In early 1976 things were a bit dull. My main band, The Knutsford Dominators, were no more – but they’d planted the seed of an idea within me and Eugene Reynolds. In fact, the overall Rezillos concept came before there was even a lineup.
That summer we’d begun to hear rumblings of something interesting happening down south, known as punk rock. I monitored its progress over the months along with Mark (Hi Fi). He bought many of the new wave releases as they came out, and we’d listen to them avidly in his flat, along with ever second of the John Peel show. Something to get excited about again – I wanted to be a punk.
The Damned: New Rose
The Clash: White Riot
The Rezillos started as a bit of light relief from the other more serious bands we played in. Then we went to see Dr Feelgood play Leith Town Hall, and we were fully inspired. After our debut performance on the November 5, 1976, we chucked in the other musical projects, and there was no turning back.
It was reassuring to discover that one was not alone in the desire to generally shake things up a bit. The new wave gave The Rezillos a sense of definition and a place we could fit in. It gave further purpose to me as a would-be songwriter. We were constantly playing live dates, gaining a following and a bit of a reputation. It all led up to the release of our first 7-inch, 45RPM record. A small milestone for myself and the group, and it featured one of my own compositions.
After a promo tour of small gigs around London, we garnered some positive live and record reviews in the music press. Record company interest soon followed, and we signed to Sire Records in late 1977.
We now became full-timers and had to trim the band down to five members – Hi Fi, Gayle and Dr DK left to continue their careers or studies and William Mysterious took over on bass guitar.
As a US-based label, Sire flew us to New York to record our debut album in the legendary Power Station studio. That came shortly after touring the UK, opening for US punk legends, and now stablemates, The Ramones!