The Resume

(1971-2012)
Born in New York City, New York
Alan Vega (June 23, 1938-July 16, 2016), vocals
Martin Rev (December 18, 1947- ), synthesizers and drum machine
Recorded the albums ‘Suicide’ (1977), ‘Suicide: Alan Vega and Martin Rev’ (1980), ‘Half Alive’ (1981), ‘A Way of Life’ (1988), ‘Why Be Blue’ (1992) and ‘American Supreme’ (2002)

Why they might be annoying:

When they opened for other bands, they would taunt the crowd with ‘You fuckers have to live through us to get to the main band.’
At shows, they would lock the exit doors so the audience wouldn’t leave.
Many of their shows ended in riots, including one in which Vega’s nose was broken.
Vega would break bottles and cut up his face: ‘I figured out a way of doing it so that I drew a lot of blood but I wouldn’t be scarred for life. I had it down to a fine art.’
Their debut was described by The Guardian as ‘possibly the most paranoid-sounding album ever made.’

Why they might not be annoying:

Vega was also a sculptor; he and Rev first met when Rev ducked into a gallery to escape a downpour.
They are believed to be the first band to describe their music as punk (using the phrase ‘a punk rock mass’ on flyers for their second show).
Ric Ocasek was a fan and produced their second album.
’Rolling Stone’ called them ‘an unmeasurable influence on the industrial dance, noise, techno, ambient and electronic scenes of the 1980s and 1990s.’
Bruce Springsteen covered their song ‘Dream Baby Dream’ and said ‘There was simply no one else remotely like them.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 62]
• Duos
• Industrial Rockers
• Look at Me, I'm a Man in Shades
• My Song is on Rhino's 'No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion'
• New Musical Express' Top 100 Albums of All Time [1985] (Ranked: 53)
• New Musical Express' Top 100 Albums of All Time [1985] (Ranked: 99)
• New Musical Express' Top Albums [1980] (Ranked: 20)
• Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1970's (Ranked: 39)
• Profiles 38001-38250 (Ranked: 38048)
• Punk Rockers
• Q Magazine's 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time [Artists]
• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - 401-500 [2020] (Ranked: 498)
• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - 401-500 [Performers] (Ranked: 446)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying