The Homosexuals are an English

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 ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band. The band have been described as "punk visionaries".

History

The Rejects (1976–1977)

The Rejects were formed in the bar of

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

in South London in 1976, when ex-

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

art school students John Hazzard (real name: John Wilkins) and Glenn Hutchinson recruited Bruno Wizard (real name: Bruno McQuillan) to drum for their nascent band. He in turn introduced them to Howard H, a well known drummer, and as rehearsals got under way, Wizard took on the role of frontman and Hutchinson was sidelined. Wizard then recruited Ian Kane, who added more songs to Hazzard's original set of compositions, and to express his disquiet with the modern world and disappointment with his 1960s heroes. The Rejects played their first gig at punk club The Roxy in January 1977, without a bass player, supporting the Damned and

the Vibrators The Vibrators were a British punk rock band whose greatest success was in 1977–1978 with the albums ''Pure Mania'' and ''V2 (album), V2''. Their first Epic Records single "Baby Baby (The Vibrators song), Baby Baby" is considered a punk cla ...

. In the following five months, the Rejects played with

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Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

the Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' ( ...

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

and

Sham 69 Sham 69 are an English punk rock band that formed in Hersham in Surrey in 1975. They changed their musical direction after seeing the Sex Pistols play live in early 1976. They were one of the most successful punk bands in the United Kingdom, ac ...

on multiple occasions, with Wizard becoming increasingly confrontational (though no more tuneful) to their audiences. Performances routinely descended into violence, with dates at the Albany in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

and

Barbarella's Barbarella's was a nightclub and music venue located in Birmingham, England. The name of the club was taken from the film ''Barbarella (film), Barbarella''. The club opened in 1972 and closed in August 1979. American acts Ike & Tina Turner, ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

confirming the band as a bad risk for PA hire companies. In the summer of 1977, Hazzard was dropped from the band, going on to form the proto-thrash group Auto da Fe. Wizard recruited Jim Welton on bass for a new lineup of the Rejects, which included David Dus on drums and occasional itinerant guitarists, including Stevie Savage and Jerry Wigens. Dus was the drummer for Wayne County (later to become

Jayne Jayne is a name. Surname *Billy Jayne, American television and film actor * Caroline Furness Jayne (1873–1909), American ethnologist * Erika Jayne, American dance/club music performer * Francis Jayne (1845–1921), British bishop and academic * H ...

) during their 1977 tour of the UK. Wizard set up auditions to find a permanent guitarist, and Anton Hayman was recruited.

The Homosexuals (1978–1985)

For Wizard, the name "the Rejects" was too deeply embedded in what he regarded as "the new conformity of punk", leading to the name change to the Homosexuals. Dus could not take being in a band called the Homosexuals and duly left, although Welton and Hayman approved of the change and remained. The band then lived in a series of squats while making music and recording. Their angular guitars, complex melodies and experimental leanings distanced them somewhat from the punk rock being created by their contemporaries and cemented their reputation as a precursor to post-punk. The band's work during this period would lead to their later recognition as a pioneer of D.I.Y., along with such bands as

This Heat This Heat were an English experimental rock band, formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Willi ...

Desperate Bicycles The Desperate Bicycles were an English punk band from London formed in 1977. They released a series of independent recordings through their own label Refill Records in the late 1970s, encouraging and inspiring many other bands to do likewise. ...

and

Swell Maps Swell Maps was an English experimental DIY, early punk and post-punk rock group from Birmingham, England active in various forms between 1972 and 1980. Influenced by bands such as T. Rex and German krautrock groups such as Can and Faust, ...

. They released few recordings during their initial lifetime, and most of what did appear was in small vinyl runs on self-funded labels. The bulk of the band's studio material was recorded at Surrey Sound during 1978–79 with producer Chris Gray; the 16-track studio was run by Gray and his brother

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published '' The F ...

(who produced albums by

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

). Wizard refused to perform on "the circuit" and thus the Homosexuals only did a handful of gigs, and refused to do interviews. Despite this lack of visibility, their debut 7", ''Hearts in Exile'', pressed in an edition of 2,000 copies, still managed to sell out in a few days. A self-titled EP followed. Welton left the band in 1980, forming Amos & Sara with Chris Gray; Wizard and Hayman continued recording as the Homosexuals, along with visual artist and sometime vocalist Susan Vida, releasing a cassette of material in 1982 before disbanding in 1985. The only full-length album by the band, ''The Homosexuals' Record'' (1984), was compiled by

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected musi ...

from existing studio masters and rough cassette mixes of the Surrey Sound recordings. The LP was reissued in 2004 as a remastered CD, with additional tracks, as ''The Homosexuals' CD''. Also released that year was ''Astral Glamour'', a 3-CD set including the band's entire catalogue, unreleased songs and work by several of the band's pseudonymous projects.

Side projects

The band members recorded in various combinations under several different pseudonyms. These side projects included Ici la Bas, Sir Alick & the Phraser, and George Harassment, all released on Bruno's Black Noise label. Contrary to often cited information about Homosexuals side projects, L. Voag's ''The Way Out'' (1979) was a Jim Welton solo album recorded during downtime between recording sessions at Surrey Sound. All releases on the It's War Boys label, including Amos & Sara, Sara Goes Pop, Nancy Sesay & the Melodaires, Milk from Cheltenham, and the Just Measurers, were also Welton projects (many involving Homosexuals producer Chris Gray) after he had left the band.

Reformation (2003 to present)

Wizard reformed the Homosexuals in late 2003, playing with talented young musicians Dima Vincent and Sasha Reva from Ukraine. In 2004, this version of the band, along with former member Vida, launched ''Astral Glamour'' on Hyped2Death at Cobden's Art Club in

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Inner London. Historically the street was a location for Tollbooth, toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossingto ...

. This coincided with a major art exhibition of Vida's work at the same venue. Dima Vincent played the guitar with The Homosexuals from 2003 - 2006, after the departure formed a band called Found on Vincent Ward together with Ayşe Hassan (bass player from Savages). Celeste Bell, Poly Styrene's daughter on backing vocals (2005). Around this time, Wizard met Ben Harris, who was playing with the Affectionate Punch. After discussing their musical backgrounds and approaches, Harris was enlisted to play bass at their next gig, five days later, after which he became a permanent feature in the European lineup. After three shows with Hayman back on guitar, Wizard travelled to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(which he had been visiting since 1986) and worked with Imaginary Icons as his backing band. Wizard put together another lineup of the Homosexuals in late 2007, including bassist Mike Dos Santos (of Apache Beat,

Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Mis ...

and the Realistics), drummer Travis Harrison (the owner of label Serious Business Records), and guitarist Dave Siegel (a childhood friend of Harrison). Their fierce live performances, a combination of classic and new material paired with experimental explorations and free improvisational pieces, seemed to herald a new era for the band. In 2008, a fresh body of work was recorded at Serious Business' Soho studio, some of which was documented on the limited edition ''Love Guns? EP''. A full album titled ''Important If True'' was suspended from release the following year while negotiations took place between Wizard and Harrison, but later released online. During the recording of this material, Harrison was being courted by digital distribution and licensing company The Orchard, for his label's catalogue. At the time, The Orchard already handled the digital distribution for ''The Homosexuals' CD'' and ''Astral Glamour'', an agreement which ended 30 June 2009, and were keen to secure the rights to the material being worked on with Wizard and Serious Business. To this effect, Wizard performed some of the new material at The Orchard's office in Manhattan, and Harrison and Serious Business signed their current catalogue to The Orchard. Unfortunately, there was never any legal agreement between Wizard and Harrison for any of this material to be assigned anywhere. The matter has yet to be resolved. Given Wizard's distrust and loathing of "the traditional music industry", the situation between him and Harrison meant that Harrison's drumming position in the band was untenable. His exit from the band was swiftly followed by that of Siegel. Within three days, their replacements, Julian Bennett Holmes and Jonathan Edelstein of Brooklyn band Fiasco, were on the road to Boston as the Homosexuals to play alongside

King Khan and the Shrines King Khan and the Shrines, sometimes referred to as King Khan and (His) Sensational Shrines are a Berlin-based garage rock and psychedelic soul band. History The band was founded in 1999 by then 22-year-old King Khan, formerly of Canadian gara ...

. This lineup also played at Club Europa in New York with Monotonix before Wizard's return to London to meet his UK and European playing and recording commitments. While in London, Wizard worked on new songs, some in collaboration with Hayman, his original co-writer with the Homosexuals. As of 2014, Bruno was still performing regularly as the Homosexuals, with the band including Harris, Tom Oakes, John Mathews and Charlie Sundown. From 2016 - Bruno starts to collaborate again with a guitarist Dima Vincent and with an original (1970's) Homosexuals drummer Niall Morosini.

Films about members of the Homosexuals

First screened in 2003, ''The Way Out, a Portrait of Xentos Jones'' by Scottish artists Luke Fowler and Kosten Koper was an experimental film portrait of ex-Homosexuals bass player Jim Welton. ''The Heart Of Bruno Wizard'' (2013), directed by Elisabeth Rasmussen, was a feature-length documentary on the band's lead singer/songwriter and sole remaining original member.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Venceremos'' cassette (1982, Black Noise) *''The Homosexuals' Record'' LP (1984,

) ;as Sir Alick and the Phraser *''In Search of the Perfect Baby'' (1980, Black Noise) ;as George Harassment *''Masai Sleep Walking'' (1983, Black Noise)

Singles

*''Hearts in Exile'' 7" (1978, Lorelei) *''Bigger Than the Number...Yet Missing the Dot'' 7" (1981, Black Noise)

EPs

*''The Homosexuals EP'' 12" (1982, Black Noise) *''Love Guns?'' 10" EP (November 2008, Serious Business Records) *''Split EP'' 10" split EP with Melody Nelson (2012, Goldmine Recordings) ;as Ici La Bas *''Ici La Bas'' 12" (1982, Black Noise)

Compilation albums

*''Astral Glamour'' 3-CD box set (June 2004, Hyped to Death/Messthetics)

References

External links

Official Homosexuals website
*

Allmusic entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

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