The Adverts

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For other uses, see Advert (disambiguation).

The Adverts
Background information
Origin	England
Genre(s)	punk rock
Years active	1976 - 1979
Label(s)	Stiff Records Anchor Records RCA Records
Members
T.V. Smith Gaye Advert Howard Pickup Paul Martinez Rod Latter Rick Martinez Tim Cross
Former members
Laurie Driver Jon Towe

The Adverts were an English punk rock band who formed in 1976 and broke up in 1979. They are mainly remembered for their singles "One Chord Wonders" and "Gary Gilmore's Eyes", as well as being one of the first English punk bands to prominently feature a female member. "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached theUK Top 40 in August 1977.

1 Career
2 Members
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career

Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover: The Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes (the original Anchor release)

Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover: The Adverts - Television's Over

Their first gig was to support Generation X on January 15, 1977 at The Roxy in London; their last was at Slough College on October 27, 1979. After the band split up, T.V. Smith continued with Tim Cross forming as TV Smith's Explorers, then Cheap, and finally from the 1990s to date performing as a solo artist.

"There is so much about The Adverts that captures all that punk means. Originally to be called 'One Chord Wonders', Tim and Gaye instead settled on The Adverts. Perhaps one of the first bands to be formed outside of the London based scene around the Sex Pistols (and like others inspired by seeing them) luck was in for them by virtue of the fact their first gigs were at The Roxy Club. Formed in late 1976 nearly three months later they would be on a well promoted tour with The Damned and their first single under their belts. Not least a part of the success of the band though they might not like it, was Gaye Advert's obvious sexy punk attraction and the fact that she was the bass player gave the band an obvious commercial angle, which Stiff and music papers exploited. The fact that Gaye was often snapped along with other punk musos didn't help. At the same time some absolute corking tunes allied to sharp lyrics made the band a force to be reckoned with, as they hit the charts in August 1977 with "Gary Gilmore Eyes" and signed to major label Anchor Records all at breakneck speed. It was punk but it was more thought provoking.

However, there was more behind the rosy picture than meets the eye. Constant criticism of Gaye's playing became spiteful and, at times, directed at the fact that she was female, and the constant images of her in the media created rifts in the band causing at least Laurie to leave. Burchill and Parsons were really vindictive towards the band, portraying them as Gaye's Adverts and really giving them a bad slagging. For a pair who supposedly liked Gaye their criticism helped break the band up and Gaye hang up her bass. A Fanzine review at the time, and other bands memories of touring with the Adverts, have them as arrogant and ego tripping. I can't confirm or deny this but no doubt every punk band from The Clash to The Pistols probably behaved similarly at some time.

Bad luck followed with the demise of Anchor and they ended up on RCA. Long gaps between records, no publicity machine and unable to make that difficult second album and to leap from punk to the great beyond they found themselves sidelined with an uninterested record company. More personnel changes with Gaye hanging up the bass meant the Adverts finally gave up on 27 October 1979.

A classic punk band who made at least three classic singles, and a heap of good punk toons." [1]

[edit] Members

T.V. Smith and Gaye Advert were both from the same small coastal town in Devon, and were the band's core members and driving force.

T.V. Smith (vocals / guitarist) - born Tim Smith, on 5 April 1956, in Bideford, Devon.

Gaye Advert (bass guitar) - born Gaye Balsden, on 29 August 1956, in Bideford, Devon.

Other members of the band were:

Guitar:

Howard Pickup (Jan '77 - Aug '79)

Paul Martinez (Sep '79 - Oct '79)

Drums:

Laurie Driver (Jan '77 - Feb '78)

Jon Towe (Feb '78 - Apr '78)

Rod Latter (Apr '78 - Aug '79)

Rick Martinez (Sep '79 - Oct '79)

Keyboards:

Tim Cross (Feb '79 - Oct '79)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

17 Feb '78: Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts (Bright Records BRI201)
12 Oct '79: Cast Of Thousands (RCA Records PL25246)

[edit] Singles

29 Apr '77: "One Chord Wonders" / "Quickstep" (Stiff Records BUY13)
24 Jun '77: "Bored Teenagers" featured on the Roxy compilation LP (Harvest Records SHSP4069)
19 Aug '77: "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" / "Bored Teenagers" (Anchor Records ANC1043)
28 Oct '77: "Safety In Numbers" / "We Who Wait" (Anchor Records ANC1047)
20 Jan '78: "No Time To Be Twenty-One" / "New Day Dawning" (Bright Records BRI ...)
10 Nov '78: "Television's Over" / "Back From The Dead" (RCA Records PB5128)
01 Jun '79: "My Place" / "New Church" (RCA Records PB5160)
19 Oct '79: "Cast Of Thousands" / "I Will Walk You Home" (RCA Records PB5191)