Gerry & The Holograms

Gerry & The Holograms

FINDERS KEEPERS. CD/DL/LP Lost album from Zappachampioned oddball Mancs. The warped brainchild of arch Manc mysterions John Scott and Christopher Lee (the latter of Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias), Gerry & The Holograms were the uncredited house band behind Rabid Records, supplying backings for John Cooper Clarke’s Psycle Sluts and Jilted John’s freak hit Jilted John. 1979’s self-titled single, a sarcastic forerunner of New Order’s Blue Monday, was emblazoned with “Do Not Play!”, every disc glued hard to its sleeve. Nonetheless both John Peel and Frank Zappa briefly trilled their praises. The quality yield on these long-lost outtakes is surprisingly high, whether GATH are exploring amateurish synth-tones (Tubular Belles), queasy jazz-funk (Fake Moon) or percolating vibraphonic jazz with a surprise cello centre (The Forty Three).