Nutz was an English hard rock band from Liverpool that released the 1974–76 A&M albums Nutz, Nutz Two, and Hard Nutz, followed by the 1977 concert disc Live Cutz. When the New Wave of British Heavy Metal arrived, Nutz reconstituted as Rage for the 1981–83 Carrere albums Out of Control, Nice ‘n’ Dirty, and Run for the Night.

Background

Nutz evolved from Jiminy Crikitt, a Liverpool pop-rock group that cut the 1970 MCA single “Love Is a See Saw” / “Isabella.” Crikitt featured guitarist Mike Davenport, bassist Keith Mulholland, drummer Ronnie Hodge, and singer Roy “Wicky” White.

In 1971, Hodge and White cleared out for drummer John Mylett and singer Dave Lloyd. After two years on the Northeast live circuit as Harpoon, they finalized as Nutz and signed with A&M Records. They opened for Queen on the early 1974 UK tour behind Queen II.

Nutz first linked with Trapeze producer Neil Slaven, a former Decca/Deram soundman (Chicken Shack, Egg, Khan, Keef Hartley) with roots in the late-Sixties blues-rock movement (John Mayall, Savoy Brown). When progress stalled, they switched to original Queen producer John Anthony, a veteran of Charisma and Vertigo projects (Affinity, Genesis, Rare Bird, Van der Graaf Generator) with recent credits behind CBS and Island acts (Al Stewart, Home, Roxy Music).

Nutz

Nutz released their self-titled debut album in July 1974 on A&M.

Lead guitarist Mick Devonport wrote eight tracks, including “Spoke In a Wheel,” “Love Will Last Forever,” and the lead single “As Far as the Eye Can See.”

Singer–guitarist Dave Lloyd wrote the second single “Round & Round” and the epic “Can’t Tell Her Why,” one of two songs (along with “Light of Day”) with keyboards by late-period Free member John “Rabbit” Bundrick, a subsequent Who auxiliary and member of Back Street Crawler.

A1. “Poor Man” (2:18)
A2. “Ain’t No Thanks to You” (4:16)
A3. “Spoke In a Wheel” (3:33)
A4. “I Can’t Unwind” (2:53)
A5. “Can’t Tell Her Why” (4:55)

B1. “As Far As the Eye Can See” (3:34)
B2. “Love Will Last Forever” (2:32)
B3. “Light of Day” (4:27)
B4. “Round & Round” (3:44)
B5. “Joke” (3:46) features brass arrangements by industry veteran Chris Hughes.

Sessions occurred at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales, where John Anthony produced Nutz in sequence with 1974 titles by Ace, Headstone, and Peter Hammill. This and the subsequent album feature cover design by Geoff Halpin of the Bloomsbury Group (Badfinger, Barclay James Harvest).

“As Far as the Eye Can See” appeared on June 7 as the first single backed with the non-album “Just for the Crack,” a group-written track.

“Round & Round” became the second single on August 9 (b/w “Light of Day”).

Nutz Too…

Nutz released their second album, Nutz Too…, in July 1975 on A&M.

Singer–guitarist Dave Lloyd wrote the first three tracks on Side Two. Guitarist Mick Devonport wrote seven tracks, including “Nature Intended”, “I Want Never Gets,” and “Is It All For Real.”

Side One contains the Gypsy cover “Change’s Coming,” released as the third Nutz single. Nutz Too… features auxiliary keyboardist Paul Carrack, currently of Ace.

A1. “Nature Intended” (2:50)
A2. “I Want Never Gets” (4:14)
A3. “Take It From Me” (3:55)
A4. “Change’s Coming” (3:16) originated as a 1971 non-album a-side by English folk-rockers Gypsy; written by guitarist Robin Pizer
A5. “Dear Diary” (2:58)
A6. “Is It All for Real” (2:54)

B1. “Cool Me Down” (4:48)
B2. “R.S.D.” (3:38)
B3. “The Love You Lost” (3:33)
B4. “Sinner” (2:55)
B5. “Knife Edge” (3:20)

Sessions occurred at Trident Studios in London with John Anthony, who produced Nutz Too… in sequence with the second Ace and Headstone albums. Trident staffer Ted Sharp engineered all three in succession with titles by Mick Ronson and Paul Travis, an associate of Strange Days.

Nutz Too… shows each member with the same obscured vinyl model, photographed by Mike Berkofsky, an early photographer of Jimi Hendrix.

Nutz backed the single “Change’s Coming” with the non-album b-side “Long Ships.”

In 1976, American karaoke rocker Steve Drake bootlegged Nutz Too… as Cool Me Down under the phony bandname No Dice (no relation to the UK band) on the tax scam label Western Hemisphere.

Between albums, Nutz hired keyboardist Kenny Newton as a fifth member.

Hard Nutz

Nutz released their third album, Hard Nutz, in June 1977 on A&M.

Guitarist Mick Devonport wrote four songs (“Seeing Is Believing,” I Know The Feeling,” “Beast of the Field,” “Sick and Tired”) and co-wrote one (“Down On My Knees”) with singer–guitarist Dave Lloyd, who wrote “Pushed Around.” Side One closes with “Wallbanger,” joint written by the band, including newly hired keyboardist Kenny Newton.

Liverpool producer Mike Bersin wrote “Loser” and “From Here to Anywhere.” Nutz close the album with the Bob Dylan cover “One More Cup of Coffee.”

A1. “Seeing Is Believing” (5:54)
A2. “I Know the Feeling” (4:09)
A3. “Loser” (3:24)
A4. “From Here to Anywhere” (5:06)
A5. “Wallbanger” (3:51)

B1. “Pushed Around” (4:07)
B2. “Beast of the Field” (4:15)
B3. “Sick and Tired” (4:17)
B4. “Down On My Knees” (3:48)
B5. “One More Cup of Coffee” (4:38)

Sessions occurred at Sarm Studios in Whitechapel, London, where Enid soundman John Sinclair co-produced Hard Nutz with engineer Gary Lyons, who also worked on the second Lone Star album (Firing on All Six) and subsequent titles by Crawler and Champion. In a fortuitous turn, the pair were also summoned to New York for the production of Foreigner‘s first album.

The five-piece Nutz appear on the front cover with the illusion of short hair (actually backed-tied) and stage-lighted on the back cover with their trademark manes. Photographer Clive Arrowsmith captured the slicked-back imagery and 1977 sleeve photos for Rough Diamond and the Heavy Metal Kids.

Nutz released “Sick and Tired” (b/w “Wallbanger”) in January 1977 as the lead single; followed by the April release “One More Cup of Coffee” (b/w “Down on My Knees”).

Live Cutz

In late 1977, Nutz released Live Cutz, a document of their recent Nottingham Boat Club concert.

Cutz presents the recent five-piece lineup with keyboardist Kenny Newton, who augmented four co-founders: singer Dave Lloyd, guitarist Mick Devonport, bassist Keith Mulholland, and drummer John Mylett.

The setlist contains four songs from Hard Nutz (“Loser,” “Wallbanger,” “Pushed Around,” “Seeing Is Believing”), plus one from Nutz (“Joke”) and two from Nutz Two (“Knife Edge,” “R.S.D.”). Cutz features two unique songs: Devonport’s “Can Be Loved” and the group-written “You Better Watch Out.”

A1. “Seeing Is Believing” (6:16)
A2. “Loser” (4:48)
A3. “Pushed Around” (3:17)
A4. “You Better Watch Out” (6:30)

B1. “R.S.D.” (4:00)
B2. “Joke” (3:30)
B3. “Can Be Loved” (2:43)
B4. “Wallbanger” (9:07)
B5. “Knife Edge” (3:00)

Nutz recorded Live Cutz at the Nottingham Boat Club with the Island Mobile.

The cover presents an optical illusion of red-vinyl sleeve with a cut reveal to the record inside. The illustrator, Paul Allen, also created the coil-stove turntable image for the 1978 Status Quo album If You Can’t Stand the Heat.

Postlude

Nutz disbanded as the Seventies drew to a close. Newton surfaced in Nightwing.

In 1980, the Hard Nutz outtake “Bootliggers” appeared on Metal for Muthas, a compilation of acts tied to the burgeoning New Wave of British Heave Metal movement (Iron Maiden, Samson, Angelwitch, Ethel the Frog, Sledgehammer).

With this newfound exposure, Dave Lloyd and Mick Devonport regrouped with Keith Mulholland and John Mylett. Under the name Rage, they released three NWOBHM-style albums between 1981 and 1983 on Carrere Records. In 1982, they dropped a standalone single under the pseudonym sPiTfIrE.

Discography: