Of all the oddballs produced by punk (and there were many), one of the oddest was Kenneth Spiers – universally known as Spizz. He’s best known (if at all) for his habit of constantly changing the name of his band – always using ‘Spizz’ somewhere – over the course of his long career.

Spizz first came to attention, if not exactly fame, at an all-day music festival in August 1977 in Birmingham, performing an improvised solo set on a borrowed guitar. Two months later he was back with a drummer, Pete Petrol, and his first band name – Spizz 77.

That had become Spizz Oil by the time they supported Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1978, earning them a John Peel session and a deal with Rough Trade that produced their debut single, 6,000 Crazy.

Remarkably, it became the first record to top the brand new UK indie charts, as did its follow-up, Cold City 4, their third single Soldier Soldier, and for an impressive seven weeks their fourth – and best-known – Where’s Captain Kirk?

For a while, their lineup included Slits drummer Palmolive for live performances but by 1979 she had gone and they had changed their name again, to Spizzenergi, with a new line-up featuring Dave Scott on guitar, Jim Solar on bass and Mark Coalfield on keyboards, plus Brian B Benzine on drums (soon to be replaced by Hero Shima).

The dawn of a new decade brought another name change, predictably, to Athletico Spizz 80, evolving again the following year to The Spizzles, who recruited former Damned guitarist (and present PiL incumbent) Lu Edmonds for a typically brief period.

Sadly for Spizz, and several other lower-league punk outfits, by the time they released their debut album Do A Runner in 1980, the fire that fuelled punk had burned out and the New Romantic movement had taken over.

Undaunted by the album’s minimal sales and consequent swift end to their major label marriage with A&M, they returned to Rough Trade as Spizzenergi: 2 with Pete Petrol back in the fold but by 1983 Spizz himself had turned his energy towards painting instead.

A solitary solo show under another new name, Spizzorwell, encouraged him to return to music, creating a large-scale stage production dubbed The Last Future Show, featuring a six-piece female backing group that evolved into a cult-favorite nightclub attraction – Spizz & the Astronauties.

As the ’80s moved on, Spizz’s name changes moved through the gears – Spizzsexual, Spizzvision, Spizz Orbit – though the Guinness Book of World Records stubbornly refused to acknowledge his unique status releasing countless records under different names.

The ’90ss brought a techno incarnation of Spizz, and a one-off Christmas single in 1994 by Spizzmas, followed by a reunion of the original lineup that evolved after the millennium into Spizzenergi 2000.

I last saw them supporting the New York Dolls at a one-off show at the 100 Club in 2009 but I can’t remember what they were called then. I should not be surprised to learn that they are still going, probably with a new name, and performing soon at a venue somewhere near you. Or me.

I shouldn’t be surprised, either, if they still sound something like this. I certainly hope so.