Who: GTOs
What: Permanent Damage
Where: Los Angeles, California, USA via the mountainous neighborhood of Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains within the Hollywood Hills West district of LA via the 1.7 mile Sunset Strip stretch of Sunset Boulevard through the city of West Hollywood from its eastern border with LA at Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly Hills at Phyllis Street via The City Of Angels.
Why: Pamela Des Barres.
And Frank Zappa.
The GTOs were a 1960s all girl rock group comprised of seven empowered young women, the first to christen themselves “groupies”. Five of the seven featured prominently in the artwork, writing and recording of their one and only album, Permanent Damage from 1969.
The GTOs
- Miss Pamela (Pamela Des Barres)
- Miss Mercy (Mercy Fontenot born Judith Edra Peters)
- Miss Cinderella (Cynthia Cale-Binion born Cynthia Sue Wells)
- Miss Christine (Christine Ann Frka)
- Miss Sandra (Sandra Leano and Sandra Lynn Harris born Sandra Lynn Rowe
Miss Sparky can be heard in conversation with Miss Pamela on Side A of Permanent Damage while Miss Lucy does not appear at all. She joined the group following the recording of the album.
6. Miss Sparky (born Linda Sue Parker)
7. Miss Lucy (Luz Selenia Offerrall joined after the recording of Permanent Damage)
As of this writing, Miss Sparky and Miss Pamela are the sole surviving members of The GTOs.
A onetime classmate of Miss Pamela’s at Cleveland High in LA, not much is known about Miss Sparky following her time with the GTOs. In 1976 she recorded vocals for Frank Zappa’s Disco Boy from his Zoot Allures album and reportedly worked for a spell at both Disney and Universal Studios.
Following the GTOs, Miss Pamela went on to bigger and better things. Her continually unfolding legacy, along with the arc of the storied Girls Together Outrageously, is richly detailed within the pages of her half dozen best selling books, all of which are MUST READ MATERIAL for any self respecting Rock N Roll aficionado.
https://www.pameladesbarresofficial.com/
Miss Pamela Des Barres herself has personally underscored Rock N Roll mystique from its very beginning with Elvis in ‘56 to The Beatles and Beefheart in ‘64, The Stones in ‘65 and The Byrds a decade after Elvis in ‘66. Hendrix and The Doors in ‘67, Zappa and the GTOs in ‘68/‘69 and Zeppelin by 1970. She’s absolute royalty. A scrappy survivor, Des Barres has outlasted most of her contemporaries from the era and lived to tell the tales. We are all most fortunate to have her with us still. Long live Miss Pamela! Long live The Queen!
When: 1969
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