31-604: Big Sexy Land is the debut studio album by industrial rock band Revolting Cocks , released through Wax Trax! Records in 1986. This is the only album to feature the group's founding lineup of Luc van Acker , Richard 23 and Alain Jourgensen . The album's title is a reference to a strip club in West Berlin. Jourgensen said that the club's large, neon sign was "the biggest capitalistic tease" for citizens in East Germany. The album
62-420: A dub remix project. After returning to Brussels , Richard 23 discussed collaboration with Luc van Acker ; Van Acker, previously session guitarist for Shriekback , joined the newly formed project after talking with Jourgensen over the phone. The band's name came from an incident that took place in a Chicago bar; according to van Acker and Jourgensen, the band was trying out "insulting French expressions" on
93-537: A "Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle: 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 Year Anniversary" concert series was held from April 15 to 17, 2011 at Metro Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. As a part of the lineup, Chris Connelly, Paul Barker, and Luc van Acker performed Revolting Cocks songs with Duane Buford, Dan Brill, Jamie Duffy and others. For their performance on the 17th, Richard 23 joined them on stage to sing "No Devotion". In 2016, Richard 23, van Acker, Barker, and Connelly performed under
124-467: A Giant , featured him singing in something other than a background role, and also featured Robert Fripp . Improvisations from these sessions turned up later on the CD The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior , which was credited to Rieflin, Fripp and Trey Gunn . Rieflin appeared on all KMFDM records released from 1995 to 2003 as a drummer, programmer, vocalist and keyboardist. He toured with
155-524: A few days after the first full-length live release of the band with Rieflin on board ( Live in Toronto 2015 ), Fripp announced Rieflin's decision to take a sabbatical from the band, effective March 6, 2016. This was "a decision supported by all the Crimson Brothers." He was replaced on drums by Jeremy Stacey for the following year of group activity. In early 2017, Fripp announced that Rieflin would return to
186-488: A musical side project for Richard 23 of Front 242 , Luc van Acker , and Al Jourgensen of Ministry . Revolting Cocks' origins date to late 1984, when Belgian industrial dance group Front 242 , after being invited by Chicago -based indie record label Wax Trax! Records , commenced their first American tour as an opening act for their then-labelmates, American band Ministry . Afterwards, Ministry lead singer Al Jourgensen asked Front 242 member Richard 23 to produce
217-471: A musician on the album because he was still under contract by Sire. After Jourgensen released a dub remix of "You Often Forget" without the band's input, Richard 23 quit. The track "We Shall Cleanse the World" includes a sample of the title phrase taken from the film The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston . The title of the track "Attack Ships on Fire" is taken from dialog in the film Blade Runner . "38"
248-453: A seven-member band. Fripp would summarise the situation as "regardless of the quality of player depping for Bill, simply, Bill is irreplaceable. It's not the notes that are played, it's the Billness of Bill that Master Rieflin brings to the group." Although he would not appear onstage with King Crimson again, Rieflin would remain a nominal and fully-respected member of the band until his death
279-458: A single. A tour was planned but cancelled, and the band went on hiatus. In 2004, Jourgensen and former RevCo player Phildo Owens ( Skatenigs , Snow Black) revived the group and previewed a new song, "Prune Tang". An album titled Purple Head was due in 2004, but was delayed until 2006 with a change in title to Cocked and Loaded . "Caliente (Dark Entries)", a cover of "Dark Entries" by Bauhaus , with vocalist Gibby Haynes ( Butthole Surfers ),
310-510: A small handful of live dates in 2005 and 2006 and became inactive until 2014, when they played a few shows as a quintet due to Zazou's passing in 2008. He was also involved in a music collaboration project entitled The Humans , which consisted of him, Chris Wong, Fripp and Toyah Willcox . The band performed a series of live dates in Estonia in Autumn 2007 and 2009, and released their debut album We are
341-418: A strained relationship between Jourgensen and Wax Trax. As it happened, these would be the last Revolting Cocks releases on Wax Trax as Sire Records bought out the rights to all of Jourgensen's side projects. Linger Ficken' Good (1993) was released by Sire Records, with most tracks returning to the less layered material. Included was a cover of Rod Stewart 's " Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? ", also released as
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#1732904696401372-473: A waiter, ordering something they said meant "revolting cock" which led the waiter to say, "You are revolting cocks!" Their first release was "No Devotion" on Wax Trax! Records in 1985. The single was quickly followed by an album, Big Sexy Land (1986), featuring a mix of industrial, hard rock , and EBM with dominating sampling and strong synthesized beats. Richard 23 quit in 1986, after falling out with Jourgensen over his and Adrian Sherwood's remix of
403-612: A year later. Via retrospective footage, he played a significant part in Toby Amies' 2022 documentary In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 , candidly discussing his terminal stage 4 colon cancer, his imminent death, and his choice to spend his final years playing music with King Crimson. Rieflin was married to painter Francesca Sundsten until her death in 2019. Rieflin died on March 24, 2020, from colon cancer, at
434-680: Is a reference to the victims of the Heysel Stadium disaster which occurred on May 29, 1985, although the final death toll in the disaster was actually 39. The Rough Guide to Rock described the album as a "more fluid Nitzer Ebb " evocative of current trends in electronic music. AllMusic wrote that it is "a distinguished debut from a 'side project' that occasionally surpasses the day-job work that its members became famous for". No Devotion (1985) Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks , also known as RevCo , are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup , that began as
465-480: The Big Sexy Land tracks along with some new material. This trend continued on Beers, Steers, and Queers (1990), layering sample over sample and pushing ever further into distortion. The budget for Beers, Steers, and Queers and its accompanying single "(Let's Get) Physical" ballooned to $ 30,000 in early 1990 primarily due to copyright troubles surrounding the cover of Olivia Newton-John's hit song, and led to
496-451: The 1997 departure of Bill Berry . The band gave him the live drummer slot in its 2003 tour. They later announced that Rieflin would fill the role indefinitely, though once again as a hired musician rather than as an official member. In recordings, Rieflin also contributed bouzouki , keyboards and guitars to the group, serving as an auxiliary member until R.E.M. disbanded in 2011. Rieflin, along with Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck ,
527-628: The Crown . Later that year he produced the single Crush Vaccine for Atomic Bride. In an online diary entry dated September 6, 2013, Robert Fripp announced a new lineup for King Crimson that included Rieflin as one of the band's three drummers. Although this particular version of King Crimson would never record a studio album, Rieflin would play live with the band for the rest of his career. Following two-and-a-half years of touring (during which new percussion pieces incorporating Rieflin's drumming work made their way into King Crimson's live repertoire) and
558-538: The Humans in 2009. Hector Zazou 's 2010 album Corps Electriques featured Rieflin, as well as KatieJane Garside , Lone Kent and nu-jazz trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær . Rieflin was a regular contributor to Swans , playing an array of instruments from the 1995 album The Great Annihilator through 2016's The Glowing Man . (He is listed as an "honorary Swan" on the band's 2012 album The Seer .) In 2012, Rieflin performed on drums for Robbie Williams 's album Take
589-407: The band as a bassist in 2002 in support of its comeback album, Attak and performed on the 2011 KMFDM album, WTF?! . He also drummed for Scott McCaughey 's band, The Minus 5 , which occasionally included R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck . Eventually Rieflin's work with The Minus 5 led to Buck offering him the opportunity to sit in with R.E.M., who had been missing a permanent drummer since
620-575: The band, but that (due to Fripp's desire to stave off complacency after several years of touring) Stacey would continue to drum for the group while Rieflin himself "[would] be focusing on mellotron, keys and fairy dusting, rather than using drums as a main instrument" in the new Double Quartet configuration. Rieflin thus became the band's first ever full-time dedicated keyboardist. At the time of King Crimson's US Autumn 2017 tour dates in October–November, Rieflin once again needed to take time away from
651-428: The group. The Seattle-based guitarist Chris Gibson temporarily covered for him on keyboards during the autumn tour. Rieflin rejoined the band in 2018 before taking another indefinite sabbatical in 2019. He was tentatively and temporarily replaced on keyboards by Soft Machine 's sax player Theo Travis for initial rehearsals before Fripp and the band made the decision to not replace Rieflin, thus reverting King Crimson to
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#1732904696401682-785: The mid-nineties, though he noted that he was never credited as a member of Ministry proper, always as an "other" musician. Therefore, when he parted ways with the band during the Filth Pig sessions, he did not really quit since he was never an official member. Rieflin helped Atkins kick off Pigface , the industrial collective that would grow to incorporate hundreds of artists, formed a friendship with labelmate Chris Connelly and founded First World Music. Like Connelly, Rieflin's work grew beyond his industrial roots. They collaborated on several recordings; two in particular, The Ultimate Seaside Companion (as "The Bells") and Largo , showcase Rieflin's keyboard skills. Rieflin's solo debut, Birth of
713-571: The nascent Ministry . Rieflin's earliest collaboration with Al Jourgensen was in 1986 on "You Often Forget", the second single by the Revolting Cocks . Later, he participated in the creation of Ministry's 1988 album The Land of Rape and Honey , and was noted for his performance in the live video In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (alongside fellow drummer Martin Atkins ). Rieflin's work with Ministry and its side projects lasted through to
744-600: The retirement of Bill Berry in 1997. He was a member of King Crimson from 2013 until his death in 2020. Rieflin was born on September 30, 1960, and began his professional career in his hometown of Seattle. In 1975, he was in The Telepaths, a band which played backup for a couple of live gigs by the pre- The Screamers band The Tupperwares. He played drums for The Blackouts starting in 1979. His bandmates included Mike Davidson, Paul Barker , Roland Barker and Erich Werner. Eventually that band dissolved and Paul Barker joined
775-578: The shorter name The Cocks for a six-date tour to mark the 30th anniversary of Big Sexy Land , accompanied by Dan Brill and Jason Novak. A larger tour followed in 2017, with the band using the original Revolting Cocks name. The band played a series of gigs in Europe, including the WGT and Infest festivals, before returning to the US for a tour with Front Line Assembly . On April 8, 2018, Jourgensen announced that another album
806-517: The song "You Often Forget". The group's remaining two members were augmented by Chris Connelly (formerly of Finitribe , later of Ministry), Paul Barker and Bill Rieflin (both formerly of The Blackouts and at the time in Ministry), with various others appearing as contributors or guests. The following live album, Live! You Goddamned Son of a Bitch (1988), recorded at a single September 1987 show in Chicago, featured more aggressive versions of
837-531: Was a member of Robyn Hitchcock 's backing band "The Venus 3", and appeared on three Hitchcock albums, from 2006 to 2010. Rieflin was key to forming an experimental ensemble named Slow Music in 2005 with Fred Chalenor (bassist whom he had previously played drums with in the Seattle based instrumental LAND in the late 90's), Hector Zazou , Matt Chamberlain , Peter Buck , and Robert Fripp ; in this sextet Rieflin played synthesizers rather than drums. The group played
868-634: Was featured on the soundtrack to Saw II in 2005. After assembling a touring line up to open for Ministry on the MasterBaTour of 2006, Jourgensen chose vocalist Josh Bradford (Stayte, Simple Shelter, V.H.S.), keyboardist Clayton Worbeck (Stayte, Simple Shelter), and guitarist Sin Quirin ( Society 1 , later Ministry and ReVamp) as the new full-time members for the Revolting Cocks, now simply being called "RevCo". The group recorded Sex-O Olympic-O , which
899-553: Was in the process of being recorded. Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scenes) such as Ministry , the Revolting Cocks , Lard , KMFDM , Pigface , Swans , Chris Connelly , and Nine Inch Nails . He worked regularly with R.E.M. following
930-460: Was originally set to be released in October 2008, but was delayed multiple times until it saw release on March 3, 2009. Following a tour, a second album with this lineup, ¿Got Cock? , was released on April 13, 2010. The project fell apart once again with Bradford and Worbeck parting ways. Quirin continued to work with Jourgensen following Ministry's revival in 2011. In celebration of the record label,
961-462: Was recorded in 1985 at ICP Studios in Brussels. Van Acker attributed the album's mixing to Jourgensen's sessions with Adrian Sherwood on Twitch . Van Acker said Jourgensen surreptitiously took notes on Sherwood's settings, but, without any context for the numbers, they had to later guess at what the settings were for, such as reverb and delay time. According to van Acker, Jourgensen did not appear as