Naked Raygun Explained

Naked Raygun
Landscape:yes
Background:group_or_band
Origin:Chicago, Illinois
Years Active:1980–1992, 2006–present
Genre:Punk rock, post-hardcore, post-punk
Label:Ruthless Records, Homestead, Quarterstick Records, Caroline, Riot Fest Records, Wax Trax! Records
Associated Acts:Big Black, The Effigies, Pegboy, The Bomb, Silver Abuse
Website:www.nakedraygun.org
Current Members:Jeff Pezzati
Bill Stephens
Eric Spicer
Fritz Doreza
Past Members:Santiago Durango
John Haggerty
Pierre Kezdy
Bobby Strange
Jim Colao
Marko Pezzati
Camilo Gonzalez
John Lundin
Sensitive Pete

Naked Raygun is an American punk rock band that formed in Chicago in 1980. The band was active from 1980 to 1992, along with reunion shows in 1997, and since 2006.

Naked Raygun have cited various bands as influences, including Buzzcocks, Wire, the Stranglers, the Damned, the Ruts, Killing Joke,[1] Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Jam, and the Clash.[2]

History

Initial run

The band was formed in 1980 by Santiago Durango, Marko Pezzati and later Jeff Pezzati. Singer Jeff Pezzati was the sole constant member through multiple personnel changes. Members over time include drummers Bobby Strange, Jim Colao, and Eric Spicer; bassists Marko Pezzati, Pierre Kezdy, Camilo Gonzalez, Pete Mittler and Fritz Doreza; guitarists Santiago Durango, John Haggerty, and Bill Stephens; and keyboardist John Lundin.

Durango and Jeff Pezzati were also members of Big Black.

Post-Naked Raygun

In 1989, John Haggerty left Naked Raygun to form Pegboy with his younger brother Joe (formerly of Bloodsport and The Effigies) and Steve Saylors and Larry Damore of the Bhopal Stiffs (Pierre Kezdy would later replace Steve Saylors).

Jeff Pezzati is also the lead singer of The Bomb, which is a different and later band than the San Francisco group, known as "Bomb".

Reunions

A two-show reunion in 1997 produced the live album Free Shit!.[3] [4]

In 1999, the independent record label Quarterstick Records re-issued the band's back catalog on CD.[5]

In 2006 Naked Raygun reunited for Riot Fest, an annual punk rock festival held in Chicago. Following their 2006 reunion, Naked Raygun announced that the band was "back for good."[6] [7] The reunited lineup consists of its "Raygun...Naked Raygun" members: Pezzati, Stephens, Kezdy, and Spicer.[8] In 2009 Naked Raygun returned to the studio for the first time since 1997 for a series of 7-inch singles released on Riot Fest Records and announced plans to record an LP, the first since 1990's Raygun... Naked Raygun.[9]

In 2011, Pete Mittler of The Methadones joined the line-up so that longtime bassist Pierre Kezdy could convalesce from a stroke.[10]

In August 2014, Naked Raygun opened for Bad Religion, The Offspring and Stiff Little Fingers on the last two shows of the Summer Nationals tour at The Rave in Milwaukee[11] and Harrah's Stir Cove in Council Bluffs, Iowa.[12]

Naked Raygun (along with Urge Overkill and Cheap Trick) opened for the Foo Fighters at Wrigley Field, Chicago, on August 29, 2015.[13]

Although the band announced plans to release a new album in 2016,[14] no recordings were released until 2021's Over The Overlords.

Pierre Kezdy died of cancer on October 9, 2020.[15]

Legacy

Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, has frequently discussed seeing Naked Raygun as his first concert in 1982 (when he was 13) at Chicago's Cubby Bear. During their October 17, 2014, show at the Cubby Bear, Jeff Pezatti joined the band for a Naked Raygun cover. Naked Raygun themselves later opened for Foo Fighters on select dates during the Sonic Highways World Tour.

Blink-182’s Matt Skiba references Naked Raygun in the song “Parking Lot” from their California album.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Compilations

Compilation appearances

Video

Members

Current members

Former members

Timeline

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: January 5, 2022 . Interview with Bill Stephens (Naked Raygun) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220927111115/https://alt77.com/interview-with-bill-stephens-naked-raygun/ . September 27, 2022 . April 18, 2024 . alt77.com.
  2. Web site: Murphy . Tom . September 18, 2013 . Naked Raygun's Jeff Pezzati on Wax Trax, and why and how the band got back together . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240407230749/https://www.westword.com/music/naked-rayguns-jeff-pezzati-on-wax-trax-and-why-and-how-the-band-got-back-together-5706160 . April 7, 2024 . April 18, 2024 . . It was just that these bands sounded different. Siouxsie & The Banshees didn't sound like the Sex Pistols, and they didn't sound like the Buzzcocks, the Jam or the Clash. But you knew they were all of the same school. So we wanted to be influenced by those bands and sound unique but not emulate those bands, so no one could really say we were doing what those guys were doing..
  3. News: DeRogatis . Jim . Jim DeRogatis . Naked Raygun . . 32 . December 1, 1997 .
  4. News: Kot . Greg . Greg Kot . LASER-SHARP RAYGUN FIRES BACK POST-NIRVANA, POSTPUNK SCENE CLAIMS ITS DUE IN HIGH-OCTANE METRO SHOW . . 2 . December 1, 1997 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629034618/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/23331960.html?dids=23331960:23331960&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+01,+1997&author=Greg+Kot,+Tribune+Rock+Critic.&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=LASER-SHARP+RAYGUN+FIRES+BACK+POST-NIRVANA,+POSTPUNK+SCENE+CLAIMS+ITS+DUE+IN+HIGH-OCTANE+METRO+SHOW&pqatl=google . dead . June 29, 2011 .
  5. News: Kot . Greg . Greg Kot . PUNK LEGACY A DECADE LATER, NAKED RAYGUN FIRES VOLLEYS FROM THE UNDERGROUND . . 10 . September 5, 1999 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629034640/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/44439405.html?dids=44439405:44439405&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+05,+1999&author=Greg+Kot,+Tribune+Rock+Critic&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=PUNK+LEGACY+A+DECADE+LATER,+NAKED+RAYGUN+FIRES+VOLLEYS+FROM+THE+UNDERGROUND&pqatl=google . dead . June 29, 2011 .
  6. News: Naked Raygun reunite permanently, plan live CD/DVD . AP Alt Press . January 4, 2007 .
  7. Web site: Naked Raygun – Official Site. Naked Raygun.
  8. Web site: Official Site – History. https://web.archive.org/web/20070607161343/http://www.nakedraygun.org/history/index.html. dead. June 7, 2007.
  9. Web site: Naked Raygun entering the studio soon for 7″ series, LP coming later. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727220333/http://riotfest.org/news/2009/jul/14/naked-raygun-entering-studio-soon-7-series-lp-comi/. dead. Riot Fest . July 27, 2011.
  10. Web site: Interview With Neutron Bombs/Naked Raygun/The Bomb Bass Player Sensitive Pete. Critical Mass. 3 February 2012. 2011-08-12.
  11. Web site: The Rave/Eagles Club Concert Photo Gallery - THE OFFSPRING In Concert 9/9/2014. Therave.com.
  12. Web site: Summer Nationals 2014 Tour Announcement. Offspring.com. 12 May 2014. 2014-05-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20181003101434/http://offspring.com/news/402/summer-nationals-2014-tour-announcement. 3 October 2018. dead.
  13. Web site: Review: Foo Fighters at Wrigley Field – Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. 29 August 2015. Chicagotribune.com.
  14. Web site: Music: Naked Raygun: "Broken Things". Punknews.org. 4 November 2015 .
  15. Web site: O'Donnell . Maureen . Pierre Kezdy, bass player for influential punk rockers Naked Raygun, other Chicago bands, dead at 58 . Chicago Sun-Times . 9 October 2020 . en . 9 October 2020.

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