Rozz Rezabek-Wright (born June 4, 1960), usually Rozz Rezabek, is an American musician based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, formerly of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. According to ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history '' ...

'', Rezabek "gave ex-flame

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

(once Courtney Harrison) her rocker name; he thrashed backstage with

Johnny Rotten John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

at the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

' final show, took a teenage

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

to '' Deep Throat'', and shall be remembered in

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

histories (his own forthcoming) ever after".

History

Negative Trend

In 1977, Rezabek formed punk San Francisco-based band

Negative Trend Negative Trend was an American punk rock band active between 1977 and 1979. Before they disbanded, the band released one self-titled EP in September 1978.Charles Strong, Martin''The Great Indie Discography'': Negative Trend Canongate Books Ltd. ...

with guitarist Craig Gray (later of

Toiling Midgets Toiling Midgets is a Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California formed in 1979 by members of San Francisco punk bands Sleepers and Negative Trend. They have been active on-and-off since 1979, with their early 1990s lineup getting most ...

) and bassist Will Shatter (later of

Flipper Flipper may refer to: Common meanings *Flipper (anatomy), a forelimb of an aquatic animal, useful for steering and/or propulsion in water *Swimfins, footwear that boosts human swimming efficiency, also known as flippers * Flipper (cricket), a typ ...

). Boulware, Jack; Tudor, Silke (2009). ''Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive, and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk from Dead Kennedys to Green Day''.

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

. . He left the band in March 1978, prior to their released recordings.

Theatre of Sheep

In 1980, Rezabek formed Portland new wave band Theatre of Sheep, who were popular locally but never made the jump to a wider audience. Their 1983 cassette-only release, ''A Cathartic Aquacade'', was produced and engineered by

Greg Sage Greg Sage (born October 21, 1951) is an American songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, regarded as an important influence on many punk rock and post-punk artists. Sage is best known as the principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist of the influ ...

, leader of Portland punk band the Wipers. Theatre of Sheep's debut 12-inch

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''A Quiet Crusade'', was released on their own Sheepish label in 1983, followed by a cassette-only collection, ''Theatre of Sheep's Greatest Hits''. The band broke up in 1984. Theatre of Sheep were later documented with the 2006

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

''Old Flames''.

Solo work

In an attempt to escape ongoing conflicts with several women (one being Love), Rezabek moved back to San Francisco for several years. Rezabek's first solo release, the ''Stockholm Today'' 7-inch EP, was released in 1986 by Truce. A 7-inch single, "Blue Blessing", followed in 1988, issued on Tombstone Records. He appeared in the 1998 documentary film ''

Kurt & Courtney ''Kurt & Courtney'' is a 1998 British documentary film by Nick Broomfield investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain, and allegations of Courtney Love's involvement in it. Synopsis The documentary begins as an investig ...

'', which also featured the Theatre of Sheep song "Pyramid's Babylon". In 1999, Rezabek released his first solo studio album, ''Lover Legend Liar''.

Reunions

On November 3, 2007, Rezabek performed a set of Negative Trend songs in San Francisco at a Lennon Studios benefit for punk musician Johnny Genocide of No Alternative. Theatre of Sheep reunited for Portland shows at Slabtown in 2007. and the closing of

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius in the late 1st century AD, though the manuscript tradition identifi ...

in 2010.portlandtribune.com, Sep 29, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rezabek, Rozz 1960 births Living people Musicians from San Francisco American punk rock musicians