Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard 23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry.
History
1984: Origins
Revolting Cocks' origins date to late 1984, when Belgian industrial dance group Front 242, after being invited by Chicago-based indie record label Wax Trax! Records, commenced their first American tour as an opening act for their then-labelmates, American band Ministry. Afterwards, Ministry lead singer Al Jourgensen asked Front 242 member Richard 23 to produce a 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. 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!"
Their first release was "No Devotion" on Wax Trax! Records in 1985. The single was quickly followed by an album, Big Sexy Land (1986), 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,
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: 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".
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. 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 and Infest festivals, before returning to the US for a tour with Front Line Assembly.
On April 8, 2018, Jourgensen announced that another album was in the process of being recorded.
Members
;Current members
- 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 – 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>
;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 – drums <small>(1990; died 1993)</small>
- 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>
- 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>
;Timeline
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 No. 13)
- "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)