The Rezillos are a Punk/New wave band, who formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, U… Read Full Bio ↴The Rezillos are a Punk/New wave band, who formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom in 1976, and are still playing gigs around the world in a reformed line-up. The band is best known for their 1978 British Top 20 hit "Top of the Pops"

The band originally consisted of Eugene Reynolds (born Alan Forbes) vocals; Fay Fife (born Sheila Hynde) vocals; Jo Callis guitar; the enigmatically-named William Mysterious (born Alastair Donaldson), saxophone; Angel Patterson (born Alan Patterson), drums; Hi-Fi Harris guitar; and Dr D.K. Smythe bass guitar. Some of The Rezillos' bizarre early live repertoire, contained material from the likes of the Sweet, Screaming Lord Sutch, Fleetwood Mac (in the guise of Earl Vince and the Valiants) and the Dave Clark Five. Bootleg recordings exist of this stage of the band's history.

This line-up released their first single "Can't Stand My Baby" on the indie record label, Sensible Records. This led to a major recording contract with Sire Records. The band also underwent a transformation, shedding both Hi-Fi Harris, Dr. D.K. Smythe, and two backing singers. William Mysterious then shifted to bassist for the band's debut album Can't Stand The Rezillos, widely regarded as a classic of both Punk Rock and New Wave. A second single "Flying Saucer Attack" / "My Baby Does Good Sculptures" grazed the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart, and contained different versions of the songs found on the album release.

However, the quintet reached the Top 20 of the UK chart with their third single, "Top of the Pops" in 1978. By this time, William Mysterious had left the band to be replaced by another bass player Simon Templar. The single version of "Top of the Pops" features him, whilst the album version was recorded by William Mysterious.

After releasing the album Can't Stand The Rezillos, Reynolds and Fife left the original band. The live LP Mission Accomplished But The Beat Goes On remains as a testament to the original line-up. A final single, "Destination Venus" made the lower reaches of the UK chart, and earned them a final appearance on the actual Top of the Pops.

Reynolds and Fife renamed themselves The Revillos for contractual reasons, recruiting new members, including original Rezillo Hi-Fi Harris, and released an album Rev Up in 1980 under the new name. The Revillos had a longer career than The Rezillos, and toured and released music continually during the 1980s. The band had an ever changing line-up, but the focus and nucleus always remained Reynolds and Fife. The band later also released a compendium of their music. The remaining three Rezillos plus Troy Tate, ex-Teardrop Explodes, renamed themselves Shake, and released a 10" EP and a single ("Invasion Of The Gamma Men") before disbanding. A side project named S.W.A.L.K was also short lived. Jo Callis went on to perform with The Human League.

Some of The Revillos reformed in 1994, playing a series of concerts in Japan, and recording the Live and On Fire in Japan album. In 1996, they issued a rarities compilation album, From the Freezer, and played some live dates in Britain.

In 2001, the band reformed with the classic line-up sans Simon Templar, his bass duties being taking by Johnny Terminator. They continue to play live and record to the present day.

It Gets Me
The Rezillos Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You suddenly don't lack words
You talk so much it's uncool
We're movin' backwards
No progress thoughts(?), you're uncool
All their talk, it's late(?) and it's talking
Think you'll prob'ly tell the leaves are brown
It gets me!
All I wanted to do was dance with you

Sometimes I wonder
If you really give a toss, man
Integrity lost, man
If you can be the bossman
All this talkin' around the point
I confess the plan: I wanna go home!
Unhealthy!
Cos there's a lot that that we could do

All this talkin' around the point
And looking at me like that and goin' on and on
On and on and on and on, on and on

(Instrumental)

You suddenly don't lack words
You talk so much it's uncool
We're movin' backwards
No progress forwards(?), you're uncool
All this talk, it's late(?) and it's talking
Think you'll prob'ly tell the leaves are brown
It gets me!
All I wanted to do was dance with you

Talk to me of summer

It's cold and fraught (?) at that time of the year
And I don't know if I'll be here at the turning of the year

Overall Meaning

The Rezillos's song 'It Gets Me' seems to be a criticism of someone who talks too much but says very little substantial. The verse, "all their talk, it's late(?) and it's talking/think you'll prob'ly tell the leaves are brown" suggests that the person in question is talking about things that are either irrelevant or well-known, even to the point of stating something obvious. In the chorus, the singer expresses frustration at this person's constant chatter, saying "it gets me" and revealing that they just wanted to dance with them, suggesting that the person's uncool behavior is ruining what could have been a fun time.

The second verse builds on the idea of the person's lack of substance, with lines like "all this talking around the point" and "integrity lost, man/if you can be the bossman." It seems that the singer is fed up with the person's inability to have a real conversation or make decisions that show actual leadership qualities. In the final lines, the singer expresses a desire to go home and do something productive, suggesting that the person they are talking to is wasting their time.

Line by Line Meaning

You suddenly don't lack words
You've started talking a lot more now

You talk so much it's uncool
Your excessive talking is becoming annoying

We're movin' backwards
We're not making any progress

No progress thoughts(?), you're uncool
You're not coming up with any ideas for progress and it's not cool

All their talk, it's late(?) and it's talking
People are just talking instead of taking action

Think you'll prob'ly tell the leaves are brown
You'll probably point out the obvious

It gets me!
It's driving me crazy!

All I wanted to do was dance with you
All I wanted was to have fun with you

Sometimes I wonder
Occasionally I question

If you really give a toss, man
If you actually care

Integrity lost, man
You're losing your integrity