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Spizz Energi is a band utilising various groupings of musicians, led by the vocalist/guitarist, Spizz (real name Kenneth Spiers). Others band names included Spizzoil and Athletico Spizz 80. Spizz Energi straddled the line between punk rock and new wave music during the late 1970s in the United Kingdom. Spizz attended the Solihull School in the West Midlands, and was inspired by the burgeoning punk rock movement. He was already performing (solo) by 1977. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... In music, a band is a company of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of or improvising a musical arrangement on different musical instruments. ... For other uses, see Singer (disambiguation). ... For the UK magazine, see Guitarist (magazine). ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... New Wave was a pop and rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the early-to-mid 1980s. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... , Solihull (IPA: , or ) is a large town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of 94,753. ... The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, in the English West Midlands. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

Spizz's early years

Spizz soon got together with like-minded guitarist Pete Petrol. The duo actually released a few lo-fi singles during the height of the punk's popularity. In 1978 Palmolive, drummer with The Slits, joined what was called Spizzoil (North Sea oil then being a hot topic), for a few gigs. Palmolive in 1977 during the White Riot Tour Palmolive was the stage name for Spanish born drummer Paloma Romera. ... The Slits are an all female punk rock band. ...

The band toured supporting acts such as Siouxsie & the Banshees and later as the main act all over Europe. Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band that formed in 1976. ...

Spizzenergi / Athletico Spizz 80

Line-up: August - November 1979.

• Spizz - Vocals and guitar
• Mark Coalfield - Keyboard and vocals
• Dave Scott - Guitar
• Jim Solar - Bass guitar.
• Hero Shima - Drums

For the first time, Spizz had a dedicated backing band, with a distinctively new wave sound. As Spizzenergi [1] they became the first number one band in the newly formed indie chart in January 1980. The BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel described "Where's Captain Kirk?" as... "the best Star Trek associated song". This was probably the peak of Spizz's music career. Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... For other uses, see Drum (disambiguation). ... In popular music, a chart-topper is an extremely popular recording, identified by its inclusion in a ranked list—a chart—of top selling or otherwise judged most popular releases. ... // A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ... BBC Radio 1 (commonly referred to as just Radio 1) is a British national radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in popular music and speech and is aimed primarily at the 14-29[1] age group. ... For other meanings of DJ, see DJ (disambiguation). ... For other persons named John Peel, see John Peel (disambiguation). ... This article is about the entire Star Trek franchise. ...

This line-up continued as Athletico Spizz 80, gaining a considerable following. They became the only band to sell out the Marquee Club for five consecutive nights (with a sixth alcohol-free, matinee show). The tune was featured in the 1981s archival Urgh! A Music War film. This material was shown occasionally on late-night American cable TV, and may have helped prolong Spizz's notoriety slightly. They released an album entitled Do A Runner on A&M Records, to mixed reviews. The Marquee is a legendary music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. ... Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1981 featuring performances of punk and New Wave music, filmed in 1980. ... A&M Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Universal Music Group. ...

When Lu Edmonds joined the line-up in 1981, they again changed their name -- to the Spizzles. The group released a record called Spikey Dream Flowers, which cemented the group's sonic image as science-fiction weirdoes. Two final 1982 singles, "Megacity 3" and "Jungle Fever", were the swan-song of Spizz in the 1980s. By 1982 new wave was over, and post-punk bands like The Smiths and Gang of Four were taking over the indie music scene. For the song from The Rocky Horror Show, see Science Fiction/Double Feature. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial punk rock explosion. During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976-1983, bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock... The Smiths were an English rock band active from 1982 to 1987. ... The Gang of Four (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin: ) was a group of Communist Party of China leaders in the Peoples Republic of China who were arrested and removed from their positions in 1976, following the death of Mao Zedong, and were primarily blamed for the events of... in music that is characterized by its perceived independence from mainstream or pop culture as a whole. ...

Spizz was noted for an annual name change policy which ceased when the Guinness Book of Records failed to recognise Spizz's claim that he has recorded and released the greatest number of recordings under different names. "Too Specialised" was the response of the then deputy editor, Shelagh Thomas, who nevertheless confessed to owning "Where's Captain Kirk?". American stadium rockers R.E.M. (who started their band in the early 1980s) have recorded a version of "Where's Captain Kirk?", which they gave to the fan club members in Christmas 1992. Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ... R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by Bill Berry (drums), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar), and Michael Stipe (vocals). ... // In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song. ... For more information on fans of football (soccer), see Football (soccer) culture. ...

Later years

After the demise of the Spizzles, Spizz did a few solo projects (as SpizzOrwell and performing The Last Future Show) and played guitar for Heaven 17. After a dance mix of Where's Captain Kirk? in 1987, he had no significant chart success. The birth of a daughter in 1991 consumed the bulk of energy as he stayed home to care for her. Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating in Sheffield in the early 1980s. ...

Spizz still appears live and releases material through Cherry Red Records [2]. The most recent release however has emerged on his own label 442ok [3]. It was called "We're The England" and is their third England World Cup Song attempt (previously "E for England" for France 1998, and "On The Road To Yokohama" for 2002). Other Spizz football related songs are "The Sun Never Sets on Aston Villa" which is on the club's official compact disc, "Three Lions in The Sky" which was aimed at television producer, and his own label 'company song', "442ok". Cherry Red Records is an independent record label established by Iain McNay in 1978. ... Aston Villa redirects here. ...

Added to this is the maxi single released in May 2006; the earliest known recording of "Where's Captain Kirk?" (from Spizz's own archives).

Single releases

Rough Trade Records, now a member of the RIAA[1], began as an independent record label, based in London, England. ... A&M Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Universal Music Group. ...

External links

• Unoffical Spizzenergi site
• Official site
• Background info and interview]