The Rezillos came together at Edinburgh Art College in March 1976. The original members included vocalists Faye Fife and Eugene Reynolds, guitarists Luke Warm (Jo Callis) and Hi-Fi Harris, bassist D.K. Smythe, saxophonist William Mysterious, drummer Angel Patterson and Gale Warning on backing vocals. This eight member group first gigged around Scotland in November 1976 -- in sparkly comic book stage costumes -- and in mid-1977 released their debut single "I Can't Stand My Baby" for new indie label Sensible Records, which set them up for a major deal with Sire in November of that year.
At this point Harris, Smythe and Warning all departed and the resulting quintet relocated to London, with William taking over bass duties. Despite constant gigging, the first Sire single "(My Baby Does" Good Sculptures" didn't chart, but the label sent the band to New York early in 1978 to cut their debut album. In a strange move, the label then sat on the completed recording for nearly three months while it organized a new UK distribution deal with WEA. At this point bassist William left and was replaced by Simon Templar.
The album Can't Stand the Rezillos actually hit no. 16 on the charts and their second single "Top of the Pops" made no. 17. A national tour with label-mates The Undertones in support also saw the follow-up release of the single "Destination Venus" into the Top 50. However, by Christmas of 1978 the group had decided to split, with Faye and Eugene going one way and the instrumentalists going the other. Their December 23 show at Glasgow Apollo was recorded and issued the following April as the live album Mission Accomplished...But the Beat Goes On which went on to make no. 30 on the charts.
Guitarist Jo, bassist Simon and drummer Angel then joined up with Try Tate (ex-Index) to form Shake, which played for eighteen months with moderate success. Meanwhile, Faye and Eugene recruited drummer Rocky Rhythm (supposedly one of the very early original band-members of the Rezillos) and, together with three female back-up vocalists, formed the "new" outfit called the Revillos. Signed by Virgin's Dindisc subsiduary (e.g. Motorbike Beat), they put out several singles plus the album Rev Up. Subsequent releases on their own Superville label included the album Attack and several more singles, such as "She's Fallen in Love with the Monster Man".
The band's major flaw turned out to be the instability of its personnel. While Faye, Eugene and Rocky remained constant, guitarsits, bassists and particularly back-up vocalists continued to pass through the revolving door. Eventually, after self-financing a major American tour and being let down over a mooted Sci-Fi music movie deal, The Revillos decided to hang up the towel.
