Nutz

Formed in Liverpool, England, in 1973 by singer Dave Lloyd, guitarist Mick Devonport, bassist Keith Mulholland, and drummer John Mylett, hard rockers Nutz cut four albums for A&M -- 1974's Nutz, 1975's Nutz Too, 1976's Hard Nutz (introducing keyboard player Kenny Newton) and 1977's Nutz Live Cutz. But none of these, nor occasional support tours with Black Sabbath and Budgie (not to mention a Friday night slot at the 1976 Reading Festival) took them to headliner status.

By 1979 the band was coming to a halt, but when their song "Bootliggers" was chosen for inclusion on 1980's Metal for Muthas (a compilation of emerging New Wave of British Heavy Metal talent like Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis, and Samson), Nutz reinvented themselves as Rage. This barely disguised new version of Nutz (not to be confused with the German power metal trio that appeared a few years later) replaced Newton with an additional guitarist Terry Steers, and went on to record three more albums before finally breaking up in 1984.