Spizz

Mercurial punk survivor Spizz made his debut at the Birmingham, England club Barbarella's during an all-day music festival held August 27, 1977, performing an improvised set on a borrowed guitar; returning two months later by drummer Pete Petrol, he now billed the act as Spizz 77, the first of numerous name changes to follow in the years to come. Rechristened Spizz Oil, the duo earned their first significant notice in 1978 opening for Siouxsie and the Banshees, resulting in a John Peel session which itself led to an offer from Rough Trade to record an EP, 6000 Crazy. The record topped the UK indie charts, as did its follow-up, Cold City 4; however, Spizz and Petrol parted ways soon after, and with new bassist Jim Solar and keyboardist Mark Coalfield, Spizzenergi was launched in early 1979. Petrol then returned on guitar for the group's stint on the Rough Trade tour; after "Soldier, Soldier" was named Single of the Week in the NME, the follow-up, "Where's Captain Kirk?," earned the same honor in Melody Maker, topping the UK indie charts for eight consecutive weeks in 1980. After the next single "No Room" / "Spock's Missing" notched advance orders totalling over 50,000 copies, the group -- now touting themselves as Athletico Spizz 80 -- signed to A&M and released their much-anticipated full-length debut Do a Runner. Despite endless line-up shuffles, a brief tour of the U.S. followed before the band returned home to record their second album Spikey Dream Flowers, credited to the Spizzles; however, the emergence of the New Romantic movement had altered the prevailing musical climate so severely that the record not only flopped, but after just two more singles, A&M cut the group loose altogether. As Spizzenergi: 2, they returned to Rough Trade for a pair of singles, "Mega...