Terry And Gerry

Terry and Gerry

The only punk skiffle band who brought the spirit of Lonnie Donegan to the energy of the Sex Pistols. Their sun shone brightly for a while on the diverse and vibrant "indie" music scene of the early 80s and Peel was one of their greatest supporters but fame and fortune did not come their way - just goes to prove there should be more hat stand buying people in this world.

Terry Lilley and Gerry Colvin formed the band in Birmingham .  Terry Lilley played double bass. Gerry Colvin sang lead vocals and played acoustic guitar. They were sometimes billed as "and the Dayglos" and Dorren Deville (washboard) and Andy Downer (guitar) were important to creating their unique sound. Downer left before the band finished and was replaced on the last two singles.

There first EP Butter’s On the Bread appeared on Robert Lloyd’s Vindaloo records but subsequent records were released on the In Tape record label run by Marc Riley (ex The Fall) and subsequently R1 DJ

John Peel's attention was drawn to them when apparently by chance he picked out their demonstration tape because his wife’s former flatmates were called Terry and Gerry. He thought the coincidence was too great to ignore. [2]  The band recorded two sessions for the John Peel programme and were picked to perform at an ICA Rock Week in November 1885 selected by John Peel under the title - "John Peel putting the fun back in being pretentious". Although some felt Peel only liked them because of their name - he did say that "it was a pleasure to put people like Terry and Gerry on t he radio".

http://peel.wikia.com/wiki/John_Peel_Terry_%26_Gerry_1984

They produced five singles Butters on the Bread, Clothes Shop, Banking on Simon, Reservation and Last Bullet in the Gun and an LP record ''From Lubbock to Clintwood East. ''

They were at their best playing live. Gerry was always trying to get the audience to answer questions, dance and sing along.On stage banter between Terry and Gerry often degenerated into giggles. They had a fanatical following and blended political comment, great lyrics and superfast 3 minute songs

Line Up


 * Terry Lilley - double bass and singing
 * Gerry Colvin – guitar and singing
 * Doreen Deville (aka Su Richardson, Su Sonic) – washboard and singing
 * Andy Downer – guitar and singing
 * Jeremy Paige replaced Andy Downer for ‘Reservation’
 * Mick Howson replaced Jeremy Paige for ‘Last Bullet in the Gun’

Cherry Red released a CD of all their releases in 2005