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)
Lewd Ferrigno
Revolting Cocks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Once a century this God will rise and teach us how to live our lives
This God we know as:
Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno (x2)
The sex-capades of a God in training
The sex-capades don't come easy
The sex-capades of a God in training
The sex-capades on my TV
Let's watch his sex-capades
Porno, Porno, Let's all watch Lewd Ferigno
Porno, Porno, Let's watch his sex-capades Cursed with the inability to hear but blessed with the power to pleasure women at
Random
Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno (x2)
No other man could make his mark upon the world by changing into a green monster
Porno, Porno, Let's all watch Lewd Ferigno
Let's watch his sex-capades
Porno, Porno, Let's all watch Lewd Ferigno
Porno, Porno, Let's watch his sex-capades
Little is known of this burning plain, I've gone
All hail, All hail, All hail, All hail
All hail the God of iron, All hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the God of iron, All hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the God of iron, All hail Lewd Ferigno
The lyrics of Revolting Cocks's song "Lewd Ferrigno" are a satirical take on the cult of celebrity and the worship of larger-than-life personalities. The song describes this phenomenon as a cyclical occurrence where every century a God is sent to bless the earth with their majesty and teach humanity how to live their lives. The God in question here is none other than Lewd Ferrigno, a fictional character that the band has created for their own purposes. The lyrics then proceed to describe Ferrigno's sexual exploits, which are said to be the stuff of his training as a God, and to be chronicled on TV for all to see.
The song continues with a mix of reverence and ridicule for Ferrigno, who is portrayed as cursed with the inability to hear but blessed with the power to pleasure women at random. The lyrics also allude to Ferrigno's role as the Incredible Hulk, pointing out that "no other man could make his mark upon the world by changing into a green monster." The chorus of the song is an ironic call to watch Ferrigno's "sex-capades" on TV, as if they were a form of divine revelation. The song closes with an enigmatic reference to a "burning plain" and an exhortation to "all hail the God of iron, all hail Lewd Ferrigno."
Line by Line Meaning
Once a century a God is sent down to bless this earth with his majesty
Every hundred years, a divine being is bestowed upon the planet to grace us with their greatness
Once a century this God will rise and teach us how to live our lives
During their one century existence, this God will emerge to show us how to properly conduct ourselves
This God we know as:
The deity in question is called:
Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno (x2)
Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno, Lewd Ferigno (repeated twice)
The sex-capades of a God in training
The sexual exploits of a still-developing divine entity
The sex-capades don't come easy
These carnal escapades are not acquired without effort
The sex-capades of a God in training
The sexual antics of a sublimely powerful being that is still growing
The sex-capades on my TV
These erotic escapades are broadcasted on my television
Porno, Porno, Lets all watch Lewd Ferigno
Pornography, pornography, let us all observe Lewd Ferigno
Let's watch his sex-capades
We should partake in viewing his sexual adventures
Cursed with the inability to hear but blessed with the power to pleasure women at Random
Lewd Ferigno is afflicted with deafness but has the gift of satisfying women unexpectedly
No other man could make his mark upon the world by changing into a green monster
No other person was able to attain recognition by transforming into a hulking emerald creature
Little is known of this burning plain, I've gone
There is scant familiarity with this scorching wasteland, I have now left it behind
All hail, All hail, All hail, All hail
Praise, praise, praise, praise
All hail the God of iron, All hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the deity of strength, all hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the God of iron, All hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the deity of force, all hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the God of iron, All hail Lewd Ferigno
All hail the deity of power, all hail Lewd Ferigno
Contributed by Ellie C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.