The Motors
The Motors were based around the partnership of Nick Garvey (b. 26 April 1951, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) and Andy McMaster (b. 27 July 1947, Glasgow, Scotland) who first met in the pub rock band Ducks Deluxe. McMaster had a long career in pop music, having played in several bands in the '60s including the Sabres, which also featured Frankie Miller. McMaster released a solo single, Can't Get Drunk Without You, on President, and joined Ducks Deluxe in November 1974. Garvey was educated at Kings College in Cambridge and was an accomplished pianist, oboeist and trumpeter. Before he joined Ducks Deluxe in December 1972 he had acted as a road manager for the Flamin' Groovies. The pair left the Ducks early in 1975, just a few months before the unit disbanded. Garvey joined a group called the Snakes (along with future Wire vocalist Rob Gotobed) and they released one single. McMaster, meanwhile, went to work for a music publisher. Garvey's friend and manager Richard Ogden suggested that Garvey form his own band in order to record the songs he had written. This led to him contacting McMaster and in January 1977 they recorded demos together. The following month they recruited Ricky Wernham (aka Ricky Slaughter) from the Snakes on drums— he is the cousin of Knox from the Vibrators. Guitarist Rob Hendry was quickly replaced by Bram Tchaikovsky and the Motors were up and running. They made their live debut at the Marquee Club, London in March 1977 and signed to Virgin in May. 
A tour with the Kursaal Flyers and the Heavy Metal Kids led to the release of their debut single, Dancing The Night Away, and first album, produced by Mutt Lange. However, it was their second single, Airport, which became a huge hit in the UK. It is widely used to this day as a stock soundtrack when television programmes show film clips of aeroplanes taking off or landing. Despite this success, the group were already burning out. After performing at Reading in August the Motors decided to concentrate on writing new material. Wernham took the opportunity to leave, while Tchaikovsky formed his own band with the intention of returning to the Motors, though he never did. Garvey and McMaster eventually re-emerged with some new material for TENEMENT STEPS. It was recorded with the assistance of former Man bassist Martin Ace, and drummer Terry Williams (ex- Man and Rockpile, future Dire Straits). After TENEMENT STEPS the Motors seized up, but both Garvey and McMaster have since released solo singles.