THE REZILLOS – DESTINATION VENUS 7″ – EXC+ PUNK

The Rezillos – Destination Venus/ Mystery Action
(Sire Records  1978  SIR4008)

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles at the start of each side – b side is a little cracklier)

Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– some wear along opening edge and a little light ringwear on back cover

The Rezillos are a punk/new wave band, who formed in Edinburgh in 1976 and still play gigs around the world in a re-formed line-up. Although frequently aligned with the punk movement, the Rezillos’ (later known as the Revillos) irreverent glam rock image and affection for campy girl-group iconography, set them distinctly apart from their peers. They are probably best known outside of the UK for their cover version of the song “Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight“. The song was written by Jeremy Spencer and originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac, who released it in 1969 as the b-side of “Man of the World” — credited to Earl Vince and the Valiants. Since The Rezillos recorded it, the song has been covered by numerous punk bands, including Youth Brigade and Murphy’s Law.

The band originally consisted of Eugene Reynolds (real name:Alan Forbes), vocals; Fay Fife (born Sheilagh Hynde), vocals; Jo Callis, guitar; William Mysterious (born Alastair Donaldson), saxophone; Angel Patterson (born Alistair Patterson), drums; Hi-Fi Harris, guitar; Dr D.K. Smythe. bass guitar, and Gale Warning (Gail Jamieson), backing vocals. The Rezillos’ early live repertoire included versions of songs originally recorded by Sweet, Screaming Lord Sutch, Fleetwood Mac (in the guise of Earl Vince and the Valiants) and the Dave Clark Five. Bootleg recordings exist of this stage of the band’s history.

This line-up released their first single “Can’t Stand My Baby” on the indie record label, Sensible Records. This led to a major recording contract with Sire Records, home at that time to such other rising new wave and punk acts as Talking Heads and The Ramones. The band also underwent a transformation, shedding both Hi-Fi Harris, Dr. D.K. Smythe, and two backing singers. William Mysterious then shifted to bassist for the band’s debut album Can’t Stand the Rezillos, widely regarded as a classic of both punk rock and New Wave. A second single “Flying Saucer Attack” / “My Baby Does Good Sculptures” grazed the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart, and contained different versions of the songs found on the album release.

However, the quintet reached the Top 20 of the UK chart with their third single, “Top of the Pops” in 1978. By this time, William Mysterious had left the band to be replaced by another bass player Simon Templar (a pseudonym for Simon Bloomfield). The single version of “Top of the Pops” features him, whilst the album version was recorded with William Mysterious.

After releasing their debut album Can’t Stand The Rezillos — also in 1978 — Reynolds and Fife left the original band. The live LP Mission Accomplished but the Beat Goes On remained as a testament to the original line-up. A final single, “Destination Venus” made the lower reaches of the UK chart, and earned them a final appearance on Top of the Pops.

Reynolds and Fife renamed themselves The Revillos for contractual reasons, recruiting new members, including original Rezillo Hi-Fi Harris, and released an album Rev Up in 1980 under the new name. The Revillos had a longer career than The Rezillos, and toured and released music continually during the 1980s. The band had an ever changing line-up, but the focus and nucleus always remained Reynolds and Fife. The band later also released a compendium of their music. The remaining three Rezillos plus Troy Tate, ex-Teardrop Explodes, renamed themselves Shake, and released a 10″ EP and a single (“Invasion Of The Gamma Men”) before disbanding. A side project containing ex-members Jo Callis and Angel Patterson named S.W.A.L.K was also short lived, releasing just one album of six tracks called “The Way We Were” in 1984. Angel Patterson is credited on this release as Angle Patterson, though whether by design or error is currently unclear. Jo Callis went on to perform with Boots For Dancing before experiencing major commercial success with The Human League.

Some of The Revillos reformed in 1994, playing a series of concerts in Japan, and recording the Live and On Fire in Japan album. In 1996, they issued a rarities compilation album, From the Freezer, and played some live dates in the UK.

In 2001, the band reformed as The Rezillos with the Can’t Stand… line-up, except for new bassist Johnny Terminator and toured the USA, South America, Europe and Japan, often to younger crowds introduced to the band by the use of their track “Somebody’s Gonna Get their Head Kicked in Tonight” in the movie “Jackass”. Former member Simon Templar was last heard of in 2006, having created songs on the debut album “If I Ever Die” by the Swedish singer, Thomaz.

In 2008, Johnny Terminator retired from the band and was replaced by Chris Agnew. The Rezillos performed Can’t Stand The Rezillos in its entirety on their 2008 UK tour, and released a new single in January 2009, “Number One Boy”. In 2010, original founding member Jo Callis left the band and was replaced by Jim Brady of Nanobots and formerly 90’s Techno-Grunge duo Barky!Barky on guitar.

In November 2011 the band received the Tartan Clef “Legend” Award at the 13th Annual Scottish Music awards and in December 2011 released a single, “Out Of This World”. Although following demand for “No 1 Boy” which was only available as a download this new single was produced in download, CD and 7″ 45 rpm vinyl, delivery of the vinyl was delayed when the pressing plant in the Czech republic was burnt down just a week before the scheduled release. CD and download availability was not affected. The release was followed by a December UK tour.

The Rezillos (1976–1978)

• The first Rezillos single (1977): Jo Callis (aka Luke Warm) – guitar and vocals; Fay Fife (born Sheila Hynde) – vocals; Hi-Fi Harris (born Mark Sinclair Harris)– guitar; Angel Patterson (born Alistair Patterson) – drums; Eugene Reynolds – vocals; Dr. D.K. Smythe – bass; Gail Warning – backing vocals.
• The second single: William Mysterious replaced Smythe on bass, and also played saxophone. Harris and Warning left band.
• The fifth single: Simon Templar replaced Mysterious on bass.
• Disbanded in late 1978.

Tracklist