynde aka Fay Fife, singer and founding member of punk rock band The Rezillos and post-punk band The Revillos, born on this day in 1954, Dunfermline, Scotland.

📸 Steve Rapport

#punkrock #womenofpunk #fayfife #Rezillos #punkrockhistory #otd

[theunderestimator-2]

"Motorbike Beat" - The Revillos (1980)

Watch it, cause it’ll take a brain surgery to get it outta your head.

This bike-themed song kicks off with the engine sound of an Indian motorcycle roaring off into the distance, followed by a nearly-derailed, frenzied punk track in the typical ‘60s beat-influenced mood of The Revillos, the band that succeeded the early Scottish punk act The Rezillos, who had been around on the lighthearted side of punk since 1976.

“I'm hypnotized by the motorbike beat, I've got the hots for a drive up the street, I got the heat, I got the beat, I got the motorbike beat, My favorite treat, On the motorbike seat, Is me and Mr. CC...”

One thing’s for sure, their vocalist Alan Forbes, aka Eugene Reynolds, definitely knew what he was singing about, since he was an Indian motorcycle afficionado since his childhood -by the early 1970s he was in fact paying his way through Edinburgh University as Britain's premier Indian dealer- and later on even became the main European exporter for the American antique motorcycle chain, the Indian Motorcycle Company.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

NO TATTOOS, NO PIERCINGS, NO ENORMOUS SUNGLASSES -- SCOTTISH PUNK GIRLS EDITION.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on color shots of Fay Fife, Scottish punk vocalist/songwriter/founder and frontwoman of punk and new wave band THE REZILLOS (also THE REVILLOS), c. late 1970s. 📸: various. Also included is a bonus shot of the band.

Source: www.picuki.com/media/3457144907777571066 (Picuki 3x).

[punkrockhistory]

Happy Birthday to Sheila Hynde aka Fay Fife, Singer, Keyboarder and founding member of the punkrock band The Rezillos and later the postpunk band The Revillos, born on this day in 1954, Dunfermline, Scotland.

#punkrock #womenofpunk #fayfife #Rezillos #punkrockhistory #otd

[punkrockhistory]

Happy Birthday to Sheila Hynde aka Fay Fife, Singer, Keyboarder and founding member of the punkrock band The Rezillos and later the postpunk band The Revillos, born on this day in 1954, Dunfermline, Scotland

#punkrock #womenofpunk #fayfife #therezillos #punkrockhistory #otd