Ken Highland, Eddie Flowers, Ted Niemiec, Rich Coffee
Past members
Rick Czajka, Dave Medlock, Dave Sulak, Jim DeVries, Steve Feikes, Phil Hundley, Shadow Myers, Dale Lawrence, Billy Nightshade, Tim Carroll, Crash Kinser, Robbie Wise.
The Gizmos were an American
punk band formed in
Bloomington, Indiana, United States, in 1976. The original band was made up of Ken Highland, Eddie Flowers, Ted Niemiec and the members of a group called Cerberus; Rich Coffee, Dave Sulak, Rick Czajka, and Jim DeVries. The Gizmos released three 7-inch EPs on
Gulcher Records in 1976, 1977, and 1978.
In late 1977 the band broke up. Then, Ted Niemiec recruited new members to form a new version of the Gizmos. This version of the band released one EP, "Never Mind The Sex Pistols Here's The Gizmos".
After Niemiec left the band, new member Dale Lawrence carried on using the band name with new members.[1][2][3][4][5]
After the Gizmos
Ken Highland later relocated to
Boston, Massachusetts, where he has been in a long string of garage-oriented bands over the years, including Club Linehan a Go-Go, the Hopelessly Obscure, Johnny & the Jumper Cables, the Kenne Highland Clan, the Goody Goody Gumdrops, and the Vatican Sex Kittens.
Eddie Flowers and Rich Coffee moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and become active in the underground rock scene there. Flowers started Crawlspace with members of the Lazy Cowgirls in 1985. Coffee sang and played in Thee Fourgiven and the Tommyknockers, influenced by late 1960s pre-punk
hard rock bands like the
MC5 and
the Doors as well as more recent acts like
the Cramps,
the Gun Club, and
Billy Childish. The bands of both Coffee and Flowers were associated with the
Sympathy for the Record Industry record label.
Members
Cerberus
Rich Coffee — guitar, vocals
Rick Czajka — guitar
Dave Sulak — bass
Jim DeVries — drums
Gizmos #1
Ken Highland — lead guitar, lead vocals
Eddie Flowers — lead vocals
Ted Niemiec — lead vocals
Rich Coffee — rhythm guitar, background vocals
Dave Sulak — bass
Rick Czajka — rhythm/lead guitar (EP1 only)
Davey Medlock — background vocals
Don Jaskulske — background vocals
Jim DeVries — drums #1
Jim Kohl — drums #2
Gizmos #2
Ted Niemiec — lead vocals
Dale Lawrence — rhythm guitar
Steve Feikes — rhythm guitar
Billy Nightshade — bass
Phil Hundley — tambourine, background vocals, percussion
Shadow Myers — drums
Don Jaskulske — background vocals
Gizmos #3
This version of the Gizmos was one of the first corn punk bands in the U.S.
Dale Lawrence — vocals, rhythm guitar
Billy Nightshade — bass, vocals
Tim Carroll — guitar
Shadow Myers — drums #1
Crash Kinser — drums #2
Robbie Wise — drums #3
Gizmos #4
This is a re-union of the original 1976 line up.
Main members
Ken Highland — lead guitar, lead vocals
Eddie Flowers — lead vocals
Ted Niemiec — lead vocals
Rich Coffee — rhythm guitar, background vocals
Davey Medlock — background vocals
Rhythm section #1
Ian Brewer — guitar
John Terrill — drums
Max Demata — bass
Rhythm section #2
Craig Bell — bass
Kelsey Simpson — drums
Sam Murphy — guitar
Rhythm section #3
Kenny Kaiser — guitar
MJ Quirk — bass
Matt Burns — drums
Discography
EPs
Gizmos #1
"Muff Divin'" EP (1976)
"Amerika First" EP (1977)
"World Tour" EP (1978)
Gizmos #2
"Never Mind The Sex Pistols Here's The Gizmos" EP (1978)