Naked Raygun is an American punk rock band that formed in Chicago in 1980. The band was active from 1980 to 1992, along with reunion shows in 1997, and since 2006.
Jeffrey Neal "Jeff" Pezzati is the lead singer of the Chicago punk band Naked Raygun. From 1983 to 1985, he also played bass for the band Big Black. In 1980 Pezzati was asked to audition for Naked Raygun. Pezzati passed the audition and became the band's longest-running member. The band has been credited by Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame for inspiring the then 13 year old Grohl to get into punk music.
Santiago Alonso Durango is a Colombian–American attorney and retired musician. He is best known for his work with the 1980s punk rock groups Naked Raygun and Big Black.
Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty, along with his brother Joe Haggerty, Larry Damore (vocals/guitar), and Steve Saylors (bass). Both Damore and Saylors had been members of the Chicago-based hardcore band Bhopal Stiffs, whose 1987 demo had been produced by John Haggerty. Pegboy's 1990 debut EP, "Three-Chord Monte", was also the first release by Quarterstick Records, an offshoot of Touch and Go Records. Steve Saylors dropped out in 1992 after job commitments prevented him from touring. Steve Albini, a longtime friend of the band, filled the bass slot on the "Fore" EP. Former Naked Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy became the permanent bass player in 1994. After the reformation of Naked Raygun, Mike Thompson took over for Kezdy on bass.
John Haggerty is an influential Chicago guitarist. A key member of Naked Raygun during their heyday (1983–1989), Haggerty formed the band Pegboy, with brother Joe Haggerty on drums and Steve Saylors (bass) and Larry Damore (vocals) of the Bhopal Stiffs, upon leaving Naked Raygun.
You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977–1984 is a 2007 documentary film about punk subculture in Chicago from 1977 through 1984. The film was written and directed by Joe Losurdo and Christina Tillman, and profiles the punk bars and local bands that gave rise to the city's punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Losurdo was the one-time bass player for the Chicago-based 1980s hardcore band, Life Sentence, although his group is not profiled in the movie. Reviewer Max Goldberg of the San Francisco Bay Guardian called the film "a thrillingly exhaustive survey of early Chicago punk."
Throb Throb is an album by American punk rock band Naked Raygun, released on Homestead Records in 1985. It was the first of the band's releases to feature the musicianship of John Haggerty whose guitar playing distinguished the band's sound during the 1980s. Quarterstick Records reissued the album in 1999, and added an early version of "Libido" as bonus material, which originally appeared on the Flammable Solid 7".
Noise By Numbers is an American pop punk band featuring Dan Schafer, Jeff Dean, Rick Uncapher, and Jimmy Lucido. Their sound has been described as reminiscent of Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr., Naked Raygun and the Effigies.
The Black Sheep Band is a Chicago-based punk rock supergroup that made a record for charity in 2011 called A Chicago Punk Rock Collaboration For The Kids, Vol 1. Members of the band include well-known musicians and punk pioneers such as Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers, Dan Vapid of Screeching Weasel, Eric Spicer of Naked Raygun, Mike Byrne and Sensitive Pete both of The Methadones, James Toland of Micro Penis, Gina Knapik of Venom Lords, Dan Knapik of Not Rebecca, Herb Rosen from Rights Of The Accused and jazz saxophonist Scott Haynes.
Sensitive Pete is best known as the bass player for The Bollweevils, Naked Raygun, The Methadones, The Bomb, Explode And Make Up, and the Neutron Bombs.
Jeff Dean is a punk rock musician and recording engineer based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for playing guitar in The Bomb with Jeff Pezzati of Naked Raygun, and Noise By Numbers with Dan Vapid of The Methadones. He currently plays in Deep Tunnel Project.
Michael "Mike" Soucy was born in Boston, MA and grew up in Woonsocket, RI. Soucy joined The Methadones in 2002 and played with them until their official hiatus in 2011. He is currently the drummer for Airstream Futures and formerly of The Bomb and Dan Vapid and the Cheats and has also played live with Noise By Numbers. Soucy plays the same green Ludwig super classic drums that he bought back in 1992. He alternates between a Pearl Ultracast snare and CandC Drum company snares. He also uses Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth 3A sticks.
Jettison is the third album by Chicago punk band Naked Raygun, released on Caroline Records in 1988.
All Rise is the second full-length album recorded by Chicago punk rock band Naked Raygun in 1985 and released on LP by Homestead Records in 1986. When Quarterstick Records re-released all of Naked Raygun's early albums in the late 90s, two bonus tracks were added to the CD album.
Pierre Kezdy was an American bass player, known for playing with various Chicago punk bands, including Naked Raygun, Pegboy, Strike Under, Arsenal, and Trial By Fire. He was also the younger brother of Effigies frontman John Kezdy.
Understand? is the fourth album by Chicago post-hardcore band Naked Raygun, released in 1989 through Caroline Records. "Hip Swingin'" is about the United States involving itself in the affairs of South American countries.
Raygun...Naked Raygun is the fifth album by Chicago punk rock band Naked Raygun, released in 1990 through Caroline Records. The album was recorded at Chicago Trax and was co-produced by Keith Harbacher and the band. It was the band's first album with their new guitarist Bill Stephens, who had replaced John Haggerty. This was the last album by the band before they broke up in 1992.
Over the Overlords is the sixth studio album by Chicago punk band Naked Raygun. It was released on August 2, 2021, on Wax Trax! Records. It is their first album in 31 years.
