The Adverts

With their untamed and fervent inexperience, the Adverts shone briefly yet vividly amid the punk movement, set apart by bassist Gaye Advert becoming one of punk rock’s earliest female icons. Barely able to manage a single chord, the group started performing at London’s Roxy Club in 1976 and soon drew notice from Brian James, guitarist of the Damned. James secured them support slots on the Damned’s tour and steered them to Stiff Records. In 1977 Stiff issued the band’s self-mocking first single “One Chord Wonders,” still at a point when the musicians had scarcely learned their instruments, yet their follow-up “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes,” laced with unsettling humor, propelled them into the U.K. Top 20 amid fierce debate. Their debut album Crossing the Red Sea With the Adverts delivered on that single’s potential, whereas 1979’s Cast of Thousands suggested the quartet had exhausted its musical resources on the earlier record, prompting the group’s dissolution the next year.