Donny Tourette - Towers Of London
Rock'n'Roll in the Celebrity Big Brother House

It's the old adage that music journalists are increasingly frustrated musicians who's only outlet is criticizing musicians. It ain't true, it's just one of those old wife's tales that stuck cos enough dodgy bands repeated to themselves as a Paul McKenna self-help manual for dealing with bad review. But here at Designer Magazine we're increasingly thinking that TV producers are frustrated rock musicians trying their best to force their tastes on the nation and the addition of Donny Tourette to the Celebrity Big Brother House is the latest in that fine addition.

But first lets look at the facts that 80's Brookside used to play a continual diet of The Farm and have Morrissey posters on the wall, Coronation Street has not only Tracy the depressive goth but later Richard Fleeshman preceding the rise of The Horrors and Channel 4 with the likes of No Angels, Trigger Happy and Teachers has had a steady diet featuring the likes of Belle & Sebastian amongst others.

Celebrity Big Brother has a long relationship with the indie. Now of Take That, Mark Owen won CCB during the period he was working with the likes of Bernard Butler from Suede, Ian McCulloch (Echo & The Bunnymen), Arthur Baker and his backing band were long forgotten scouse indie band Voy, but it was the resurgence of The Ordinary Boys with Preston's appearance in last years show that divided the lines of what is indie and what is the mainstream. By the end of 2006 however he was playing to a half empty Manchester Apollo to a pre-pubescent audience who simply couldn't get tickets for Mcfly's Arena tour.

Donny Tourette is no stranger to reality TV with Towers Of London being followed around for 6 months for a TV show on cable channel Bravo, but his appearance on national TV should inject a little rock'n'roll into the proceedings. Part Johnny Rotten and part The Young Ones comedy routine we can't imagine it's going to be long before he tires of H's and Leo Sayers sunny D smiles.

The next few days will see Tourette become the most hated or loved figure in Britain and below we bring you some previously unpublished photos of Towers Of London in action at Manchester's Roadhouse in May 2005. There's was no photo pit and it was too dangerous to send one of our photographers in there so our editor dived in with the digital and got these upclose snaps

Words / Photos: Alex McCann

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