GTO's

The GTO's began as a collection of wildly outrageous girls who frequented the Sunset Strip in LA and hung out with the bands and groups who performed in that area during the late 1960s, such as Carl Franzoni & the Log Cabin commune, the Magic Band and Mothers Of Invention. They effectively coined the phrase "Groupies" and initially became the Cherry Sisters, then became a spontaneous performance-art collective known as the Laurel Canyon Ballet Company- which was an opening act for gigs led by Frank Zappa. Two members, Miss Frka and Miss Pamela, were also babysitters in the Zappa household. In 1969 Zappa collected this group together, producing them as one of his side projects, as the GTO's (an acronym for Girls Together Outrageously). [The use of the apostrophe appears in the original recording, but is not always employed in reference to this group]. There were seven original members of the GTO's: Miss Christine (aka Christine Frka), Miss Mercy (aka Judith Edra Peters [nee], aka Mercy Fontenot), Miss Lucy (aka Luz Selenia Offerrall [nee], aka Lucy Offerall), Miss Sandra (aka Sandra Lynn Rowe [nee], aka Sandra Leano, aka Sandra Lynn Harris), Miss Sparky (aka Linda Sue 'Sparky' Parker), Miss Pamela (aka Pamela Ann Miller [nee], Pamela Des Barres) and Miss Cinderella (also spelled Miss Cynderella, aka Cynthia Sue Wells). The resultant album, 'Permanent Damage', consequently featured a number of renowned musicians who happened to be around the LA 'freak scene' during these psychedelic and experimental music times. The group also crossed paths with the notorious Plaster Casters Of Chicago, who became the subject upon two of their album tracks.