Spizz

Athletico Spizz 80 played the Bungalow Bar, Paisley on 8th June, 1980.Spizz
remembers the following of the gig:

Hi VR,

Yea we played the Bungalow Bar in Paisley, Scotland and it was quite memorable.
I had to stand on a couple of beer crates to perform so people other than those at
the front of a packed crowd could see me.

It was a great gig - fantastic atmosphere and I think if my memory is correct it
was the one where back at the hotel we had a brawl in the bar.

Spizz

Spizz played his first gig as a solo perfomer in Birmingham at the Barbarellas
all-day punk festival on August 29, 1977. The other acts that day included
Eater, the Killjoys, and Bethnal. He played further solo gigs in Birmingham
and London until October 24, 1977, when he was joined by Pete Petrol on
guitar. Under the name Spizz 77, the duo played a number of high-profile
support slots with bands including the Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Richard Hell, and Slaughter and the Dogs.

By 1978, the name had changed to Spizz Oil and, after a successful support
slot on tour with Siouxsie and the Banshees and rave reviews, the band was
asked to record a John Peel Session. By October of 1978, Spizz Oil had
been signed by Rough Trade Records, and the first single, '6,000
Crazy'/'1989' and 'Fibre' was released. This was followed by the release of the
'Cold City' EP, which also included the tracks 'Red & Black', 'Solarisation'
and 'Platform 3'.

Pete Petrol left the band and Spizz joined up with bassist Jim Solar and
keyboard player Mark Coalfield under the band name Spizz Energi who
recorded a second Peel Session in March, 1979, which featured a
drummerless version of 'Soldier Soldier'. Following the session, the band
joined the Rough Trade tour with Petrol returning on guitar and then went into
the studio with Brian B. Benzene on drums. Petrol left the band again and
was replaced by Dave Scott and, along with new drummer Hero Shima, the
recordings were finished. The first single by Spizz Energi, 'Soldier Soldier',
was awarded the NME Single of the Week; however, the accompanying video
was banned! The video can be seen on the Spizz Energi website linked
below. Two months later the band released probably their best known single
'Where's Captain Kirk?', which was awarded Single of the Week in Melody
Maker in December, 1979. The band then recorded a third John Peel session
and replaced their drummer with CP Snare.

Spizz has continued to perform live and record. He recently performed 'Pretty
Vacany' with Glen Matlock in December, 2006 and his entry for the England
World Cup Song 'We're The England' was pushed into second place by Sham
69's 'Hurry Up'. Spizz, who was trained in fine art on leaving school, also
continues to paint (he is influenced by pop art and designed all of his record
sleeves).

For up to date information, visit Spizz's website and MySpace page at the
links below.

The following years saw more name changes to Spizzorwell (1983), Spizz's
Big Business (1985), Spizzsexual and Fuckspizz (1986). In 1987, 'Where's
Captain Kirk' was re-recorded with 'Living Is Better With Freedom' on the
B-side and, in 1988, 'Love Me Like A Rocket' was released under the name
Spizz Orbit. In 1989, Spizz played some gigs as Spizzvision and, in 1990, he
was joined by Pete Petrol and Dr. T, for a techno project under the name
Spizz Oil. In 1992, REM recorded a cover version of 'Where's Captain Kirk?' as
a Christmas gift for their fanclub membership. 1994 saw the release of a cover
version of 'Merry Christmas (War Is Over) released under the name Spizzmas
and, in 1996, Cherry Red Records released the album 'Spizz Is Not Dead
Shock!'. This was followed by 'Where's Captain Kirk? - The Very Best Of
Spizz'.

1981 saw yet another name change to the Spizzles who released their
second album called 'Spikey Dream Flowers'; however, after two more singles
('Risk'/'Melancholy' and 'Dangers Of Living'/'Scared') the band and A&M parted
company. In 1982, under the name Spizz Energi:2, the band released two
singles on Rough Trade ('Mega City 3'/'Work' and 'Jungle Fever'/'The Meaning)
and a compilation LP titled 'Spizz History'.

In 1980, the band name was changed to Athletico Spizz 80 and 'Where's
Captain Kirk?' topped the first official UK Indie Chart on January 19. The
single topped the chart for 8 weeks and remained on the chart for the rest of
the year. They released their fifth single, 'No Room'/'Spock's Missing' on
Rough Trade which, with huge advance orders, topped the Indie Chart. On
the release of this single, they became the only band to have all five Rough
Trade singles in the Indie Chart under three different names! The major
labels started showing interest in the band who eventually signed to A&M
Records who released the singles 'Hot Deserts'/'Legal Proceedings' and
'Central Park'/'Central Park (Drs. & Nurses Dub)', and their first album 'Do A
Runner', which entered the national charts. In August, 1980, they became
the only band to play five consecutive sellout nights at the Marquee Club in
London. This year, the band were also filmed for the TV series Futurama '80
and the film Urgh! A Music War.