Rezillos/Revillos, The

Before Punk came along, Edinburgh art college students Alan Forbes and John Callis were in R&B covers band The Knutsford Dominators. Their 1976 venture, The Rezillos, was punkier in spirit and mined the worlds of sci-fi, cartoons, Bubblegum music and Carnaby Street.

Forbes became ‘Eugene Reynolds’, girlfriend Sheilagh Hynd renamed herself ‘Fay Fife’, while songwriter Callis was now ‘Luke Warm’.

From the start, The Rezillos were devoted to the idea of generating fun – for themselves and their fans. They took the innocence and the spontaneity of 60s pop music and fashion and transplanted them into the rock ‘n’ roll world of the 70s with joyful exaggeration.

But behind the fun facade, band members were arguing themselves into a premature grave and, after a Top 20 single (Top Of The Pops) and a solitary album (Can’t Stand the Rezillos), the group split into two factions during the recording of Destination Venus.

Singers Fife and Reynolds formed The Revillos (accentuating cartoon zaniness) while guitarist Callis formed Shake! on his way to The Human League (where he wrote most of the 1981 pop classic Dare) with bassist Simon Templar and drummer Angel Paterson.

The Revillos officially launched in September 1979 with Where’s The Boy For Me? and a brief UK tour (which, despite the band’s initial desire to only gig on Fridays and Saturdays, began on a Monday). Punters rocking up to gigs expecting The Rezillos Mk 2 – or to hear the hits – were in for a shock.

The new group had a very different sound, leaning much further into Fife’s love of girl groups, ’60s music, and Gerry Anderson TV shows.

Their second single – the rollicking Motorbike Beat – made it to #45 in January 1980, propelled by an appearance on Top of the Pops and a similar performance on Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. The single Scuba Scuba followed, but did not chart.

The band released their debut album (Rev Up) in 1980, but it also failed to chart.

The Revillos split up in 1985, briefly reforming in 1994 for a tour of Japan, and again in 1996 for a UK tour.

When the band broke up in 1985, singer Sheilagh Hynd (Fay) studied acting and landed roles in Taggart and The Bill, then retrained as a clinical psychologist. Guitarist Alan Forbes (Eugene) launched a motorcycle import business.

All core Rezillos re-formed in 2004 for a US tour.

Former guitarist Kid Krupa passed away in 2005 as a result of complications caused by diabetes.

Eugene Reynolds (Alan Forbes)
Vocals
Fay Fife (Sheilagh Hynd)
Vocals
Hi-Fi Harris (Mark Harris) 
Guitar
Luke Warm (John Callis)
Guitar
Simon Templar 
Bass
Dr D K Smythe 
Bass
William Mysterious (William Donaldson)
Bass, sax
Johnny Terminator
Bass
Angel (Alan) Patterson
Drums
Kid Krupa
Guitar
Vince Santini
Bass
Rocky Rhythm
Drums

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