 Towns had begun writing new material, and Gillan gave him the task of recruiting the new line-up.Towns recruited session drummer Liam Genockey, McCoy and guitarist Richard Brampton, who was replaced by Steve Byrd - a former colleague of McCoy's from ZZebra - almost immediately.Within a month of their formation the band had recorded their first album, "Gillan", and they made their live debut at the Reading Festival on 16 August 1978.