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Gerry Cott

Gerry Cott (born 15 October 1954) is an Irish guitarist, songwriter, and animal trainer, renowned as a co-founder of the band and the founder of the animal talent agency A-Z Animals Limited. Born in rural , , Cott moved to , , at age eight and began playing guitar at eleven, initially focusing on after receiving a and taking lessons. His early influences included —whom he saw live in —Delta blues artists like and , figures such as and , and Irish traditional musicians including and . In 1975, Cott co-founded The Boomtown Rats in Dublin alongside Bob Geldof and others, with their debut performance at Kevin Street College of Technology. The band relocated to London in 1977, signing with Ensign Records and achieving international success through four studio albums, thirteen hit singles, and four world tours over five years. Cott contributed as guitarist and songwriter before departing in 1982 due to musical and personal differences. Following his time with the band, Cott pursued a career, releasing the instrumental guitar project Urban Soundscapes, which evoked themes of and after a period away from music. In 1983, inspired by his Marley's appearance in a , he established A-Z Animals Limited, a company specializing in providing trained animals for productions, emphasizing with features like £10 million public liability insurance and veterinary support. Over the decades, Cott has contributed to more than 3,000 projects as an animal action supervisor, including the rats sequence in (2002) and the red deer sequence in (2006), as well as series such as (all six seasons), , and . As of 2025, Cott continues his solo guitar work while maintaining a deep interest in the countryside and , bridging his musical roots with his expertise in animal coordination, including supervising sheep on the production Ladies First.

Early life

Childhood and family background

Gerry Cott was born on 15 October 1954 in rural , . He grew up in a farming surrounded by animals, including such as collies, cattle dogs, and Cocker Spaniels, as well as , which fostered his early interest in animal behavior through informal interactions and training on family farms and visits to relatives. His father, Turlough, hailed from in the . At age eight, Cott's family relocated to , , introducing him to coastal environments and urban surroundings that contrasted with his initial rural upbringing.

Musical influences and beginnings

At the age of eleven, Gerry Cott received his first and began taking lessons from a student originally from who was living in . This early formal instruction introduced him to the intricate fingerpicking techniques of , laying the foundation for his guitar proficiency. A pivotal moment came in 1966 when Cott attended Bob Dylan's first concert in , securing a seat in the third row; he later described the performance as "like an atomic bomb," profoundly shifting his musical interests from toward acoustic folk styles. This experience ignited a deeper passion for songwriting and narrative-driven music, influencing his transition to broader acoustic explorations. Cott's key influences encompassed Delta blues artists such as , , and , alongside figures like and . He also drew from rock and pop pioneers including , , , , and , while from Seán O'Riada, Ceoltóirí Chualann, , and shaped his appreciation for rhythmic and melodic authenticity. His rural upbringing in further fostered a connection to organic, roots-based sounds. Much of Cott's development as a guitarist was self-taught, honed through intensive listening to recordings of Black rural and urban music at places like Murrays Record Centre in Dún Laoghaire during his teenage years. This practice refined his virtuoso techniques, blending diverse styles into a distinctive approach that emphasized emotional depth and technical precision.

Career with The Boomtown Rats

Band formation and early years

In 1975, Gerry Cott co-founded in , near , , alongside on vocals, on guitar, on keyboards, on bass, and on drums, establishing the band within the emerging and scenes. The group drew from Cott's established guitar proficiency, honed through years of personal practice, to shape their raw, energetic sound. The band's inaugural performance took place at Dublin's Kevin Street College of Technology, marking the start of an intensive 18-month period of gigging across Ireland to build their live presence and refine their material. This grassroots phase solidified their lineup and style, blending punk's aggression with new wave's melodic edge, before they sought broader opportunities. In 1977, The Boomtown Rats relocated to London to capitalize on the thriving UK punk movement, promptly signing with Ensign Records and renting a house from Virgin founder Richard Branson to support their transition. Shortly thereafter, they released their self-titled debut album, The Boomtown Rats, in September 1977 on Ensign, featuring Cott's prominent guitar work and contributions to the band's arrangements, which underscored tracks like "Lookin' After No. 1" and "Mary of the 4th Form."

Major successes and contributions

During his tenure with from 1975 to 1981, Gerry Cott played a pivotal role as the band's rhythm guitarist, contributing to the release of four critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums that defined their place in the and movements. These included (1977), (1978), (1979), and (1981), each showcasing Cott's rhythmic guitar work that underpinned the band's energetic, hook-driven sound. The albums collectively propelled the group to mainstream success, with achieving platinum status and achieving silver status in the UK, and charting highly across and . Cott's guitar contributions were integral to the band's 13 hit singles, many of which reached the top 10 in the UK and , including the landmark tracks "Rat Trap" (1978), which became the first number-one single by an Irish band in the UK, and "I Don't Like Mondays" (1979), a global inspired by a real-life . On "Rat Trap," Cott delivered prominent guitar riffs and solos that amplified the song's punk-infused energy, while he co-wrote tracks like "Keep It Up" from , blending his songwriting input with the band's satirical lyricism. Other notable singles featuring his distinctive playing include "She's So Modern" and "Diamond Smiles," where his rhythmic precision and occasional experimental flourishes added depth to the new wave arrangements. The band's ascent to international fame in the late 1970s was marked by four extensive world tours between 1978 and 1981, including the A Tonic for the Troops Tour, the Fine Art of Surfacing Tour, and the Bongo America Tour, which took them across Europe, North America, and Australia to sold-out venues and festival appearances. These tours solidified The Boomtown Rats' reputation as a dynamic live act in the punk/new wave scene, with Cott's onstage guitar interplay with lead guitarist Garry Roberts creating a layered, aggressive sound that captivated audiences and influenced emerging acts. Cott's guitar style, rooted in his early flamenco influences but adapted to punk's raw edge, brought experimental elements like unconventional chord progressions and textural effects to the band's music, helping distinguish from contemporaries by merging high-energy rock with sophisticated production. His contributions extended beyond technical playing to shaping the group's overall sonic identity, as evidenced in the eclectic tracks of , which incorporated Latin rhythms and atmospheric guitar layers during their creative peak.

Solo musical career

Departure from the band and initial releases

In 1981, following the release of the band's fourth album and prior to the recording of their fifth album , guitarist Gerry Cott departed from due to musical differences with the group. Cott's first solo release came in 1982 with the single "Ballad of " backed with "Just Like Anybody Else," issued on . In 1984, he followed this with the five-song EP I Left My Hat in Haiti, released on Current Records in , which incorporated elements in tracks such as "Alphabet Town" and "Love and War." Despite the band's earlier international successes like "" and "I Don't Like Mondays," Cott's initial solo endeavors faced challenges, achieving limited commercial success and failing to chart significantly. "Alphabet Town" peaked at #90 on the Canadian RPM charts in late 1984.

Later projects and style evolution

Following his initial solo efforts in the early , Cott released several singles that showcased a style, including tracks such as "Alphabet Town," "Some People I Know," and "Pioneers," which appeared on various 7-inch releases between 1983 and 1984. These works marked a departure from his band-era rock, emphasizing electronic textures and pop melodies reminiscent of contemporaries like . By the late , Cott's style had evolved toward guitar compositions, culminating in the album Urban Soundscapes, a collection of 12 original solo acoustic pieces recorded live without overdubs. This project reflected urban themes drawn from his global experiences, with tracks like "Dublin: Empty Streets with Distant Echoes" evoking quiet Irish cityscapes and "NYC Cab Ride" capturing the rhythmic pulse of streets. The album's impressionistic approach prioritized emotional sonic landscapes over , signaling a shift to acoustic playing that blended technical precision with atmospheric depth. This evolution drew on Cott's early blues influences, including Delta artists like and Chicago figures such as , which informed a fusion of acoustic and electric elements in his later output. His work maintains a presence on platforms like , where Urban Soundscapes streams alongside covers such as an instrumental rendition of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" and originals inspired by travels to places like Kiev and .

Animal training career

Founding A-Z Animals

In 1983, Gerry Cott founded A-Z Animals Limited in , , , as an animal acting agency and training service specializing in providing trained animals for media productions, including film, television, advertising, and photography. The company began with a focus on dogs under the initial banner of A-Z Dogs, leveraging Cott's experience with his , Marley, who starred in an early commercial, marking the entry into professional animal handling for . Drawing from his rural Irish upbringing surrounded by animals, which fostered an early interest in their behavior and care, Cott expanded the agency's scope beyond dogs to include a diverse array of species such as horses, deer, pigs, reptiles, and spiders. This growth reflected a strategic pivot from his music career, emphasizing ethical methods that prioritize while meeting the demands of high-profile media projects. By 2025, A-Z Animals had matured into the leading and European provider of animal talent, having handled over 9,000 production days across thousands of initiatives, including TV commercials and wildlife coordination for various campaigns. As co-director and principal expert trainer, Cott plays a central role in bridging the creative arts with specialized animal handling, overseeing talent selection, preparation, and on-set coordination to ensure seamless integration into productions.

Key film and television projects

Gerry Cott's work in film and television through A-Z Animals has involved training and coordinating a variety of animals for high-profile productions, emphasizing ethical handling and behavioral expertise to ensure seamless integration into scenes. One of his earliest notable contributions was to the 1984 comedy film , directed by Malcolm Mowbray, where he trained the pigs that serve as the story's central illicit prize animal, working alongside actors , , and . In 2006, Cott provided and trained stags for ' biographical drama , starring , featuring the animals in key outdoor sequences depicting royal rural life. His role as animal handler ensured the stags' calm demeanor during filming. Cott served as animal coordinator for ' 2018 period black comedy , managing ducks and rabbits in scenes that highlighted the film's eccentric courtly antics with , , and ; the rabbits, in particular, required precise training to interact naturally with the actors amid the production's demanding schedule. For television, Cott's involvement spans multiple seasons of Netflix's , where he trained corgis to portray II's beloved pets in domestic and ceremonial scenes across multiple seasons, including training corgis Lily and Prince for seasons 2 through 6 with interactions with actors like and ; he also prepared pigs for the series finale's depiction of royal farm life. Additionally, as animal wrangler for the 2022 Netflix comedy series , starring , Cott handled dogs and other pets that added chaotic humor to the household mishaps. Beyond scripted projects, Cott's expertise extended to reality formats like the 2013 ITV game show , where he coordinated animals for high-stakes challenges involving contestants. His and contributions often overlap with , such as supplying trained deer for Glenfiddich Whisky commercials, but prioritize narrative-driven animal performances that enhance storytelling without compromising welfare. Cott also contributed to Danny Boyle's 2002 28 Days Later, providing expert coordination for the iconic rats sequence in the tunnel scene. Furthermore, he has supplied animals for episodes of and the espionage series , handling various species to support action and atmospheric elements in these productions.

References

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