Ian Gomm

Guitar, Musical Artist

1947 –

66

Who is Ian Gomm?

Ian Robert Gomm is a British singer-songwriter, who was the rhythm guitarist for Brinsley Schwarz from 1970 to 1974. He was named "Best Rhythm Guitarist" by NME in 1971.

Gomm had started in around 1962/1963 in Unit 4, formed by Ian Gomm on rhythm & lead guitar, vocals, Martin Davis on bass and Simon Behar on drums, who were all pupils at Ealing County School for Boys. Soon after forming, Frank Kennington, who was older than the others, joined as lead vocalist and they became Unit 4. Mick Liber, who had previously played with Frankie Reid & The Casuals and Clay Alison and the Searchers, joined Unit 4 around July 1964 but the new line up was short-lived. Around October 1964, Kennington left and moved to Sydney, Australia, and Unit 4 broke up.

After Brinsley Schwarz folded, Gomm moved to Wales, where he built his own recording studio and recorded sessions by The Stranglers, Amon Düül, and Alexis Korner. He also released his own solo debut album, Summer Holiday in 1978. The following year, Stiff/Epic issued the album retitled as Gomm with the Wind in the United States. From it he scored a Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1979, with the song "Hold On" which reached #18 in the autumn of that year. This led to a gig supporting Dire Straits on their Sultans of Swing tour. Gomm also co-wrote with Nick Lowe the song, "Cruel to Be Kind", which reached #12 in the US, Canada, and UK for Lowe also in 1979.

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Born
Mar 17, 1947
Chiswick
Also known as
  • Gomm, Ian
Nationality
  • United Kingdom
  • England
Lived in
  • Chiswick

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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