Revolting Cocks

T

he origins of Revolting Cocks date to late 1984, when Belgian industrial dance group Front 242, engaged on their first American tour as an opening act for then label mates, American band Ministry. After the tour, Ministry's Al Jourgensen asked Front 242's founder and member Richard 23 to produce a dub remix project. After returning to Brussels, Richard 23 met with Luc van Acker to discuss thre matter. Van Acker (ex-Shriekback; guitars), joined the project after consulting with Jourgensen over the phone. The origins of the band's name came from an incident that took place in a Chicago bar. According to van Acker and Jourgensen, the band was experimenting with "insulting French expressions" on a waiter, ordering something they said meant "revolting cock", to which the waiter replied, "You are revolting cocks!".

The act's first release would be 1985's No Devotion on the 'Wax Trax!' label. An album quickly ensued in the form of, Big Sexy Land (1986), featuring a mix of industrial, hard rock, and EBM, complete with heavy sampling and strong synthesized beats.

Richard 23 quit in 1986, after an argument with Jourgensen over his, and Adrian Sherwood's, remix of the track You Often Forget". The remaining two members would by assisted by Chris Connelly (ex-Finitribe; later of Ministry), Paul Barker and Bill Rieflin (both ex-The Blackouts and at the time of-Ministry), along with various others appearing as contributors or guests.