CIRCULAR CIRCULATION DOESN'T LAST -- GOODBYE TO "Miss Mercy" of Frank Zappa's GTO'S

Once in a while on my late-night radio show so many years ago, I offered up the crackpot tune "Circular Circulation," one of the better numbers from the GTO's, "Permanent Damage" album produced by Frank Zappa. It's actually titled "Do Me Once and I'll be Sad, Do me Twice and I'll Know Better." It was produced by Lowell George (who wrote the music) and sung by Pamela Des Barres.

I didn't want to annoy my listeners TOO much, but it was after midnight, and they knew they were not going to get mainstream rock. Well, not much of it. One of my favorite segues was to play "Lonesome Cowboy Burt" (from Zappa's 200 Motels album) and when Burt ends with "...you hot little bitch," I'd have the Rolling Stones and "Bitch" cued on the other turntable. Clever? Not a lot. But it amused me. It also amused me to be on the radio at all, and this was at a time when not EVERYBODY could do that. (Gee, I could do a PODCAST now, like another ten million people are doing. Wheeee.)

I suppose Genesis, Jethro Tull and Boko Harum or whatever they called themselves, were as mainstream as I tended to get. Oh, except for deserving obscure artists who could've been mainstream successes but weren't, like Ron Nagle and Priscilla Coolidge and others who've turned up on this blog.

As I recall, "Circular Circulation" was the "pick" from the album, appearing on one of those Warner Bros. "Loss Leaders" dollar discs you could get by mail. Albums like those were helpful for me avoiding the more predictable stuff on the radio station shelves. (I also brought in my own Yoko Ono singles and albums, but I digress way too much).

The GTO's stood for "Girls Together Outrageously" as far as most were concerned. "Girls Together Orally" and "Girls Together Only" were also popular among the era's rock writers and disc jockeys, the latter favored by the girls when they were first asked about the name.

The ringleader was Miss Pamela (Pamela des Barres, of plaster-caster fame). Also on the album: Miss Sandra (Sandra Lynn Rowe), Miss Cinderella (Cynthia Wells, whose marriage to John Cale was derailed by an affair with Kevin Ayers) and Miss Christine (the late Christine Frka who overdosed at 22, and may be best loved for being the "Hot Rats" cover girl). Also worth noting: the pioneering Miss Sparky (Sandra Rowe Harris) who dropped out of the group due to pregnancy, is not on the album, and died in 1991 due to cancer.

Miss Mercy (Judith Peters) was a very important member of the group, supplying some of the lyrics and vocals. She died two days ago July 27th. Like almost all the GTO's except Pamela, her fame ended when the group disbanded. None of Pamela's outrageous-looking co-conspirators seemed to be able to even get to the level of incompetent cult-fame as labelmate Wild Man Fischer. None seemed inclined to turn up naked in "San Francisco Ball" or "Fetish Times" or some other West Coast underground-ish newspaper. Before she disappeared into "I used to have her phone number, maybe I can send it to you" status, she did manage to shag and marry funkoid sugar-man Shuggie Otis, and produce a child, John "Lucky" Otis.

I know. You want to actually hear Miss Mercy. OK. She sang and wrote the words (Lowell George again supplied the music) for the item below, "I Have a Paintbrush In My Hand to Color a Triangle." I admit, I didn't play it on the radio 'cause, well, at the time all I had was the Loss Leader albums, and the other GTO's track was some stupid shit about Captain Beefheart's girly shoes. Something like that. Not this:

I have the CD version of "Permanent Damage." The booklet is autographed over two pages  by Pamela des Barres. There were only a few blank parts in the booklet. She started on one page (with her, Miss Cinderella and Miss Sandra). She finished writing on the facing page which shows Miss Christine and Miss Mercy, and it ends..."I'm glad I got you off, Pamela Des Barres." I will officially say this refers to the album, and her infamous memoir. 

If you can't quite make out Miss Mercy's paragraph it says: "The GTO's are to me a combination of the world's beauty and ugliness we are supreme yet the gutter that's all except there's no forever." Each band member had a chance to dedicate the re-issue to somebody or group, and Miss Mercy chose "Joe Brynth and Brian."

Condolences to Joe and Brian and all who knew and loved her,  and to those who bought The GTO's album and are still temporarily in circular circulation.