Naked Raygun

Final Naked Raygun lineup

Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running and one of the best Chicago punk bands. They are considered by a large majority to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk.

Members

• Santiago Durango - Guitar (1980-1983)
• Marko Pezzati - Bass (1980-1981)
• Jeff Pezzati - Vocals (1980-1992)
• Jim Colao - Drums (1980-1984)
• Camilo Gonzalez - Bass (1981?-1985)
• John Haggerty - Guitar (1983-1990)
• Eric Spicer - Drums (1984-1992)
• Pierre Kezdy - Bass (1985-1992)
• Bill Stephens - Guitar (1990-1992)

Short Term Members

• Bobby Strange - Drums (1980)
• John Lundin - Drums, Keyboards (1980-1981)
• Dave Riley ("for about 3 weeks")

Records

• Basement Screams EP (1983, Ruthless Records)
• Flammable Solid 7" (1983, Ruthless Records)
• Throb Throb LP (1985, Homestead Records)
• All Rise LP (1986, Homestead Records)
• Vanilla Blue 7" (1987, Sandpounder Records)
• Jettison LP (1988, Caroline Records
• Treason 12" (1989, Caroline Records)
• Understand? LP (1989, Caroline Records)
• Home 7" (1990, Caroline Records)
• Raygun...Naked Raygun LP (1990, Caroline Records)
• Last of the Demohicans CD (1997, Dyslexic Records)
• Free Shit (Live) CD/LP (2001, Haunted Town Records)

Compilations (incomplete)

• Busted at Oz (Autumn Records, March 1981) - Bomb Shelter, When the Screaming Stops, Paranoia, Libido
• The Middle of America Compilation (H.I.D., 1984) - I Don't Know, Stupid
• Sub Pop 100 (Sub Pop, 1986) - Bananacuda
• The Wailing Ultimate (Homestead, 1987) - I Remember
• Rat Music For Rat People Vol. III (1987) - Rocks of Sweden
• Beautiful Happiness (Happy, 1988) - Vanilla Blue
• Something's Gone Wrong Again, The Buzzcocks Covers Compilation (Caroline, 1992) - Love Battery, Running Free
• Faster & Louder: Hardcore Punk, vol. 2 (Rhino, 1993) - Rat Patrol

History

1980

Naked Raygun began in February of 1980 when Marko Pezzati and Santiago Durango decided to form a band. Jim Colao joined the band briefly, but left almost immediately after joining. Jeff Pezzati started practing with Marko and Santiago at 222 S. Morgan St., playing their first gig shortly thereafter in June. At this point they used the name Negro Commando. Shortly thereafter Bobby Strange signs up on drums and they a record demo, which get included on the Basement Screams CD reissue. First gig as Naked Raygun was in August at the original Oz. In October, they played their third gig in Detroit, where the audience walked out on them. Strange leaves in December, and the band tries out various replacements. One short-term replacement was John Lundine, who quickly switched over to keyboards. For their New Years Eve gig at Oz, Jim Colao rejoins as a full-time drummer.

1981-1982

With a stable lineup in place, Naked Raygun began to play a lot more shows and really fine-tuned their sound. In March of 1981, Raygun records a couple live tracks for the Busted at Oz comp - this would be the first time Raygun is put on vinyl. Marko Pezzati leaves in 1981 (after March, as he was on Busted) and is replaced by original Silver Abuse member Camilo Gonzalez. John Lundine leaves either in 1981 after March (likely) or in 1982. Because he was not replaced, Naked Raygun ditched the keyboards and became a four piece.

Interviews

• Coolest Retard #13, 1981
• MRR #19, 1984
• Flipside #46, 1985
• Bum Leg #2, 1985
• Ink Disease #14, 1988
• THIS fanzine, 1989
• Ink Disease #17, 1990
• Tour story about a broken van

External Links

• Petdance NR pages, top notch
• Petdance Discography - main reference for this page
• TrouserPress reviews the NR albums
• Naked Raygun allmusic page
• NR page on Touch and Go
• Watch the video for Vanilla Blue