Before Punk came along, Edinburgh art college students Alan Forbes and John Callis were 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 Hynde 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).
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 Fay Fife studied acting and landed roles in Taggart and The Bill, then retrained as a clinical psychologist. Guitarist Eugene Reynolds 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 Hynde)
Vocals
Hi-Fi Harris
Guitar
Luke Warm (John Callis)
Guitar
Simon Templar
Bass
Dr D K Smythe
Bass
William Mysterious
Bass, sax
Johnny Terminator
Bass
Angel Patterson
Drums
Kid Krupa
Guitar
Rocky Rhythm
Drums
