We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
| We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Alternative rock , pop , punk |
| founding | 1985, 2010, 2015 |
| resolution | 1990, 2011 |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Vickie Perks (Vix) |
Singing, percussion, keyboard, guitar |
Maggie Dunne (Magz) |
Bass, guitar, drums, piano |
Jo Dunne |
Drums, percussion, saxophone |
Tina O'Neill |
Fuzzbox (to Fuzzbox for the release of their first album in the US shortened) was a British pop-punk - quartet from Birmingham , which completely consisted of women.
history
Hailing from Moseley , Sheldon and Acocks Green in Birmingham, Great Britain, Fuzzbox came together in 1985. The band got its name after the members bought an effects device for their guitars ( Fuzzbox ) and Maggie Dunne exclaimed "We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It". (German: We have a fuzz box and we will use it. )
Their first release in March 1986 was a single, titled XX Sex and Rules and Regulations , which made extensive use of the fuzzbox. It reached number 41 in the British singles charts . This was a great success for the group; despite not reaching the top 40, the song stayed in the UK indie charts for 25 weeks. This led to tours in the UK and Europe and in December of that year their debut album, Bostin 'Steve Austin , was released. Geffen renamed the album We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It for the US edition . The album included their first Top 40 hit Love is the Slug and the smaller hit What's the Point .
In the summer of 1986 the band sat down with colleagues from Vindaloo Records The Nightingales and Ted Chippington to record the single Rocking with Rita (Head to Toe) . The single, which was intended for the Vindaloo Summer Special, had such classics as the B-side Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini in the version of Fuzzbox. Further discussion led to their next single cover of Norman Greenbaum's hit Spirit in the Sky , sung by Magz (Maggie Dunne).
The band signed with WEA Records and for their next album Big Bang! they completely changed their appearance and invented themselves as a slick dance-pop group with Vickie Perks at the center as a sex symbol . The album had no musical standing, but apparently the members played little or no themselves in what seemed like a departure from their original DIY ethos. Liam Sternberg was involved as a writer on the songs Pink Sunshine , Fast Forward Futurama and International Rescue . The first three releases of the album, International Rescue (UK # 11), Pink Sunshine (UK # 14) and Self! (UK # 24) all hit the top 30 in the UK, with a fourth single called Walking on Thin Ice making it to # 76.
In 1990 they started working on a new album called Out of this world , but the project was stopped after the release of the first single Your Loss, My Gain due to musical differences. Perks decided to start a solo career under the name Vix , while the other three members left their musical careers on hold for the time being. A reunion took place in 2008 and an appearance at UK's Birmingham's Gay Pride Festival . Releases of previously unpublished material appeared under the names Fuzz and Nonsence and From Rules and Regulations to Pink Sunshine , including two tracks intended for Out of This World . An album called Love is a Slug: Complete BBC Sessions of Radio Appearances with John Peel and Janice Long was later released. The listeners of the Peel Show voted Rules and Regulations 1986 at number 31 of the Festive Fifty.
In October 2004, a compilation of Fuzzbox singles and alternative mixes called Look at the Hits on That was released.
The band reunited in 2010 after Vickie Perks appeared on the BBC Two television show Nevermind the Buzzcocks and was seen there by a music agent who approached them about it. In October 2012, the guitarist for the band Jo Dunne died of cancer.
Solo work
The former singer ViX teamed up with Ginger von der Wildhearts to form the supergroup "Ginger and the Sonic Circus" together with guitarist and producer Jason Edwards ( Wolfsbane ) and Jon Poole (The Wildhearts, Cardiacs ) and Conny Bloom ( Hanoi Rocks ). They headlined the Gibson / MyStage stage at the Download Festival 2006 and had several concerts in the US and Japan as well as various tours in the UK before The Wildhearts finally reunited.
ViX released an eleven track album in 2008 called LovePower and Peace on Damage Control Music. The album contains nine original tracks and two reworked Fuzzbox songs, Your Loss, My Gain and You , and is produced by Robin George, who also co-wrote.
ViX n The Kix
ViX n The Kix is a project launched by Vickie Perks in 2007. The Ruckus magazine describes the music as "retro packaging of smooth fifties glamor and flirty burlesque ... it alternates between fun filled, punkinspirierten waves of gitarrengetriebenem pop and lush, sensitive ballads - influences there from everywhere, from No Doubt about garbage up to Roxy Music and The Pretenders . "
occupation
- Vickie Perks (actually Victoria Perks; born October 9, 1968 in Birmingham, England) - vocals
- Maggie Dunne (born June 5, 1964 in Solihull , England) - vocals, percussion, keyboard, guitar
- Jo Dunne (born November 12, 1968 - October 27, 2012 in Birmingham, England) - bass, guitar, drums, piano
- Tina O'Neill (born January 20, 1969 in Birmingham, England) - drums, percussion, saxophone
Discography
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Albums
- 1986: Bostin 'Steve Austin (Vindaloo Records)
- 1987: We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It ( Geffen Records , re-release of the first 12 songs on Bostin 'Steve Austin )
- 1989: Big Bang ( Warner Bros. Records )
Compilations
- 2000: Fuzz and Nonsense ( Cherry Red Records )
- 2001: Rules & Regulations To Pink Sunshine: Fuzzbox Story (Cherry Red Records)
- 2004: Look At The Hits On That ( WSM )
- 2005: Love Is A Slug: Complete BBC Sessions (Cherry Red Records)
Singles
1986
- XX Sex / Rules And Regulations (UK Indie Charts # 1)
- Rockin 'With Rita (Head To Toe)
- Love is the slug
As a fuzz box
1987
- What's The Point includes a cover by Queens Bohemian Rhapsody
1989
- International Rescue
- Pink Sunshine
- Self!
- Walking On Thin Ice (a cover by Yoko Ono )
1990
- Your Loss My Gain (Limited Edition)
Web links
- Fuzzbox at Allmusic (English)
- Fuzzbox at Discogs (English)
- Vix Solo Album on Damage Control Music
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Strong, Martin C (1999) The Great Alternative & Indie Discography , Canongate, ISBN 0-86241-913-1
- ^ A b c Larkin, Colin (1992) The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music , Guinness Publishing, ISBN 0-85112-579-4
- ↑ a b Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980-1989 , Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-9517206-9-4
- ↑ a b c Fuzzbox in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It , at the BBC's Keeping It Peel site
- ^ Fuzzbox guitarist Jo Dunne, 43, dies after cancer battle BBC News October 27, 2012
- ↑ ViX n The Kix. (No longer available online.) In: Ruckus. October 2008, archived from the original on September 15, 2008 ; accessed on November 26, 2008 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
