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The Hammersmith Gorillas

The Hammersmith Gorillas

Hammersmith's high-energy pub rockers who played it raw, fast, and loud before punk had a name for it.

APPLE MUSIC

The Hammersmith Gorillas

NOT ON APPLE MUSIC

About

MOODS · raw · energetic · gritty · nostalgic · rebellious · stripped-down · frenetic · unpolished · underdog · retro

BIOGRAPHY

The Hammersmith Gorillas formed in 1972 in Hammersmith, London, fronted by guitarist Jesse Hector and rounded out by bassist Allen Butler. Taking their name from the Hammersmith Guerillas, a local pro-Castro activist group, the band built a reputation on ferocious live shows and a stripped-down, back-to-basics sound. Their debut single was a cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me," timed to the tenth anniversary of the original and produced by Larry Page. They later signed to Chiswick Records, cutting singles with session drummers before Gary Anderson settled in behind the kit. The band played the 1976 Mont-de-Marsan Punk Festival alongside the Damned and Eddie and the Hot Rods, released the single "Gatecrasher," and issued their only LP, Message to the World, in 1978. A cover of "Move It" followed in 1981, after which Allen Butler died and the group disbanded.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Though never officially tagged as punk, the Hammersmith Gorillas carried the same spirit: independent labels, raw production, and frenetic live energy that put them in step with the class of 1977 even as flashier contemporaries stole the spotlight. Their early embrace of Chiswick Records and their scrappy, riff-driven take on rock and roll place them among the unsung link-artists between pub rock and punk. Jesse Hector's legacy was later honored with the 2008 documentary A Message to the World, screened at Raindance and the Barbican's Pop Mavericks series, a quiet nod to a band that helped lay groundwork others got credit for.

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