The Gorillas (originally named The Hammersmith Gorillas) were an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

group from

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, London, formed in 1972 and fronted by Jesse Hector, that played high energy rock music.

History

Jesse Hector (born in 1947, in Kilburn, northwest London) played in bands from the age of 11, first the

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

influenced Rock and Roll Trio between 1959 and 1961, and then the R&B influenced band the Cravattes between 1962 and 1964.Ankeny, Jason " Jesse Hector Biography, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'', Macrovision Corporation Cravattes bassist Adrian Stambach joined

mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

outfit the Clique in 1963. Jesse then reformed the Rock and Roll Trio (1966-1967) before starting two more short-lived bands, the Way of Life (1967) and the Mod Section (1968) and went on to form the

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

band

Crushed Butler Crushed Butler were a British rock band that existed between 1969 and 1971. According to 2008's '' Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk'', the band "was, in many ways, Britain's first proto-punk band." Band members went on to form Darryl Read' ...

in 1969 with drummer

Darryl Read Darryl Michael Roy Read (19 September 1951 – 23 June 2013) was a British singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, poet and writer. In the late 1960s, Read was a member of Crushed Butler, considered by some to be amongst the forerunners of proto pun ...

and bassist Allen Butler. After a brief flirtation with

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

Dick James Music Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat * '' D ...

, and

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

the band was renamed Tiger in autumn 1970, until Darryl left to join the glam rock group Dizzy after Tiger disbanded, then Hector with the addition of new drummer Gary Anderson and bassist Vic Allen changed name again to Helter Skelter in 1971. With the addition of bassist Allen Butler (who also had been one of a number of different bass players that passed through the Crushed Butler various lineups) the band became the Hammersmith Gorillas in 1972 taking their name from London's pro- Castro activist group the Hammersmith Guerillas. The band's debut release was a cover version of

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

' "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by frontman Ray Davies and released as their third single in 1964. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead B ...

" on the

Penny Farthing The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is an early type of bicycle. It was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with its large front wheel providing high speeds, owing to it travelling a large distance for every ro ...

label, produced by

Larry Page Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American businessman, computer engineer and computer scientist best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was chief executive officer of Google from 1997 until August 2001 when ...

, and timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the original release.Korpar-Migrenne, Philippe (1998)
JESSE HECTOR & THE GORILLAS – The Story
, Damaged Goods Records They then signed to

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era". It rel ...

and recording two singles for the label with session drummers Chris Townson playing on the first single and Matt McIntyre playing on the second single for the label. With Gary Anderson back on drums the band begin to build a loyal fanbase before moving on to Raw Records.Larkin, Colin (1992) "Gorillas", in ''The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music'', Guinness Publishing, In 1976, they played at the

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Gascon dialect, Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a communes of France, commune and capital of the Landes (department), Landes Departments of France, department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Milit ...

Punk Festival in the south of France along with the Damned and

Eddie and the Hot Rods Eddie and the Hot Rods are a pub rock band from Essex founded in 1975. They are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit " Do Anything You Wanna Do", released under the shortened name Rods. The group broke up in 1985, but reformed in 1996. Sin ...

. After two more singles in 1978, the band's debut (and only) studio album was issued, ''Message to the World''.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Gorillas", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, Hector was noted for his extravagant

sideburns Sideburns, sideboards, or side whiskers are facial hair grown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to run parallel to or beyond the ears. The term ''sideburns'' is a 19th-century corruption of the original ''burnsides'', named ...

, and was a keen self-publicist, declaring the Gorillas to be "the future of rock music". He was influenced by several dead rock stars, and several tracks on the band's album were performed in the style of his heroes, including a cover of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

's "Foxy Lady" and "Going Fishing" performed in the style of

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...

. They returned to Chiswick in 1981 for the "Move It" single with Jimmy Knight appearing on bass, before splitting up after Alan Butler died from injuries sustained in a horse riding accident. Hector continued to regularly perform live around London, working with a new band, Jesse Hector & The Sound, in the early 1990s, with bassist Kevin White and drummer Gilles Baillarguet. The band issued a single in 1991, "Leavin' Town" on the Clawfist label. When the group split in 1993, Hector assembled a new band, the Gatecrashers, named after a Gorillas single, contributing to several retro-garage rock compilations and releasing an EP in 2000, ''Keep on Moving''. Later Hector worked as a cleaner at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "the most beautiful theat ...

theatre and the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

, and was the subject of a documentary film in 2008, ''A Message To The World'', directed by

Caroline Catz Caroline Catz (born Caroline Caplan; 19 October 1969) is a British film, television, and theatre actress and narrator. She is best known for her role as Louisa Glasson in ''Doc Martin'' (2004–2022). Her other major roles have included August ...

, which was shown as part of the Raindance festival, and at

the Barbican Barbican is a type of fortified building. Barbican may also refer to: * Barbican (drink), a brand of malt beverage in Saudi Arabia and the UAE * Barbican Estate, a residential estate in London ** Barbican Centre, an arts centre in London ** Barb ...

as part of its "Pop Mavericks" season.

Discography

Singles

*"You Really Got Me" (1974)

(as the Hammersmith Gorillas) *"She's My Gal" (1976)

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

*"Gatecrasher" (1976) Chiswick *"You Really Got Me" (1977) Raw *"It's My Life" (1978) Raw *"Message to the World" (1978) Raw *"Move It" (1981) Chiswick

Albums

*''Message to the World'' (1978) Raw (reissued with bonus tracks, 1998, Damaged Goods) *''Gorilla Got Me'' (1999)

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

(credited to the Hammersmith Gorillas) Gorillas tracks are also included on the Jesse Hector retrospective collection ''Gorilla Garage: The Jesse Hector Story'' (2005) RPM Records. Crushed Butler's recordings were compiled by

on the ''Uncrushed'' album in 2005 by RPM Records.

References

External links

*Lamey, Charles P.
The Gorillas
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' *Gottschalk, Alex
Hammersmith Gorillas
, ''Punk77'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorillas, The Musical groups established in 1974 English protopunk groups English pub rock musical groups Chiswick Records artists Musical groups from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham