Gerry Laffy | |
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Born | Hoxton, London | 4 January 1960
Genres | Rock, hard rock, glam rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer, personal manager, film producer, graphic artist |
Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
Years active | 1978–present |
Associated acts | Girl, The London Cowboys, Sheer Greed, Terroristen |
Website | www |
Gerry Laffy (born 4 January 1960 in Hoxton, London) is a singer and guitarist who has played in the bands Girl, [1] The London Cowboys, Sheer Greed, John Taylor, and Ultravox among others. Girl are still cited as an influence by many major artists twenty years later, even though they disbanded after only three years, allegedly due to their record company and mismanagement. In total Gerry Laffy has released 30 albums; he has played in venues as diverse as Wembley Arena, Taipei Hard Rock Cafe, the Reading Festival.
In 1978, Laffy was a founding member of the band Girl (along with Philip Lewis). Girl were first discovered by promoter Jon Lindsay, a partner of the former manager of The Who, Kit Lambert. Lambert and Lindsay were seeking out bands to sign to Lambert's new record company during the fledgling Nu Romantics era. The band were first introduced to music publisher Simon Napier-Bell of Nomis but eventually signed a recording deal with Jet Records. The band became famous after their now infamous three-night residency at the former Marquee Club in Wardour St. and recorded three albums and put out two ( Sheer Greed and Wasted Youth ) between 1980 and 1983. Killing Time was finally released in 1998, and two live albums and an anthology were released later. After Girl disintegrated, Laffy joined The London Cowboys, (with former members of The Idols, Sex Pistols and New York Dolls), which released two albums in 1985. He then played guitar on demos of Duran Duran's 1986 Notorious album. In 1990, Laffy founded GL Records and released the solo album Money & the Magic. The song "Shoot 'Em Down" from this album was included on the European soundtrack to the film Highlander II: The Quickening . Laffy formed Sheer Greed with some of Girl's alumni, which put out two albums in 1992 and 1993. He followed up with a joint Gerry Laffy/Simon Laffy album called Lying With Angels, then a guest appearance on the 1994 album Revelation from Ultravox. From mid-1997 to mid-2000, Laffy was lead guitarist in Terroristen, John Taylor's band while on hiatus from Duran Duran. Terroristen recorded constantly and gigged all over the United States and Japan, also travelling to Taiwan and Germany. In 2001, he released a second solo album All Day Long. In 2005, Gerry was a guest vocalist with ex-Freddie Mercury guitarist Chris Chesney on his album Diabolical Liberties . In 2007, a third solo album - The Icebox Studio Sessions was released. Self performed, written and produced. In July 2009 Girl were approached to reform for a 30th Anniversary tour of Japan & UK in 2010. It is yet to be confirmed. 2013 saw Gerry Laffy solo albums No.4. Entitled 'Just A Little Blurred'and 'Wrecked But Not Crushed' BOTH self performed, written and produced. 'Just A Little Blurred' features an update of the Girl classic 'My Number' with guest Craig Bundy on bass.
For fifteen years, from 1982 to 1997, Laffy worked as personal manager for film director Russell Mulcahy. They formed the company LeBad Films together. Laffy also served as Mulcahy's personal assistant on his first three features Razorback , Highlander , and Duran Duran's Arena . He managed Mulcahy through the pinnacle of his career, including ten feature films and dozens of award-winning music videos (including Duran Duran, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John and Fleetwood Mac) and commercials (including the Ford Motor Company, Smirnoff, Opel, British Petroleum, Universal Studios, and Miller Brewing). In 1995, he established his own film production company Laffy Michaels Filmworks, which set up John Carpenter's $20 million film Vampires , starring James Woods.
Before his first band, Laffy started his career as a graphic artist at London Weekend Television. Since 2001, he has come full circle and is now a successful London-based artist with an international celebrity clientele for his quirky, funky pop art/mixed media canvases. http://www.gerrylaffyart.com/
He has a son, Conor Jack.
"Mandy"
Duran Duran are an English new wave band formed in Birmingham in 1978. The group was a leading band in the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US in the 1980s. The group was formed by keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor, with the later addition of drummer Roger Taylor, and after numerous personnel changes, guitarist Andy Taylor and lead singer Simon Le Bon. These five members featured in the most commercially successful line-up.
Nigel John Taylor is an English-American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor, who is best known as the bass guitarist for new romantic band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s due in part to their revolutionary music videos which played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV. Taylor played with Duran Duran from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He recorded a dozen solo releases through his private record label B5 Records over the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in a half dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a reunion of the original five members of the group in 2001 and has remained with the group since.
Rio is the second studio album by English band Duran Duran, originally released worldwide on 10 May 1982. It reached number two in the United Kingdom and number one in Australia and Canada.
A Kind of Magic is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 2 June 1986 by EMI Records in the UK and by Capitol Records in the US. It was their first studio album to be recorded digitally, and is based on the soundtrack to the film Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy.
Girl were an English glam metal band formed in London in 1979, which split up in 1982 with band members going on to join Def Leppard and L.A. Guns, among others.
Philip Kenneth Collen is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the Pyromania album. Prior to joining Def Leppard, Collen had performed with a number of bands in the burgeoning British glam metal scene. Outside of Def Leppard, with which he still records and performs live, he has been involved in a number of side projects most notably the trio Man Raze, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist.
Philip Francis Lewis is an English vocalist for the American hard rock band L.A. Guns. He was born on 9 January 1957 in London, England. He has lived and worked in the U.S. since the 1980s but was privately educated at Royal Russell School in Surrey, England.
Pete Barnacle is a drummer who has played for various bands including Gillan, Girl, Broken Home, Spear of Destiny, Theatre of Hate, Yngwie Malmsteen, Sheer Greed, and Soldiers of Fortune. Barnacle now lives in Japan, teaching English, and occasionally working as a drummer.
Sheer Greed is the first album of the British glam rock band Girl, released in January 1980 by the independent record label Jet Records. The album was published during the explosion of the new wave of British heavy metal phenomenon and its sales took advantage of the favourable attitude towards hard rock bands in the UK in that period. Sheer Greed peaked at No. 33 in the UK Albums Chart. Hollywood Tease was released as a single, and reached No. 50.
Wasted Youth is the second and final album released by the British glam rock band Girl. Bryson Graham replaced drummer Pete Barnacle during the recording of this album, and contributed to the songwriting process.
Live at the Marquee is a live album by the British glam rock band Girl, recorded in 1981 and released in 2001. The album is included as the bonus disc of the 2016 Rock Candy Records re-issue of Girl's 1982 album Wasted Youth.
Sheer Greed were a short-lived British hard rock band formed in 1992 by former Girl members Gerry Laffy, Simon Laffy and Pete Barnacle, and by guitarist Neil Gabbitas. The band was apparently named after the Girl album Sheer Greed.
"My Own Way" is the fourth single by Duran Duran, originally released as a single on 16 November 1981.
Sublime to the Ridiculous is the only studio album by the British hard rock band Sheer Greed, released in 1992 in Japan.
"Street Life" is the opening track of English rock band Roxy Music's third album Stranded, their first album with Eddie Jobson, who replaced Brian Eno. It was released as a single in the UK in November 1973 and reached number 9 on the charts. Its non-LP B-side "Hula Kula", a Hawaiian-like instrumental composed by Phil Manzanera, was re-released on "The Thrill of It All" boxset.
"Wild Boys" is the twelfth single by the English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 26 October 1984 in the United Kingdom and on 3 November 1984 in the United States.
Russell Mulcahy is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos in the 1980s, worked in television since the early 1990s and directed the films Razorback (1984), Highlander (1986) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).
Love + War is the second studio album by the American glam metal band Lillian Axe, released in 1989. The album was reissued and remastered by Metal Mind Productions in 2007. "My Number" was originally written and recorded by the NWOBHM era band Girl for their first album, Sheer Greed (1980). The album cover features Sharon Case, who made appearances on General Hospital.
Tony Fennell is a British musician, writer and producer. He was the lead singer, lyricist and musician for the band Ultravox from 1992 until 1994, as well as a writer and producer of music for television.
The London Cowboys were a rock'n'roll band who performed from 1980 to 1987. Formed by Steve Dior (vocals) and Barry Jones, formerly of The Idols, the band was somewhat of an enigma. Although these two remained constant and wrote the material, they were joined by a constant succession of other artists in the revolving roster. These included Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols, Terry Chimes from The Clash, Tony James from Generation X, Phil Lewis and Gerry Laffy from Girl, Jerry Nolan from the New York Dolls, Alan D'Alvarez and a dozen other less notable players.