The Speedometors

The Speedometors or Speed-O-Metors are a new wave/punk rock band from London. They were formed in 1976 in Shepherd's Bush by Martin Finlay, Robbie Watson and Lol Gellor (previously of the West London band Rough Diamonds) and joined shortly thereafter by Ian "Toose" Taylor, later of the Mike Batt-produced group Houdini.

The Speedometors attracted the attention of the independent record label Mascot Records, and the release of the single "Disgrace"/"Work" put the band on the UK Indie Chart. Drummer Gellor decided to leave the band to become a record producer and commenced by working on Desmond Dekker's album Black and Dekker. Steve Parry (ex-Radio Stars) replaced Gellor.

Meanwhile, the "Disgrace" single came to the attention of the producer Miki Dallon, who presented the disc to industry representatives at the Midem Song Festival, resulting in the band being signed by the Acrobat/Arista label. The signing resulted in the release of the Day in the Lights album.

During the recording of the LP, Parry left the band, and was replaced by Paul Spencer (ex-Magazine). As a result of the LP sessions, the band added Lee Dallon on keyboards and Chris Gent on saxophone for live appearances.

Their next single, "Tonight Tonight", received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and a BBC recording session followed. The band continued to tour the UK with Sham 69 and Ultravox (then featuring John Foxx as singer and frontman). Club shows included a residency at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London, coupled with two appearances at the Reading Festival.[1]

In 2018 The Speedometors original three piece line up released “Reel to Real” on Detour/Fit for the bin records UK.

The tracks are from “live” 8trk studio session recorded in Liverpool during a tour. Some titles later appeared again re-recorded for Mascot recs single and Acrobat/Arista recs LP Day in the Lights,

Discography

Singles
  • "Disgrace" (1978) - Mascot Records
  • "Tonight Tonight" (1979) Acrobat/Arista

Albums
  • Day In The Lights (1979) Acrobat/Arista records
  • Reel to Real Liverpool recordings 1977 (2018) Detour/Bin records
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References
  1. "The 1978 Reading Rock Festival". The Archive: a history of Uk rock festivals. Retrieved 13 October 2008.


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