View source for Revolting Cocks

{{redirect|RevCo|the drug store chain|Revco}}
{{Lead too short|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{short description|American-Belgian industrial rock band}}
{{Infobox musical artist  <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name = Revolting Cocks
| image = Rev cocks.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption = Live on stage, 2006
| alias = {{hlist|RevCo|The Cocks|The Cocks Members}}
| origin = {{hlist|Belgium|United States}}
| genre = {{hlist|[[Industrial rock]]|[[Post-industrial music|post-industrial]]|[[industrial metal]]}}
| occupation = 
| years_active = {{hlist|1985–1993|2004–2010|2011|2013|2016–present}}
| label = {{ hlist | [[Wax Trax! Records|Wax Trax]] | [[Sire Records|Sire]] | [[13th Planet Records|13th Planet]] | [[Cleopatra Records|Cleopatra]] }}
| spinoff_of = {{hlist | [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] | [[Front 242]] }}
| website = 
| current_members = 
* [[Luc van Acker]]
* [[Richard 23]]
* [[Paul Barker]]
* [[Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly]]
* Jason Novak
* Dan Brill
| past_members = 
* [[Al Jourgensen]]
* [[Bill Rieflin]]
* Phildo Owen
* Duane Buford
* [[Mike Scaccia]]
* Josh Bradford
* [[Sin Quirin]]
* [[Clayton Worbeck]]
}}

'''Revolting Cocks''', also known as '''RevCo''', are an American-Belgian [[industrial rock]] band, and sometimes [[Supergroup (music)|supergroup]], that began as a musical side project for [[Richard Jonckheere|Richard 23]] of [[Front 242]], [[Luc van Acker]], and [[Al Jourgensen]] of [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]].

==History==
=== 1984: Origins ===
Revolting Cocks' origins date to late 1984, when Belgian [[Electronic body music|industrial dance]] group [[Front 242]], after being invited by [[Chicago]]-based [[Independent record label|indie record label]] [[Wax Trax! Records]], commenced their first American tour as an opening act for their then-labelmates, American band [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]]. Afterwards, Ministry lead singer [[Al Jourgensen]] asked Front 242 member [[Richard23|Richard 23]] to produce a [[Dub music|dub]] [[remix]] project. After returning to [[Brussels]], Richard 23 discussed collaboration with [[Luc van Acker]]; Van Acker, previously session guitarist for [[Shriekback]], joined the newly formed project after talking with Jourgensen over the phone.{{#tag:ref|"'''[Jon Wiederhorn]:''' You were one of the original Revolting Cocks. How did the band come together? / '''[Luc van Acker]:''' Al was a DJ, and he was working at Wax Trax! with Jim [Nash] and Danny [Flesher]. Because he was a DJ, Al discovered Front 242 and invited them to be Ministry's support act in America. They got along very well on tour, so afterwards Al invited Richard 23 of Front 242 to do a dub-remix project with him. When Richard came back to Brussels I met him at a bar called the DNA, and he said, 'I'm going back to Chicago to do this studio project with Al Jourgensen, and I'm going to phone him tonight.' I went with him to his apartment and he put me on the phone with Al, and Al said, 'Who the fuck are you?' I said, 'Well, I played some guitar with Shriekback.' Al knew Shriekback very well; he used to play their songs when he was a DJ in England. He said, "You have to come over with Richard." When Richard and I arrived in Chicago, Richard didn't speak much English. He could only say two words: 'great' and 'fuck.' So I had to help him out at immigration. Before we went to Chicago we wanted to dress up real tough, so we went to an Army store and bought old military clothes, including these hats. We didn't know that in America they looked like duck hunter hats. When we walked through immigration Al was screaming at us, 'The Belgian duck hunters have arrived!' We looked over, and he had turned around and pulled down his pants, so the first thing I got to see from Al was his ass from the balcony at the airport."{{sfn|Jourgensen|Wiederhorn|2013|pp=75–76}}|group=N}}<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.waxtrax-not-subpop.org/images/press_releases/waxuk_009_press_sheet.jpg |title = Wax Trax! Not Sub Pop: Catalogs, Press Releases |publisher = Wax Trax! Not Sub Pop |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130309003106/http://www.waxtrax-not-subpop.org/images/press_releases/waxuk_009_press_sheet.jpg |archive-date = March 9, 2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Jourgensen|Wiederhorn|2013|p=77}} The band's name came from an incident that took place in a Chicago bar; according to van Acker and Jourgensen, the band was trying out "insulting French expressions" on a waiter, ordering something they said meant "revolting cock" which led the waiter to say, "You are revolting cocks!"{{sfn|Jourgensen|Wiederhorn|2013|pp=67, 76}}

Their first release was "No Devotion" on Wax Trax! Records in 1985.<ref name="LarkinHR">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1999|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0257-7|page=369}}</ref> The single was quickly followed by an album, ''[[Big Sexy Land]]'' (1986),<ref name="LarkinHR"/> featuring a mix of industrial, [[hard rock]], and [[Electronic body music|EBM]] with dominating sampling and strong synthesized beats.

=== 1985–1994: Initial run ===
Richard 23 quit in 1986, after falling out with Jourgensen over his and Adrian Sherwood's [[remix]] of the song "You Often Forget".{{sfn|Jourgensen|Wiederhorn|2013|p=77}} The group's remaining two members were augmented by [[Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly]] (formerly of [[Finitribe]], later of Ministry), [[Paul Barker]] and [[Bill Rieflin]] (both formerly of [[The Blackouts]] and at the time in Ministry),<ref name="LarkinHR"/> with various others appearing as contributors or guests.<ref name=AMG/>

The following live album, ''[[Live! You Goddamned Son of a Bitch]]'' (1988), recorded at a single September 1987 show in Chicago,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> featured more aggressive versions of the ''[[Big Sexy Land]]'' tracks along with some new material.<ref name="trouser-press">{{cite web |last1=Kenny |first1=Glenn |last2=Robbins |first2=Ira |title=Revolting Cocks |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/revolting-cocks/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref> This trend continued on ''[[Beers, Steers, and Queers]]'' (1990), layering sample over sample and pushing ever further into distortion.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> The budget for ''Beers, Steers, and Queers'' and its accompanying single "(Let's Get) Physical" ballooned to $30,000 in early 1990 primarily due to copyright troubles surrounding the cover of [[Olivia Newton-John|Olivia Newton-John's]] hit song, and led to a strained relationship between Jourgensen and Wax Trax.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> As it happened, these would be the last Revolting Cocks releases on Wax Trax as [[Sire Records]] bought out the rights to all of Jourgensen's side projects.<ref name="assimilate">{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=S. Alexander |title=Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music |year=2013|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199832583|oclc=1147729910|via=the Internet Archive|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/assimilatecritic0000reed |page=263}}</ref>

''[[Linger Ficken' Good]]'' (1993) was released by Sire Records,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> with 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.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> A tour was planned but cancelled, and the band went on hiatus.<ref name="LarkinHR"/>

=== 2004–2010: First revival ===
In 2004, Jourgensen and former RevCo player Phildo Owens ([[Skatenigs]], Snow Black) revived the group and previewed a new song, "Prune Tang". An album titled ''Purple Head'' was due in 2004, but was delayed until 2006 with a change in title to ''[[Cocked and Loaded]]''. "Caliente (Dark Entries)", a cover of "Dark Entries" by [[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]], with vocalist [[Gibby Haynes]] ([[Butthole Surfers]]), was featured on the [[Saw II (soundtrack)|soundtrack to ''Saw II'']] in 2005.<ref name=AMG>{{cite web|first=David|last=Jeffries|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/revolting-cocks-mn0000888100/biography|title=Revolting Cocks {{!}} Biography|work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=October 15, 2018}}</ref>

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]], later 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]]'', which was originally set to be released in October 2008, but was delayed multiple times until it saw release on March 3, 2009. Following a tour, a second album with this lineup, ''[[¿Got Cock?]]'', was released on April 13, 2010. The project fell apart once again with Bradford and Worbeck parting ways. Quirin continued to work with Jourgensen following Ministry's revival in 2011.

=== 2010s: Second revival  ===
In celebration of the record label, a "Wax Trax! Records Retrospectacle: {{frac|33|1|3}} Year Anniversary" concert series was held from April 15 to 17, 2011 at [[Metro Chicago]] in Chicago, Illinois. As a part of the lineup, Chris Connelly, Paul Barker, and Luc van Acker performed Revolting Cocks songs with Duane Buford, Dan Brill, Jamie Duffy and others. For their performance on the 17th, Richard 23 joined them on stage to sing "No Devotion".<ref>[http://www.prongs.org/ministry/wax_trax "Wax Trax Chicago: Retrospectacle Live"]. ''Prongs.org'', April 20, 2011. Accessed April 20, 2011.</ref>

In 2016, Richard 23, van Acker, Barker, and Connelly performed under the shorter name The Cocks for a six-date tour to mark the 30th anniversary of ''Big Sexy Land'', accompanied by Dan Brill and Jason Novak.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.side-line.com/ex-revolting-cocks-members-reunite-for-6-usa-dates-as-the-cocks/|title=ex-Revolting Cocks members reunite for 6 USA dates as The Cocks|date=June 1, 2016|access-date=March 8, 2017|work=Side-Line}}</ref> A larger tour followed in 2017, with the band using the original Revolting Cocks name. The band played a series of gigs in Europe, including the WGT<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/english/past.php?reqYear=2017/|title=Official Website Wave-Gotik-Treffen Leipzig|access-date=August 27, 2017|work=Wave-Gotik-Treffen Leipzig}}</ref> and Infest<ref>{{cite web|url=https://infestuk.com/2017/01/19/infest-2017-revolting-cocks-big-sexy-land-confirmed/|title=Infest 2017: Revolting Cocks "BIG SEXY LAND" confirmed!|date=January 19, 2017|access-date=August 27, 2017|work=Infest UK}}</ref> festivals, before returning to the US for a tour with [[Front Line Assembly]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.post-punk.com/front-line-assembly-will-be-touring-with-the-revolting-cocks-this-november/|title=Front Line Assembly will be touring with the Revolting Cocks for their "Big Sexy Land" tour this November|date=June 21, 2017|access-date=August 27, 2017|work=Post-Punk.com}}</ref>

On April 8, 2018, Jourgensen announced that another album was in the process of being recorded.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHCfiB8n9GA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/zHCfiB8n9GA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Al Jourgensen of Ministry: Full Interview {{!}} House Of Strombo|website=[[YouTube]]|date=April 8, 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Members==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Current members
* [[Richard Jonckheere|Richard 23]] – vocals <small>(1985–1986, 2011 [guest appearance], 2016–present)</small>, percussion <small>(1985–1986)</small>
* [[Luc van Acker]] – vocals <small>(1985–1991, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2016–present)</small>, guitars <small>(1985–1988)</small>
* [[Paul Barker]] – bass <small>(1987–1993, 2011, 2013, 2016–present)</small>, production <small>(1987–1993)</small>
* [[Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly]] – vocals <small>(1987–1993, 2011, 2013, 2016–present)</small>

;Former members
* [[Al Jourgensen]] – production, guitar <small>(1985–1993, 2004–2010)</small>
* [[Bill Rieflin]] – drums <small>(1986–1993; died 2020)</small>
* Phildo Owen – vocals <small>(1989–1991, 2004–2006)</small>
* Duane Buford – keyboards <small>(1993, 2011, 2013)</small>
* [[Mike Scaccia]] – guitar <small>(1993, 2004–2006; died 2012)</small>
* Josh Bradford – vocals <small>(2006–2010)</small>
* [[Sin Quirin]] – guitars, bass, keyboards <small>(2006–2010)</small>
* [[Clayton Worbeck]] – keyboards, bass <small>(2006–2010)</small>
{{col-2}}

;Touring members
* [[Nivek Ogre]] – vocals <small>(1988)</small>
* Michael Balch – keyboards <small>(1990–1991)</small>
* [[Mark Durante]] – guitar, backing vocals <small>(1990–1991)</small>
* [[Trent Reznor]] – vocals <small>(1990)</small>
* [[Jeff Ward (musician)|Jeff Ward]] – drums <small>(1990; died 1993)</small>
* [[Drain STH|Anna K]] – bass <small>(2006)</small>
* [[Seven Antonopoulos]] – drums <small>(2006)</small>
* Murv Douglas – bass <small>(2009)</small>
* [[Aaron Rossi]] – drums <small>(2009; died 2025)</small>
* [[Acumen Nation|Jamie Duffy]] – guitar <small>(2011; died 2012)</small>
* Dan Brill – drums <small>(2011, 2013, 2016–present)</small>
* Jason Novak – samples, percussion, guitar <small>(2016–present)</small>
{{col-end}}

;Timeline
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize  = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18
PlotArea   = left:100 bottom:80 top:0 right:20
Alignbars  = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period     = from:01/01/1985 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}}
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal format:mm/dd/yyyy
Legend     = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1985
ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1985

Colors =
  id:vocals       value:red          legend:Vocals
  id:guitar       value:green        legend:Guitars
  id:bass         value:blue         legend:Bass
  id:drums        value:orange       legend:Drums,_percussion
  id:keyboards    value:purple       legend:Keyboards,_synthesizer
  id:producer     value:lavender     legend:Production
  id:Lines        value:black        legend:Studio_album
  id:Touring      value:yellow       legend:Touring_Members   

LineData= 
  at:11/01/1986 color:black layer:back
  at:05/08/1990 color:black layer:back
  at:09/28/1993 color:black layer:back
  at:02/14/2006 color:black layer:back
  at:03/03/2009 color:black layer:back
  at:04/13/2010 color:black layer:back

BarData=
  bar:R23               text:"Richard 23"
  bar:CC                text:"Chris Connelly"
  bar:PO                text:"Phildo Owen"
  bar:JB                text:"Josh Bradford"
  bar:LVA               text:"Luc van Acker"
  bar:AJourgensen       text:"Al Jourgensen"
  bar:MS                text:"Mike Scaccia"
  bar:SQ                text:"Sin Quirin"
  bar:PB                text:"Paul Barker"
  bar:BR                text:"Bill Rieflin"
  bar:DB                text:"Duane Buford"
  bar:CW                text:"Clayton Worbeck"

  bar:DB2              text:"Dan Brill"
  
PlotData=
  width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(13,-4)
  bar:R23               from:start      till:12/31/1986 color:vocals
  bar:R23               from:start      till:12/31/1986 color:drums     width:3
  bar:R23               from:06/01/2016 till:end        color:vocals
  bar:R23               from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:vocals
  bar:R23               from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:Touring    width:3
  bar:CC                from:07/01/1987 till:12/31/1993 color:vocals
  bar:CC                from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:vocals
  bar:CC                from:01/01/2013 till:12/24/2013 color:vocals
  bar:CC                from:06/01/2016 till:end        color:vocals
  bar:PO                from:01/01/1989 till:01/26/1991 color:vocals
  bar:PO                from:03/01/2004 till:07/19/2006 color:vocals
  bar:JB                from:05/05/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:vocals
  bar:LVA               from:start      till:01/26/1991 color:vocals
  bar:LVA               from:start      till:06/11/1988 color:guitar    width:3
  bar:LVA               from:05/05/2006 till:07/19/2006 color:vocals
  bar:LVA               from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:vocals
  bar:LVA               from:01/01/2013 till:12/24/2013 color:vocals
  bar:LVA               from:06/01/2016 till:end        color:vocals
  bar:AJourgensen       from:start      till:12/31/1993 color:producer
  bar:AJourgensen       from:07/01/1987 till:12/31/1993 color:guitar    width:3
  bar:AJourgensen       from:03/01/2004 till:12/31/2010 color:producer
  bar:AJourgensen       from:03/01/2004 till:12/31/2010 color:guitar    width:3
  bar:AJourgensen       from:03/01/2004 till:01/31/2006 color:bass      width:7 
  bar:MS                from:01/01/1993 till:12/31/1993 color:guitar
  bar:MS                from:03/01/2004 till:01/31/2006 color:guitar
  bar:SQ                from:05/05/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:guitar
  bar:SQ                from:10/01/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:bass      width:3
  bar:SQ                from:10/01/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:keyboards width:7

  bar:PB                from:07/01/1987 till:12/31/1993 color:bass
  bar:PB                from:07/01/1987 till:12/31/1993 color:producer width:3
  bar:PB                from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:bass
  bar:PB                from:01/01/2013 till:12/24/2013 color:bass
  bar:PB                from:06/01/2016 till:end color:bass

  bar:BR                from:07/01/1986 till:12/31/1993 color:drums

  bar:DB2                from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:drums
  bar:DB2                  from:01/01/2013 till:12/24/2013 color:drums
  bar:DB2                   from:06/01/2016 till:end color:drums
  bar:DB2                   from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:Touring width:3
  bar:DB2                   from:01/01/2013 till:12/24/2013 color:Touring  width:3
  bar:DB2                 from:06/01/2016 till:end color:Touring width:3

  bar:DB                from:01/01/1993 till:12/31/1993 color:keyboards
  bar:DB                from:01/01/2011 till:04/17/2011 color:keyboards
  bar:DB                from:01/01/2013 till:12/24/2013 color:keyboards
  bar:CW                from:05/05/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:keyboards
  bar:CW                from:10/01/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:bass width:3
}}

==Discography==
===Studio albums===
*''[[Big Sexy Land]]'' (1986)
*''[[Beers, Steers, and Queers]]'' (1990)
*''[[Linger Ficken' Good]]'' (1993)
*''[[Cocked and Loaded]]'' (2006)
*''[[Sex-O Olympic-O]]'' (2009)
*''[[¿Got Cock?]]'' (2010)

===Live albums===
*''[[Live! You Goddamned Son of a Bitch]]'' (1988)

===Remix albums===
*''[[Cocktail Mixxx]]'' (2007)
*''[[Sex-O MiXXX-O]]'' (2009)
*''¿Got Mixxx?'' (2011)

===Singles===
*"No Devotion" (1985)
*"You Often Forget" (1986) ([[UK Indie Chart|UK Indie]] No. 13)<ref name="Lazell">{{cite book |last=Lazell |first=Barry |title=Indie Hits 1980–1999 |year= 1997 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |isbn=0-9517206-9-4 }}</ref>
*"Stainless Steel Providers" (1989)
*"(Let's Get) Physical" (1989)
*"Beers, Steers, and Queers" (The Remixes) (1991)
*"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1993)
*"Crackin' Up" (1994)

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=N}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* {{cite book|last=Connelly|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Connelly (musician)|year=2014|title=Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible & Fried: My Life as A Revolting Cock|publisher=Shipwrecked Industries|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=9780966406559}}
* {{cite contribution|contribution=Revolting Cocks / Pigface|last=Farrington|first=Justin|editor-last=Buckley|editor-first=Peter|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse/page/870|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=[[Rough Guides]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse/page/870 870–872]|isbn=9781843531050|via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{cite book|last1=Jourgensen|first1=Al|last2=Wiederhorn|first2=Jon|title=Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen|url=https://archive.org/details/ministrylostgosp00jour|url-access=registration|year=2013|publisher=Da Capo|isbn=9780306822902}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{allmusic}}
*{{discogs artist}}

{{Ministry (band)}}
{{Revolting Cocks}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Musical groups established in 1985]]
[[Category:Sire Records artists]]
[[Category:Wax Trax! Records artists]]
[[Category:American industrial metal musical groups]]
[[Category:American industrial rock musical groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1993]]
[[Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2004]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2010]]
[[Category:Heavy metal supergroups]]
[[Category:Warner Records artists]]