About Me
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Gaye Bykers were formed late in the winter of 1984 at the height of Thatcherite Britain. Founding members Ian Reynolds (Robber) and Ian Hoxley (Mary) both friends on the Leicester music scene. Robber had been playing in various local Discharge, Crass, Clash sex pistols./ Reggae- inspired anarcho-punk bands for several years: Fury of Guns, Cardinal Phink and Ha Fatto in the early 1980s.It all started back in Leicester when they had to make their own entertainment
Mary, Robber, Kev Reverb and Ian Anderson (both from Crazyhead ) got together to
start The Great Red Shark at which they would DJ, playing indie, punk, garage,
psychedelic, funk, soul, goth, rock-a-billy and alternative tunes. They ran it three
nights a week at the Chateau on London Road. Reverb was, at this point, in New Age
with Rob Vomit. Robber used to be their roadie.The DJ night went really well until it was suggested we form an all-star busking band with members from New Age with Robber on bass, Mary vox, Kev Reverb guitar, Rob Vomit drums, Simon on percussion and the sax player, Ian, and his brother Egg on guitar. They played many local gigs, covering Stooges, Velvets, The Sonics and Stones songs. This is where they cut their first teeth.
It was during this time that Robber and Mary decided to form their own band together to take on the world. Crazyhead were also to form around this time.It was the 80s and Stock, Aitkin and Waterman ruled the charts. The world was
waiting for something new. Petal Frenzy was the first incarnation later changed to Petrol Frenzy! The line-up was Robber bass, Mary vox, Dave drums, Nut Roast, Robbers old school mate (Craig Smith), on guitar. He left when Tony joined.The name was not right it did not suit the mood. So Robber and Mary sat down out
side the polytechnic one day by the canal and racked their brains over a few beers.
Robber knew he wanted something "on Acid", Mary very much liked cartoonist Ray
Lowrys "Gay Bikers" cartoon. They wanted a name that hit you in the face like a can of Baked beans then stayed smeared on your face forever. Robber suggested an alternative spelling of Byker, as byker sounded better. Gay was changed to Gaye as a tribute to Marvin Gaye whose dad had just shot him. Gaye Bykers on acid were born...
New line-up.
Mary introduced Robber to Tony Horsfall after meeting him down the "Fan
Club". Mary was good at networking and remembered Robbers love of Jimi Hendrix.
Tony had told Mary he could play like Hendrix. Tony wore what everyone thought were dark sunglasses all the time in those days and he looked a bit like Andy Warhol. They
later discovered that this art student, who always had glasses on in the nightclubs, was wearing tinted prescription glasses. Robber hooked up with Tony in his student digs in the West End of the city. During this first session, Robber and Tony penned GO-GO.
Mary was to add the lyrics on top the following week. They had their first song. Dave was replaced by Robbers old mate Kevin Hyde on drums. Robber had
known Kev from the 1970's PUNK scene. Kev played drums in "Krud Death" then in "Church in Ruin". When Robber was in "Ha Fatto" they used to play at the same anarcho-punk events. Kev was living in Wales at this point, so they went on a rescue mission to Wales bring Kev home. Gaye Bykers On Acid were now complete.During those early days Kev, Robber and Tony all lived in the same bunch of squats
in Leicester, Mary lived with Sarah from the Bomb party ) . They shared money, drugs and
girlfriends. A rented factory unit served as GBOA HQ, where they wrote all the early
songs: Edgar, Yellow Pack, Nam Vet, Space Rape, TV Cabbage, So far out, All hung up, plus a few hefty covers of Hawkwind, Hendrix and Iggy pops the Stooges. Many hours, days, weeks, months were spent rehearsing, doing drugs, partying, drinking, painting up the guitars, back-line and themselves, Gaye Bykers on speed would have been a more accurate description.The first back-line was to be purchased through the sale of amphetamines, which kept the band on the road. When not engaged in these activities they would spend their time at the "Muffs", watching old Star Trek and Young Ones videos or listening to Hawkwind or the Dead Kennedys at high volume.Stonehenge 1985... the Bykers are on the road, GBOA didnt take the back line, as they knew there would be a ruck with the old bill. Still Tony and Robber performed
together at Stonehenge'85 on the free stage with the aid of some hippy's back -line. Mary is out of it and Kev was gone on acid away with the fairies.The first proper gig was at the Princess Charlotte in Leicester supporting "New Age".
A friend from "Ha Fatto", Paul Brown, was to comment after the gig, quote: "That was either the best or worst thing I have ever seen in my life."It then became apparent to GBOA that just about everyone in Leicester hated the band! Or would learn to.The Bomb Party, Play Dead, Chat Show and the Janitors were all established acts at
this point. Local entrepreneur, Sion, was to put together a compilation LP called
"Just Say Yeah", the Bykers were asked to contribute a track, so they packed the gear in to the 'surf bastard bus' and headed for Leeds where they laid down "After Suck There's Blow", a 7/8 timing funk, punk industrial giant. The Purple Fluid Exchange started here.They cut the first Demo of All Hung Up, Space Rape, So Far Out and GO-Go at Mike
Miller's in Syston, Leicestershire with the help of The Bomb Party. They gave the
Janitors' label, InTape, a copy and the deal was done. EVERTHANGS GROOVY BABY
was recorded in Leeds with Jon Langford of Mekons fame being our producer. The first Gaye Bykers record went straight to number one in the Indie charts, partly due to Dave Bartrams groovy video being shown on the Old Grey Whistle Test, and partly to the fact that an unstoppable music force had been let loose. It was to stay top of the independent charts for over a year along with the follow up EP, Nose Dive Karma.By GBOAs 6th gig they were playing in Kentish Town at the Pied Bull, London, then at the Marquee supporting Zodiac Mindwarp. More London gigs followed and the press caught on...Sounds, Melody Maker and the New Musical Express were all to write articles.During this period the Bykers played extensively up and down the UK, they were a band with a frenzied live act who would blow all the headline acts they supported off the stage. A UK support tour with the Cult followed.The Bykers moved to London in winter 1985/86.
Ronnie rocket was to say about the arrival of GBOA: "London was hit by storm when the Bykers arrived in town".Tracy La Mott approached the band at Gossips Alice in Wonderland night supporting Dr and the Medics. In spring 1986 she became the bands manager... the woman with the biggest gob in London. She was renowned for talking people to death over the phone. There were many cases of people holding the phone away from their heads while she ranted on and on and on. People said yes just so she would shut up.NOSEDIVE KARMA
their Beastie Boys/ Ken Keasy- inspired song was recorded in Leeds with John Langfords production talents and
the engineering skills of Ian Caple. Ray Lowry provided the cover artwork. It was released on InTape Records and went to the top of the independent charts. By now the band were the press darlings of the moment. The major labels were taking notice.1987 was to prove a taxing year for the band with demos to be recorded, tours to do, press interviews, films to make the band didnt have time to wipe their own arse. They played at Glastonbury and recorded a radio session for JANNICE LONG. They would go on to play support shows with Motorhead at Hammersmith Palais and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers at the Astoria, London and Hawkwind at Acid Daze amongst others.After a fierce battle between record giants including CBS and EMI, GBOA finally settled for a ten album -£100,000 a year deal with virgin records. They agree to let us use the PFX logo as a subsidiary of Virgin records. They thought they were getting another Sex
Pistols!The band were whisked away to various demo studios and they paid their first visit to the USA at the Felt Forum, NYC, supporting The Cult. A series of high profile gigs followed including Acid Daze and the Town and Country Club.The rot set in No longer qualifying for the independent charts (as they were now signed to a major label) GBOAs next record, Git Down, their Black Sabbath/ James Brown inspired single, climbed up the national charts to no 56 instead of being number One in the Indie charts. A cruel twist of fate as the rules were later changed when indie became recognised as a style of music.DRILL YOUR OWN HOLE
was recorded in Orinoco studios, London. Alex Ferguson of ATV
fame produced the LP. Ray Lowry again provided the front cover artwork while the inner sleeve artwork was provided by Peter Anderson. There was a lot of use of an Atari computer and Akai 9500 (which was state-of-the-art at the time) for the backing tracks. There were even several renditions of After Suck Theres Blow, one being an early 140 BPM acid house remix by DJ Wayne, which was released as a white label.A FILM DRILL YOUR OWN HOLEof the same name was made, featuring 7 songs from the album. A headline tour of the UK followed, with support from the Janitors, the Bomb Party and label mates the Blood Uncles. A three-week US tour followed, they returned to the UK to film the Drill footage for three weeks before rushing off to support the Ramones in Europe for three weeks.The band made a mistake with this first Virgin LP, as it didnt capture the essence of them as a raw live act. Released in 1987, it was intended that the film and the album were released at the same time, but due to setbacks the film came out late. The film had gone well over the initial £90.000 budget increasing to £250.000. By this time their manager, Tracy LaMott, had lost control of the finances and was juggling the film, budget, tour support money, advances, royalties and merchandise sales. It was a total mess. During one of her holidays away, the band were left at home in her office where they were to discover the horrible truth: that they owed a vast amount of money to companies they had bought equipment from. Phone calls were arriving asking where the money was for some purple flight cases they had had made. The time to sever links with Tracy LaMott had arrived. She had lied to the band and £30.000 was unaccounted for, along with the increasing debts. Tracy was to try to beg, and then blackmail, the band into keeping her on as manager, but to no avail.1988 Year two of the Virgin years, GBOA go back into the studio and record (with the return of John Langford and Ian Caple) the seminal masterpiece, STEWED TO THE GILLS. The cover artwork was provided by Peter Anderson.Manager-less, skint and surviving off t-shirt sales and gig money, the band struggled on. Tracy, as always, lurked in the background hungry to pick up any scraps. She threatened to grass up the band to US immigration over alleged drug use if they did not reinstate her as manager. She said she had videotape with footage of band members taking drugs, which she said she would provide as evidence. It was sad really.Lesbian Dopeheads On Mopeds, supposedly from New Zealand, were GBOAs ingenious way of getting paid twice for playing two slots, and a good excuse to dress up in frocks. They were to appear at this time and play several festivals as support to GBOA. As always, there was a spectacular t shirt for the fans to buy. Without these sales the band could not have survived financially.CLICK HERE! FOR LESBIEN DOPEHEADS ON MOPEDS
GBOA toured with new material from Stewed to the Gills, then returned to the USA for the second time to much acclaim.Virgin sacked GBOA from the label, no longer requiring their services. This was partly due to them not having a manager, it was not the done thing for a band to be signed to a major recording contract who managed themselves. Tracy scared off any potential new managers threatening legal action against anyone who touched the band.Groovedive Soapdish, a compilation of the first two InTape EPs was released on the Bleed label.1989 the band return to the Jobcentre to sign back on the dole. Still a popular
live act, they continue to play at every possible opportunity. Unofficial manager Martin was drafted in, he agreed to help the band out.Work stared on Cancer Planet Mission )
, their concept album, in Kev Bykers Hackney squat studio. It is at this point the band started their own record label, Naked Brain. The album is recorded and produced by the band at Alaska Studios. This was their punk DIY ethos resurfacing. The front cover artwork was a huge piece by Andy Mair. The Purple fluid Exchange (PFX) were to start work on their dance cross-over material and the space EP was released. It was at this point that DJ Rocket joined the band as DJ, sample player and dance advisor.Another alter ego was created for the band: Rektum, a fictitious East German 3-piece dissident punk band that had leapt the Berlin wall. They recorded an LP, Sacred Anus, and a 12 EP for hardcore punk label, Manic Ears/ PSI. Tony and Robber provided artwork for these. There would be live shows to follow in Bristol with Dr. and the Crippins. The UK press were duped by 3 actors hired to be the face of REKTUM !
, and wrote rave reviews, unaware of their true identity. Then, back stage at Reading festival, Shane of Manic Ears let the cat out of the bag to a Sounds journalist. The backlash from the UK press ensued. It was now cool to hate GBOA
CLICK HERE FOR MORE REKTUM!1990 PERNICIOUS NONSENSE, the last of the bands studio albums, was recorded with John Langford and Ian Caple with the band co- producing. It was released on the Naked Brain label. Tony Byker did the artwork for this album.The band set off for their last and longest adventure into America. With only One credit card between them and With no product to promote, as Pernicious Nonsense and Cancer Planet had only been released in Europe, they relied on their name and reputation alone to sell tickets. It was four months of hard touring with no hotels, only a tour van as it was self-financed. Elvis Hitler ,Babes in Toyland and L7 provided support. They would play a 2000 capacity venue in Chicago, then the next night play to 30 people in Canada who had never heard them before. It was during this tour that GBOA licensed the JackOfficers LP, Digital Dump, for release on the Naked Brain label, from the Butthole Surfers. The deal was made with the Buttholes on their ranch in Austin, Texas.GBOA enjoyed much critical acclaim in the US, they toured through the whole of the USA playing a show every night with only 2 days rest in four months but, by now, with increased drug dependency, tensions and cracks within the band started to appear. Personal relations between members were at an all time low. They were busted for drugs on the American North Dakota border with Canada Customs officials finding a massive haul of 2 roaches in the ashtray. They were forced to write a letter of apology to the US. Government and pay a $500 fine under George Bush Sr.s zero tolerance on drugs policy. Egos had risen out of control. They no longer worked as a team. There was a mercenary attitude. Mental illness had replaced the eccentric eclectic charm. The Frankensteins monster they had created had turned against them and now they hated it. This was the tour that would make or break GBOA, and they came very close to cracking America. The final nails were being hammered in the coffin. The band returned to the UK like a dysfunctional family not speaking to each other. It was very much Gaye Bykers on Acid, speed, crack, grass, crystal meth, cocaine, opium, alcohol, ecstasy, uppers, downers, twisters and any substance you could find in a kitchen cupboard to get you off your head on.Never see a brother go solo
One further UK tour was played but, by now, the band seemed to be going through the motions. Their last gig was in New Cross, South London where Robbers favourite bass guitar was stolen. Disillusioned with the lack of chemistry, Robber Byker was first to leave the band. Kev Byker was next to go. The band carried on without Kev and Robber for a short while but that special magic that had glued them together was gone. They finally called it a day around 1991.During this time, Rough Trade, the distribution company for Naked Brain, went bust owing the band money and leaving them with hundreds of unsold records, while fans waiting to buy them couldnt get them. Because of this, they remain rare items.Two compilations were released on the Receiver record label in 1992
and 1993, FROM THE TOMB OF THE NEAR LEGENDARY GBOA!and GAYE BYKERS ON ACID!Kev, Robber, Tony and Mary Byker all remain the best of friends to this day with any previous differences musical or other wise forgotten.life is short!
Where are they now files?
Gaye Bykers On Acid 1991-2006;
Kev Hyde formed G.R.O.W.T.H. with
Alexis, Jeff (ex-Janitors) they were Later joined by Mark Thompson of the Bomb Party on Drums; they released an LP and 12", Kev now lives and works in London.He continues to be a musicien.Tony teamed up with bass player Brad Bradbury in Camp Collision and then returned to his first love as a painter/ sculptor. He now lives and works in South America . He continues to be an artist / musician.Ian Reynolds (Robber) worked as a under ground DJ He co-ran the Zero Gravity sound system in the early 1990s. He went on to Record for Nine Bar records (small but hip south London Label) whilst continuing to play drumn bass as a Dj. He now records as SURFINGBERNARD
, a wonky techno outfit, with partner Zoe, and has several releases on both Shed and Midi Records. .CLICK HERE! FOR SURFING BERNARD!Rocket Ronnie went on to collaborate with the Grid's Richard Norris and run the drum 'n' bass label Worm Interface along with Dj-ing at Zero gravity with Robber.Mary resurfaced in Pigface, and then again in Hyperhead with Karl Leiker (ex-Luxuria/
Bugblot), and then, most famously, as vocalist for Apollo Four Forty. Until recently he fronted Maximum Roach with fellow Apollo Four Forty alumni Harry K. and drummer Kodish (who also played with Whoodini, The Prodigy and London's drum 'n' bass masters Bad Company) and former Bully Rag bassist Mikey Cusick. He now plays in his new group "The Jungle". ( who are looking for a record deal) . He is also now entered the cut throat world of advertising composing music for TV adverts.
Watch this space.TRACY LAMOTT! STORIES FROM HER TURDGID PAST!!!!!.
CLICK HERE FOR TRACY LAMOTT PICTURES!1/
Really funny to read your comments on T/L. I met Mary back in the days when we all used to follow the Cult around, he had another mate called Ian too. I think we first met at Dreamtime at the Lyceum (20th May 83, what a fucking memory eh)A few years later I was in a band called the Stiff Kittens and we ended up being managed by Tracie Lamont. yes I agree with you all the way, although Bentley was Ok (Rod Hull anyone?) Anyway she was fucking disaster, full of ideas and never any action. I remeber your mad max car being parked in Waterloo Fire station squat.Anyway, having stayed around her gaff in Union Street a few times, one could not help notice the plethora of contact mags she had lying around. often wondered what her and Bentley were into!! A few years later (93 I think) I had been out with Steve Krusher' Joule and and Stumpy from the Almighty, Krusher had some mad substance on him and the next thing Im staggering around Southwark at 1 a.m trying to find my way back to my mates place in Kennington. In my altered stae I found myself recognizing her flat on Union Street and decided to knock on the door (dunno why, directions maybe) Bentely answered and looked a bit surprised, albit pleasant enough, and invited me in to his little video editing den in the back bedroom. I asked hi were T/L was. 'She's busy' he says and she's not be disturbed. After I'd got myself together a bit Bentley offered to give me lift back to my mates in Kennington and as we exited the room Tracie came out of the living room/bedroom she had, dressed up like St 'fucking Trinnians. She was not off to afancy dress, that much I can say. In the room were two big black dudes half undressed and all manner of pink plastic probe and probosus strewn around the floor. She said hello and chucked me out!! She was obviously on the game.!!2/ HiWe have something in common, as we have both shared the same manager Tracy Lamott, or as she called herself then Tracy Lamont, Tracy Purchess & later (when she married my then mate) Tracy Clarke. I was just reading the biog on your web site & laughed out loud at the similarity's of what she did when I knew her. Do you have any pictures of her, as I'd love to know if she looked like a cross between Freddy Crouger & Ronald Mcdonald then too? By the way, she was also touting around the story board & props from one of your videos. She had a brothel in waterloo at the time, & would tell anyone who would listen that you kicked her out cos she got you prostitutes on tour & your girlfriends found out!You wouldn't recognise her now! The last time I saw her was a bout two years ago before she fled to new zealand, & she looked 70 coz of all the shit she had taken over the years. She left her husband with a three hundred thousand pound debt & ran off with a transexual!She offered those demos to me for my label in 96! (BOOTLEG CD ON CHERRY RED)3/The one about her running off with a tranny, you gotta laugh! She was actaully Collier before everything else, her ex hubby Pat (collier) runs Alaska studios just round the corner from her old drum in Waterloo.4/Ok Robber, heres one for you.Tracie Lamont comes up to Yorkshire to see my band showcase. Shes wearing this comedy wig and geshia outfit, orders everyone around and sat there drinking tea and coffee mixed in the same cup.
She's off on one, talking well big, 'When I managed the Pyhscadelic Furs blah blah, me and Perry Farrell blah blah. We were all impressed at this high flying London Music manager. Then she stood up from the table and knocked over her handbag that was by the leg of her chair. Guess what fell out? Her UB40 signing on book!(DOLE CARD)5/Hello mateI've remembered another one for you. She rang me up one afternoon in a panic because her then husband Steve who is a session drummer had, & I quote " A fucking huge gig" that night, but their bass player had done a runner (In hindsight, maybe I should have taken this as a sign) & would I stand in? It turned out that the "fucking huge gig was their local working mens club!
At the time she had a sewn in green nylon mohican & (without exaduration) 20 odd facial piercings, so to say she didn't really blend in would be a bit of an understatement! She then proceeded to take a huge amount of whiz in the ladies & got her flaps out to show all the 70 year old women her genital piercings.
She had so much metal down there that we used to joke that she could get an endorsement deal with zildjian. We then got kicked out without getting paid, & she blamed us playing shit.6/I've just emailed Richard Buttler from The Psychedelic Furs to see what he has to say about her, which will be interesting to see if she was a complete cunt in those day's as well. There's mention of her on this site about the furs but it just say's she became their manager, nothing about her fucking up their lives & offering them blow jobs instead of handing over their money.
http://www.burneddowndays.com/history/archives/cat_fursstory
1.shtml7/When Tracey lamott & Steve were in the states in 96 she rang me from her mobile to my mobile at peak time for over an hour. Can you think of any bands she said she had dealings with? I know she worked for Simon Napier Bell for a bit, & she said she got deals for Gwar & alien sex fiend. She also used to say that she had fucked joey ramone. I thought I might find out how much of it is true.
(I taped Tracy lamotts 2 hour phone conversation back in 1988 just after we sacked her and used samples on the stewed to the gills album ** i still have that tape some of it is on the end of byker cdrs ia m sellin! Robber byker)
8/Mickey Finn from T Rex used to tell me how she would walk around naked, & leave her bedroom door open to try & get him to fuck her when he stayed over. In his own words "I wouldn't fuck that pig if she was the last woman on earth".( I heard from her Tracy lamott that she yoused to stalk Marc Bolan and rummage through his dustbins in Hackney on a regular basis for his toe nail cuttings ect...)
9/Yeah, she told me that. She convinced Mickey to sell his story about his days in T rex & how he'd ended up living in a council flat. She told him how he was going to earn thousands out of it (sound familiar?) he ended up with about £1500 & found out later that she sold the story for £6000.My dads just reminded me about ANOTHER gig that she convinced me to do at the Amersham arms. She turned up half way through the gig with another prossy & a jack Russell that jumped straight on to the stage & got tangled in all the leads. They were both completely trashed & dressed in S & M gear, swigging bottles of champaign that she told us they got from their CLIENT as a tip. She then spent the rest of the night trying to get my dad to stay at theirs. She also told him how she had just given her client a blow job, but because she has a lisp she spat in his ear, so the first thing he did when we got back was wash it in disinfectant.
10/
Thee Hypnotics at Fulham Greyhound. Thee Hypnotics had Captian Sensible and Bryan James in attendence to speak about maybe producing the band. Tracy was involved with the support band Zoodoll. When they finished Tracy was on the stage, kinda directing the change over, although it was clear she was trying to drag it out to fuck up Thee Hypnotics. Their manager was a big tall Joey Ramone look-a -like called Steve. Pleasant enough guy as I remember. He climbed on the stage and politely attempted to hurry things along, going so far as pick up a cymbal stand from Zoo dalls kit and carrying it to the side of the stage.
All of a sudden there was this 6ft 5 guy getting the shit knocked out of him by Tracy Lamont weilding a bass guitar like a beheading axe, swinging it around, screaming and kicking the guy. ;Dan't You Tatch my Facking Baaands gear you Cant!!Body: Jesus fucking christ!
what great stories you could`nt make them up!
there are a couple of things I remember I remember being in the kit Kat club ,which at the time was in a little dive on Leicester square just after we had sacked her.I was with deptford John and his brother Andy minding my own Business when there is a commotion at the door, there is some shouting near the entrance and suddenly Depford john picks me up like a bag of spuds and says we have to get out of the club quickly.It turns out Tracey was at the door with some heavy biker guys and they wanted to beat me up and or kidnap me!!! I remember the security running ahead banging open some fire escape doors and then running down these corridors away from the entrance finally a set of doors swung open onto the Charing cross road and we legged it across to Covent Garden!!!!I remember being a bit paranoid that at any minute I would get bundled into a van or something!! I never saw her again though I was watching the James Whale TV show, remember that? and they had a radio phone in when they were dicussing condoms made our of sheep intestines or something equally wierd! and he goes to a caller and it´s her that fucking horrible unmistakable cokney drawl
talking about being a madame! and using these things I nearly threw up!! and then maybe 5 years ago for some reason I was watching Rolf fucking Harris animal hospital
believe me I would never usually watch crap like that and he is banging on about some sick pet and in walks
Tracey just as she´d been descibed earlier, bright green hair extentions and that fucking ugly face full of piercings I could´nt believe my eyes!!! all I could think was why... why did we ever let that stupid speed riddled bitch near our band.....what were we thinking!! what were we on!!! (Mary Byker)
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