The GT’s
The GT’s short lifespan might have gone unnoticed if they hadn’t responded to an advert by Lee Wood of Raw Records asking for demos. Duly despatching one they had done in their local village hall, they were put into the studio and featured on the now legendary Raw Deal album with Millionaire. Two songs were recorded Move On & Millionaire.
The band was a three-piece from Derby with Tony Berrington on guitar, Kevin Green on bass and Paul Betts on drums. Millionaire is a very assured song with really individual vocals and a mature band sound suggesting they could really play.
Tony Berrington We formed from the remnants of our school band, some of whom didn’t get punk at all. Me and Kev were ‘in like Flint’ and we convinced the drummer that he liked punk. These were early days
for punk in Nottingham, which can be a naughty place. It’s true to say that we fought the punk wars and got a few beatings for our trouble. I remember fighting for my life with a load of bikers at a Johnny Thunders gig in Derby. Happy days!… We only had about six original songs and we used to cover ‘Remember Walking In The Sand’ (Shangri-La’s) and ‘Please Please Me’ (The Beatles). Raw contacted us and put us in a studio in Cambridge to do two tracks. I remember taking a 24-can case of lager so it was a boozy session, but everything came together very quickly and sounded pretty good so it was a very enjoyable session, unlike some I’ve done since. We went back to Nottingham and then Raw Deal came out.” Alex Ogg, No More Heroes
Lee Wood of Raw Records recalls.
Lee Wood My memory is pretty good and I think I have got this correct. A couple of days after the recording session (which was usually a Sunday) as the record shop that paid for it all was open Monday to Saturday, the guy who worked for me in the shop got a call from the band to say they had changed their name to the GT’s and would send further details. Sadly I can’t remember the original name. But we never heard from them again. So to this day I have no idea who they are or where they are from. Punk77 email November 2024
Shortly after Raw Deal came out in December 1977 the band split as both Berrington and Green joined the remnants of Nottingham band Plummet Airlines who had also fractured in late 1977 and together became The Favourites who had a power pop sound in the vein of bands like The Automatics and Tonight. Drummer Paul Betts would later join as well.
Out of the ashes, or maybe the crash, of the Plummets, rose the Power Pop of The Favourites. Darryl and Duncan had always liked 60s bands like the Beatles, Byrds and The Who, not forgetting the Velvet Underground, the Stooges and recent throwbacks like the Flaming Groovies. The pair were approached by two eager young musicians Kevin Green amd Tony Berrington, whose punky band The GTs had supported Plummets once; they wanted to join up on bass and guitar, having seen Darryl sing a couple of his own songs at that gig, and reckoning that he should just concentrate on singing, songwriting and fronting a new band. The Favourites website
Above The Favourites with all The GT’s on Bass, Guitar & Drums
TalkPunk
Post comments, images & videos - Posts are checked and offensive or irrelevant ones will be removed
