Mark Laff

Mark Laff
Birth name Mark Red Laffoley
Born (1958-05-19) 19 May 1958
Barnet, London, England
Genres Punk rock, post-punk, rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, rock
Occupation(s) Musician, drummer, songwriter
Instruments Drums
Years active 1976–present
Associated acts Subway Sect, Generation X, Empire, Twenty Flight Rockers

Mark Laff (born Mark Red Laffoley, 19 May 1958) is an English drummer and former member of punk rock bands Generation X and Subway Sect.[1]

Biography

Mark Red Laffoley was born on 19 May 1958 at Barnet General Hospital, in Barnet, London, England.[1]

After a failed audition for The Clash (he was one of two drummers to get a call back),[2] Mark Laff's first major drumming role was with Subway Sect, sharing the bill with the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Siouxsie and the Banshees for the Anarchy and White Riot tours.[3] He left the band soon afterwards.

Laff joined Generation X as replacement for John Towe. The band signed to Chrysalis Records and released their first single, "Your Generation,"[4] in September 1977, performing the song on Marc Bolan's Marc TV show that same month. Laff remained with the band through their first two albums, the self-titled Generation X (1978), followed by Valley of the Dolls (1979);[4] however, internal disagreements came to a head in late 1979 during the recording of what was to have been the band's third album, Sweet Revenge (eventually released in 1998 by Empty Records, and then later as a second disc of the Anthology boxed set in 2003 by EMI Records). Guitarist Bob "Derwood" Andrews left the band in December 1979 to form his own band, Empire.[5] Laff would soon follow suit on January 1980, as he was sacked from Generation X over artistic and managerial differences.

Beforehand, he and Derwood assisted in recording the first Jimmy Pursey solo record, Imagination Camouflage.[6] They then recruited bassist Simon Bernal to complete Empire's line-up, releasing "Hot Seat"[7][8] as a single and one commercially unsuccessful album, Expensive Sound.[9] The trio undertook four gigs before Bernal left. After many replacements and more concerts, Laff decided to quit on February 1983. New Empire disbanded in early 1984.

In 1985, Laff founded Twenty Flight Rockers alongside former Supernaut frontman Gary Twinn.[10] With future Balaam and the Angel guitarist Ian McKean[11][12][13][14] and bassist Jeff D. Vine, the group released two singles in the mid 1980s: "Tower Block Rock" (ranked #31 for Best Single on Rockerilla Magazine)[15] with ABC Records (not the American record label.) in 1985,[16] and "Johnny 7" with WEA Records in 1986.[17] In March of that same year, a rare song, "Searching for a Hero", was given away for free on the Spools Gold compilation released on cassette by Record Mirror magazine.[18] Former manager of The Clash Bernie Rhodes, who Laff knew back from his early days with Subway Sect, was hired to manage them.[19] He decided for the band to sign with Epic Records, and he had McKean replaced by Danny B. Harvey. Twenty Flight Rockers recorded a series of sessions as well as an entire studio album entitled Ride.[20] "Black Leather Jacket" was released as a single, with the album due to follow in mid 1988. But Epic was bought out by Sony, who then dropped the band from the label, leading to the break up.[21][22] Ride would not see the light of day until 2001 when it was released by Revel Yell Music as the self-titled Twenty Flight Rockers.[23][24]

On 20 September 1993, during Billy Idol's No Religion Tour, Mark Laff took part in Generation X's one-time reunion performance at the Astoria Theatre in London.

In 2006, Laff re-recorded "Hot Seat" with Bob Andrews as Empire to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Expensive Sound. It was released on the Expansive Sound Volume II compilation.[25]

Laff briefly reunited with Vic Godard in 2007 to re-record Subway Sect's previously unreleased debut album under the name 1978 Now.[26][27]

Discography

Generation X
Generation X Compilations
Empire
Twenty Flight Rockers
Subway Sect
Subway Sect Compilations

References

  1. 1 2 Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 349. CN 5585.
  2. ↑ Marcus Gray. "The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town". Books.google.com. p. 244. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  3. ↑ "Vic Godard & Subway Sect - Caught In Midstream". Vicgodard.co.uk. 1978-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  4. 1 2 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 472. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  5. ↑ "Generaton X - Day by Day". Nemsworld.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  6. ↑ "Jimmy Pursey - Imagination Camouflage". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  7. ↑ "Empire (7) - Hot Seat (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  8. ↑ George Gimarc. "Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982". Books.google.com. p. 313. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  9. ↑ "Empire (7) - Expensive Sound". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  10. ↑ "Twenty Flight Rockers Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  11. ↑ "The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002". Books.google.com. p. 325. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  12. ↑ "International Who's who in Music: Popular music. Vol. two.". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  13. ↑ Martin Charles Strong. "The Great Scots Musicography: The Complete Guide to Scotland's Music Makers". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  14. ↑ M J Wilson (2013-11-20). "The Long and Winding Road – The Music of Mark Ferrick and Thirteen | Mj Wilson Photography –". Mjwilsonphotography.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  15. ↑ "Rocklist.net...Rockerilla End Of Year Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  16. ↑ "Twenty Flight Rockers - Tower Block Rock". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  17. ↑ "Twenty Flight Rockers - Johnny Seven (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  18. ↑ "Various - Spools Gold (Cassette, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  19. ↑ "marklaffinterview - MUDKISS FANZINE". Mudkiss.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  20. ↑ "Ride - Twenty Flight Rockers - Release Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  21. ↑ "Danny B Harvey Homepage". dannybharvey.com.
  22. ↑ "THE LAST DAYS OF TFR. (Bernie Rhodes &... - Twenty Flight Rockers - Facebook". facebook.com.
  23. ↑ "Twenty Flight Rockers - Twenty Flight Rockers (CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  24. ↑ "Twenty Flight Rockers - Twenty Flight Rockers - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  25. ↑ "Empire (7) - Volume II - Expansive Sound (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  26. ↑ "Subway Sect - 1978 Now (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  27. ↑ "Features | A Quietus Interview | About Remembering: Vic Godard Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 2016-03-13.

External links

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