The Gizmos were an American punk band formed in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, in 1976. The original band was made up of Ken Highland, Eddie Flowers, Ted Niemiec and the members of a group called Cerberus; Rich Coffee, Dave Sulak, Rick Czajka, and Jim DeVries. The Gizmos released three 7-inch EPs on Gulcher Records in 1976, 1977, and 1978.
In late 1977 the band broke up. Then, Ted Niemiec recruited new members to form a new version of the Gizmos. This version of the band released one EP, "Never Mind The Sex Pistols Here's The Gizmos".
After Niemiec left the band, new member Dale Lawrence carried on using the band name with new members.
After the Gizmos Ken Highland later relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, where he has been in a long string of garage-oriented bands over the years, including Club Linehan a Go-Go, the Hopelessly Obscure, Johnny & the Jumper Cables, the Kenne Highland Clan, the Goody Goody Gumdrops, and the Vatican Sex Kittens.
Eddie Flowers and Rich Coffee moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and become active in the underground rock scene there. Flowers started Crawlspace with members of the Lazy Cowgirls in 1985. Coffee sang and played in Thee Fourgiven and the Tommyknockers, influenced by late 1960s pre-punk hard rock bands like the MC5 and the Doors as well as more recent acts like the Cramps, the Gun Club, and Billy Childish. The bands of both Coffee and Flowers were associated with the Sympathy for the Record Industry record label.
Members Cerberus Rich Coffee — guitar, vocals Rick Czajka — guitar Dave Sulak — bass Jim DeVries — drums
Gizmos #1 Ken Highland — lead guitar, lead vocals Eddie Flowers — lead vocals Ted Niemiec — lead vocals Rich Coffee — rhythm guitar, background vocals Dave Sulak — bass Rick Czajka — rhythm/lead guitar (EP1 only) Davey Medlock — background vocals Don Jaskulske — background vocals Jim DeVries — drums #1 Jim Kohl — drums #2
Gizmos #2 Ted Niemiec — lead vocals Dale Lawrence — rhythm guitar Steve Feikes — rhythm guitar Billy Nightshade — bass Phil Hundley — tambourine, background vocals, percussion Shadow Myers — drums Don Jaskulske — background vocals
Gizmos #3 This version of the Gizmos was one of the first corn punk bands in the U.S. Dale Lawrence — vocals, rhythm guitar Billy Nightshade — bass, vocals Tim Carroll — guitar Shadow Myers — drums #1 Crash Kinser — drums #2 Robbie Wise — drums #3
Gizmos #4 This is a re-union of the original 1976 line up. Main members Ken Highland — lead guitar, lead vocals Eddie Flowers — lead vocals Ted Niemiec — lead vocals Rich Coffee — rhythm guitar, background vocals Davey Medlock — background vocals Rhythm section #1 Ian Brewer — guitar John Terrill — drums Max Demata — bass Rhythm section #2 Craig Bell — bass Kelsey Simpson — drums Sam Murphy — guitar Rhythm section #3 Kenny Kaiser — guitar MJ Quirk — bass Matt Burns — drums
Discography EPs Gizmos #1 "Muff Divin'" EP (1976) "Amerika First" EP (1977) "World Tour" EP (1978)
Gizmos #2 "Never Mind The Sex Pistols Here's The Gizmos" EP (1978)
Gizmos #3 Hoosier Hysteria! (Split album with Dow Jones and the Industrials) (1980)
Compilations 1975-1977: Demos & Rehearsals (2000) - Gizmos #1 1976: The Rockabilly Yobs Session (2001) - Gizmos #1 The Midwest Can Be Allright (2001) - Gizmos #3 1978-1981:Never Mind The Gizmos Here's The Gizmos (2002) - Gizmos #2 and #3 Rock & Roll Don't Come From New York (2004) - Gizmos #3 1976/1977: The Studio Recordings (2006) - Gizmos #1
References
External links
1977 Gizmos article from Big Star fanzine: https://ffanzeen.blogspot.com/2012/05/the-gizmos-quims-queens-teens-and.html Ken Highland interview 1978: http://www.bostongroupienews.com/BGNGizmoInterview.htm JOJOBLOG #24 The Bostonians- Kenne Highland and Jody Moore; https://jojofiles.blogspot.com/2010/01/bostonians-interview-24-kenne-highland.html Eddie Flowers interview at Perfect Sounds Forever: http://www.furious.com/perfect/gizmos.html Eddie Flowers website: http://www.slippytown.com