SHIVVERS THE

about

Jill Kossoris (teenage piano player in the seminal band "In A Hot Coma"), decided to join forces with Jim Richardson (legendary drummer with "Death" and other groundbreaking bands) in 1978. Their goal was to start a heavy pop band with a future. Kossoris and Richardson shared an unusually open minded, eccentric and wide range of musical influences. These influences included a reverence for great pop songwriting (Burt Bacharach, ABBA) and similar interests in more eccentric performers like Iggy Pop. Richardson and Kossoris began auditioning members in Jill's parents basement in Milwaukee. After putting the word out to all their musician friends and placing ads in local papers they finally joined with Mike Pyle, Rich Bush and Jim Eannelli to become "The Shivvers." Combing old L.P's for songs they thought should have been hits - or songs they could give new interpretation- they put together a small set list of Motown/Dave Clark Five/Raspberries/ABBA and Dusty Springfield, while Kossoris began writing her first original songs. It was the era of Punk Rock and although "The Shivvers" did not consider themselves "punk" per say, they did play with an energy and vengence that could be interpreted as such. Having a female as the main creative member of the band, also gave them an unusual dynamic. Their first gigs were at punk/new wave clubs like "Zaks" and "The Starship" in Milwaukee. Word of "The Shivvers" quickly grew throughout the Midwest as they played in Milwaukee, Chicago, and

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