The Hammersmith Gorillas

Proto-punk trio the Hammersmith Gorillas were led by the venerable London cult figure Jesse Hector, an extravagantly dressed and coiffed rock & roll veteran who first surfaced as a teenaged skiffle prodigy before fronting the mod-era band Crushed Butler. After teaming in the short-lived Helter Skelter, Hector and drummer Gary Anderson formed the Hammersmith Gorillas in 1973 with bassist Alan Butler, copping the name from London's pro-Castro activist faction the Hammersmith Guerillas. (Certainly Hector's own simian tendencies -- specifically the thick muttonchop sideburns cover...