The Gizmos were a protopunk band that formed in Bloomington, Indiana in 1976. The original band was made up of Ken Highland, Eddie Flowers, Ted Niemiec and the members of a band 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.
After the Gizmos edit:
Ken Highland later relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, where he has been in a long string of garage-oriented bands over the years, including the Hopelessly Obscure, Johnny & the Jumper Cables, the Kenne Highland Clan, and the Vatican Sex Kittens.
Eddie Flowers and Rich Coffee would move to Los Angeles in the late 1970s and become active in the underground rock scene there. Flowers would start Crawlspace with members of the Lazy Cowgirls in 1985. The early Crawlspace played noisy acid-punk, but soon developed into an improvising rock band and eventually turned to other experimental forms. 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 edit:
Cerberus edit:
Rich Coffee -- guitar, vocals,
Rick Czajka -- guitar,
Dave Sulak -- bass,
Jim DeVries -- drums,
Gizmos #1 edit:
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 Cole -- drums #2,
Gizmos #2 edit:
Ted Niemiec -- lead vocals,
Dale Lawrence -- rhythm guitar,
Steve Feikes -- rhythm guitar,
Billy Nightshade -- bass,
Phil Hundley -- tambourine,
Shadow Myers -- drums,
Don Jaskulske -- background vocals,
Gizmos #3 edit:
Dale Lawrence -- vocals, rhythm guitar,
Billy Nightshade -- bass,
Tim Carroll -- guitar,
Shadow Myers -- drums #1,
Crash Kinser -- drums #2,
Robbie Wise -- drums #3
