The group was founded by Richard 23 and Luc Van Acker with Al Jourgensen as their producer. According to Jourgensen, the band got their name after a fight in a Chicago bar in 1983. Jourgensen, Richard 23 and Luc Van Acker celebrated the formation of the new band with a few drinks. The evening then ended up in a brawl, with bar stools being thrown through the establishment's windows. As he was throwing the trio out, the owner, a man Jourgensen recalls was named Dess, shouted, "I'm calling the police! You guys are a bunch of revolting cocks!" The trio subsequently decided to use the name for their band.
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.
Losing Richard 23 due to creative differences, the group's remaining two members were augmented by a rapidly changing set of musicians centered on Chris Connelly (Cocksure, Bells Into Machines, Murder Inc., and Damage Manual), Paul Barker (Ministry, Lead Into Gold, Flowering Blight, and Bells Into Machines), and Bill Rieflin (Ministry, Pigface, R.E.M., and King Crimson), with around twenty others as irregular contributors or guest artists.
The following live album, You Goddamned Son of a Bitch (1988), featured a return to Ministry-like industrial rock - the Big Sexy Land tracks embedded in shouting and noise. This trend continued on Beers, Steers, and Queers (1990), layering sample over sample and pushing ever further into distortion. Linger Ficken' Good (1993) was released by Sire Records and was a tamer affair, 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 a single. A tour was planned but cancelled, and the band quietly came to an end in 1994.
In 2004, Jourgensen and Phildo Owens (Skatenigs, Snow Black) revived the group. They released an album entitled Cocked and Loaded (2006). Caliente (Dark Entries), a cover of sorts of Dark Entries by Bauhaus, with vocalist Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), 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, 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 and officially released the album on March 3, 2009. It was followed up by the last RevCo album Got Cock?, released on April 13, 2010.
In celebration of Wax Trax! Records, the "Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle: 33 1/3 Year Anniversary" was held from April 15-17, 2011 at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois, United States. As a part of the lineup, Chris Connelly, Paul Barker and Luc Van Acker performed Revolting Cocks songs with various guests. For their performance on the 17th, Richard 23 joined them on stage to sing lead vocals on No Devotion.
In 2014, Chris Connelly and Jason Novak (Acumen Nation, DJ? Acucrack, Iron Lung Corp) formed Cocksure, a project that bridges the gap between Wax Trax! era industrial dance music and the future sounds of mass corruption. The project is very influenced by the early RevCo sound, and has been described as "where the Revolting Cocks left off in 1994."
Previous Members:
Al Jourgensen - production, programming, and various instruments (1985–1993, 2004–2010)
Luc Van Acker - vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards (1985–1991, 2006)
Richard 23 - vocals, programming (1985–1986)
Bill Rieflin - drums, keyboards, programming (1986–1993)
Paul Barker - bass, keyboards, programming (1987–1993)
Chris Connelly - vocals, programming (1987–1993)
Phildo Owen - vocals, programming (1989–1991, 2004–2006)
Duane Buford - keyboards (1993)
Josh Bradford - vocals (2006–2010)
Sin Quirin - guitars, bass, keyboards (2006–2010)
Clayton Worbeck - keyboards, bass (2006–2010)
Live Lineups:
--------- 1987 ---------
Al Jourgensen - keyboards, vocals, guitar
Paul Barker - bass, keyboards
Luc Van Acker - guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards
Chris Connelly - vocals, keyboards
Bill Rieflin - drums
--------- 1988 ---------
Al Jourgensen - keyboards, vocals, guitar
Paul Barker - bass, keyboards
Luc Van Acker - guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards
Chris Connelly - vocals, keyboards
Bill Rieflin - drums
Nivek Ogre - vocals
--------- 1990 ---------
Al Jourgensen - guitar, backing vocals
Paul Barker - bass
Chris Connelly - vocals
Phildo Owen - vocals
Jeff Ward - drums
Mark Durante - guitar, backing vocals
Michael Balch - keyboards
Kevin "Doc" Sullivan - keyboards, backing vocals
Trent Reznor - vocals
--------- 1991 ---------
Al Jourgensen - guitar, backing vocals
Paul Barker - bass
Chris Connelly - vocals
Phildo Owen - vocals
Bill Rieflin - drums
Mark Durante - guitar, backing vocals
Michael Balch - keyboards
Luc Van Acker - vocals
--------- 2006 (Ministry's MasterBaTour) ---------
Al Jourgensen - guitar, backing vocals
Phildo Owen - vocals
Luc Van Acker - vocals
Josh Bradford - vocals
Sin Quirin - guitar
Clayton Worbeck - keyboards
Anna K - bass
Seven Antonopoulos - drums
--------- 2009 (Ministry's LubricaTour) ---------
Josh Bradford - vocals
Sin Quirin - guitar
Clayton Worbeck - keyboards, guitar
Murv Douglas - bass
Aaron Rossi - drums
Mike Scaccia - guitar (selected dates)
Al Jourgensen - guitar, backing vocals
--------- 2011 (Wax Trax! Retrospectacle - April 15-17) ---------
Luc Van Acker - vocals
Paul Barker - bass
Chris Connelly - vocals, keyboards
Duane Buford - keyboards
Jamie Duffy - guitar
Dan Brill - drums
Richard 23 - vocals
Discography:
1985 - No Devotion (single)
1986 - Big Sexy Land (LP)
1986 - You Often Forget (single)
1988 - You Goddamned Son of a Bitch (live)
1989 - Stainless Steel Providers (single)
1989 - (Let’s Get) Physical (single)
1990 - Beers, Steers, and Queers (LP)
1991 - Beers, Steers, and Queers (The Remixes) (single)
1993 - Linger Ficken' Good (LP)
1993 - Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? (single)
1994 - Crackin’ Up (single)
2006 - Cocked and Loaded (LP)
2007 - Cocktail Mixxx (remix)
2009 - Sex-O Olympic-O (LP)
2009 - Sex-O Mixxx-O (remix)
2010 - Got Cock? (LP)
2011 - Got Mixxx (remix)
Attack Ships
Revolting Cocks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tossing and turning and freezing and burning
Time and time and time again
Another bad dream and another dead end
Someone somewhere wake me up! (x4)
Time and time and time again
Time and time and time again
Same dark covers and same [?]
WAKE ME UP!
Time and time and time again
Wake up screaming and wake up dead
Time and time and time again
Wake up sweating and out of my head
Someone somewhere wake me up! (x3)
Someone somewhere WAKE ME UP!
Time and time and time again
I´m waking up shaking and waking in front
Time and time and time again
Same be -movie in black and white
Someone somewhere....
"Attack Ships on Fire" by Revolting Cocks is a song that delves into the recurring nature of nightmares and the desire to be woken up from them. The lyrics repeat the phrase "Time and time again" throughout the song, emphasizing the monotonous, circular nature of the singer's experience. They describe tossing and turning in bed, freezing and burning, and being enveloped by the same dark covers and the same bad dream every night. They plead for someone somewhere to wake them up from this cycle, this endless loop of terror.
The lyrics suggest that the singer is experiencing some kind of trauma or anxiety that is manifesting itself in their dreams. They wake up sweating, shaking, and feeling out of their head. The imagery of a black and white B-movie further emphasizes the surreal, nightmarish quality of the experience. The song's title, "Attack Ships on Fire," evokes a sense of danger and chaos, further underscoring the singer's sense of being overwhelmed and under threat.
Line by Line Meaning
Time and time and time again
Repetition of a negative cycle, with no apparent end in sight
Tossing and turning and freezing and burning
Experiencing discomfort and distress, both physically and mentally
Another bad dream and another dead end
Constantly facing disappointment and failure, with no solutions in sight
Someone somewhere wake me up! (x4)
Desperately seeking help to break free from this endless cycle
Same old story till the nighttime ends
Repeating the same negative experiences every day until the end of the day
Same dark covers and same [?]
Stuck in the same dark place, with no hope for escape
Wake up screaming and wake up dead
Experiencing fear and terror in sleep to the point of waking up in panic
Wake up sweating and out of my head
Feeling extreme anxiety or distress, leading to waking up in a state of intense tension
I'm waking up shaking and waking in front
Experiencing physical symptoms of fear in sleep and when waking up
Same B-movie in black and white
Feeling as though life is a poorly scripted and acted horror movie that repeats itself endlessly
Someone somewhere....
Continued desperation for help and a way out of this negative cycle
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Allen D Jourgensen, Luc Maria Rene Van Acker, Richard Jonckheere
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ambientiamtheant1619
I SAW MINISTRY DO THIS SONG LIVE. IT WAS THEIR ENCORE. THEY PLAYED MEDUSA'S.
HILARIOUS SHOW. 3 HOURS LATE. AL'S SYNTH LOST ITS MEMORY. HE HAD TO FIND ANOTHER OF THE SAME MODEL TO LOAD IN HIS PROGRAMMING BEFORE HE COULD PERFORM.
AL WAS SPITTING ON US FROM BEHIND A CHAIN LINK FENCE SURROUNDING THE STAGE.
THIS IS THE BEST COCKS SONG EVER. I USED TO DANCE THE SHIT OUT OF THIS ONE AT MEDUSA'S.
GREATEST CLUB OF ALL TIME.
BETTER THAN 54, BETTER THAN LIMELIGHT. BETTER THAN ANY CLUB THAT HAS EVER EXISTED.
AND IT ONLY HAD A JUICE BAR.
HALCYON DAYS, TRULY.
WHAT A PRIVILEGE TO HAVE EXPERIENCED THAT PLACE FOR SO MANY YEARS. I USED TO BURN 1,000 CALORIES IN A NIGHT.
I CAN'T HEAR THIS SONG AND NOT THINK OF THE GREAT MEDUSA.
@raymanscape
More than 30 years later and this album still kicks ass!
@lnbni
i'll never get tired of this song
@bertbozarth7428
If this band had a diffrent name they would be on the radio easily......great fucken band!
@andrewwilliams5008
Revco the sickest ones ever,,and had the best t shirts.
@princeofcupspoc9073
Sounds a lot like early My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. Not that it shouldn't. It was one big dysfunctional family at Wax Trax back then.
@Nominay
Of tracks on the album, this one is the closest to sounding like a Ministry song of that era.
@msnukemutant
That dirty ass bass line!
@karlklouzer1366
In honor of Roy Batty's inception date: 01/08/2016
@redcoat4ever
Karl Klouzer i never made that connection but you are right. Bang on!
@nickwormald3119
Karl klouzer, thats how i discovered this tune, class aint it ;)