Towers of London is a punk rock band from London, England who formed in 2004. Their music mixes elements of hard rock music with ‘77-style British punk. The band have divided the opinions of the British music press since their emergence in early 2004, gaining favourable reviews from some music news media and extremely negative from others, to which they have occasionally been quick to respond. In 1999 a band was formed named The Tourettes, featuring Dirk and Donny Tourette (real names Francis and Patrick Brannan)[2][3] the brothers had been playing together in garage bands since secondary school. The Tourettes played in a glam punk style, which has been described by some sources as «a post Manic Street Preachers rock ‘n’ roll rush».[4]
The band later acquired bassist Tommy Brunette and a drummer named Snell. But in 2003 the Tourettes were disbanded. They formed a new band in 2004 named the Towers of London, adding a guitarist from Morecambe nicknamed The Rev.
[edit] Blood, Sweat and Towers
The band signed to New York independent record label TVT Records in early 2005 as a result of relentless touring in the United Kingdom. On the label they have released a string of singles, prior to their debut album being released, «On A Noose», «Fuck It Up», «How Rude She Was», «Air Guitar» & most recently, «I’m A Rat».
In mid-2005, Towers of London performed at two festivals in the United Kingdom: Reading and Leeds Festivals and Download Festival. The band’s performance was received well, but due to fighting backstage after another group allegedly stole their property, they are now banned from returning to the Download Festival.[5] Lead singer Donny Tourette was brought before Cambridge Magistrates Court in June 2005 for criminal damage during a show at Cambridge Anglia Ruskin University in February 2005. Donny was said to have been swinging from an overhead cable which happened to pull down a canopy and broke scaffolding. He was ordered to pay £775 of compensation, court costs and fines.[6]
During June 2006, Towers of London released their debut album Blood, Sweat and Towers. It was produced by Stacy Jones and Bill Lefler. The album features thirteen tracks, including the five singles they have released to date.
[edit] TV series and Major support dates
Towers of London opened for Guns N’ Roses on two of their 2006 summer UK tour dates, Dirk commented; «Guns N’ Roses? What more can you say? We’re going to have it this weekend!». During the summer of 2006 the band played on the main stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Bravo TV are currently airing a ten part TV series about the band, after camera crews followed them for around for a year. The show, named simply The Towers of London, features footage of various performances including the 2005 Download Festival which saw them banned from the event. Various clips have already been released on the Internet, one which shows members of the band assaulting a member of the public after being provoked.[7] The show launched on Thursday, October 19 at 10.30 on Bravo.
Dirk Tourette had an altercation with American band My Chemical Romance in which he allegedly threw a lit cigarette at the band’s drummer Bob Bryar at their instore performance. Members of the band, who attended because of «free booze», got into a scuffle with My Chemical Romance’s tour managers.[8]
In October 2006, Towers of London supported another of their musical heroes, this time in the form of the New York Dolls, on three of their UK tour dates in London, Liverpool and Glasgow. The band have just released their 5th Single, I’m A Rat. It was originally planned to be released late November 2006 but was finally released on 12th February 2007.
Frontman Donny Tourette joined Celebrity Big Brother 5 on January 3, 2007, at the start of the series. He made his entrance by swearing at the crowd and making rude gestures until he was ushered along the red carpet by security guards.[9] He then left the show after just 48 hours in equally dramatic fashion, by scaling a wall to escape.[10] Tourette refused to serve fellow housemate Jade Goody (who in interviews he refers to as «The Pig»[11]) and family after the house was divided into two sections. As he climbed over the garden wall, Tourette said to another contestant «I’m not waiting hand on foot, on some fucking moron and her family».
Following this, the frontman also appeared on comedy panel game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. This was aired a couple of days before the Towers of London’s 5th single from their debut «I’m a Rat» was released; the band proceeded with a full tour of the United Kingdom in support of its release. Towers of London had a lucky escape on February 14 2007 after a group of teenagers targeted the band with breeze blocks. The five-piece were chatting to a group of fans after a gig outside York Fibbers when the incident happened. According to guitarist The Rev, Towers drummer Snell was a whisker away from ending up in hospital. One of the teenagers was caught and handed over to the police.[12]
[edit] Rev and Snell leave - New album
On July 13, it was revealed by NME that The Rev and Snell had left the band because they believe ‘their future is not with the band’. However, Towers of London will continue their tour throughout July, drafting in friends Kristian Marr and Aaron Attwood to fill the positions although it is unknown as to whether they will join the band on a permanent basis.
The band is currently writing for their second album and to date have put up four songs called «The Bible», «The Towers Waltz», «Naked On The Dancefloor» and «Start the Rupt» from it on their MySpace, as well as touring. Towers of London will soon be auditioning for a drummer and guitar player and will be re-designing their website. While former members Rev and Snell have since joined a band, DAY 21 with frontman Jimmy Pursey and bassist Mat Sargent from Sham 69.
