Twenty Flight Rockers | |
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 Twenty Flight Rockers (1986) | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Rock, rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, punk rock |
| Years active | 1985–1989 |
| Past members | Gary Twinn Mark Laff Ian McKean Jeff D. Vine Danny B. Harvey Steve Counsel |
Twenty Flight Rockers were a late 1980s English rock music band, founded by the singer Gary Twinn, drummer Mark Laff, and the bassist Steve Counsel. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
The band was formed in London in 1983 by Gary Twinn, former singer/frontman of the Australian band Supernaut; the drummer Mark Laff, recently from the band Empire, and the former Puncture bass player Steve Counsel. Shortly after its commencement it recruited the lead guitarist Ian McKean. [6] [7] Counsel soon quit the new band to join The London Cowboys, and was replaced by the bass guitarist Jeff D. Vine. [1]
Drawing inspiration from 1950's traditional Rock & Roll artists such as Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent and Johnny Kidd, the new band named itself after the 1957 song Twenty Flight Rock , adopted a rocker style, and wrote old school Rock & Roll/Rockabilly music, blended slightly with a retro punk rock image.
The band played gigs in London, performing several dates at The Marquee Club [8] [9] and Mayfair Ballroom. [10] They were subsequently invited to play the BBC's Janice Long show. The Janice Long show consisted of three tracks Tower Block Rock, Weekend Revolution & Making The Punishment Fit The Crime. On 7 July 1985 the band appeared at the free entry Greater London Council's "Jobs for a Change" music festival in Battersea Park, being driven off the stage by a barrage of bottles, beer-cans and traffic cones from the crowd within a couple of minutes of walking on. [11]
In 1985 it released the single "Tower Block Rock" (ranked #31 for Best Single of the year in Rockerilla Magazine) [12] with ABC Records, and in 1986 the single "Johnny 7" was released with WEA Records, but both records failed to enter the pop music charts. [13] In March of that same year the song "Searching for a Hero", was given away for free on the Spools Gold compilation released on cassette with the Record Mirror Magazine. [14] [15]
The band performed at Richfield Avenue for the first day of the resumed Reading and Leeds Festivals on 22 August 1986. [16] [17]
In 1987 Bernie Rhodes was hired as the band's manager, [18] and secured a contract for it with Epic Records. Rhodes also had McKean replaced by guitarist Danny B. Harvey. [19] [20] The band recorded a series of sessions (compiled by Twinn and Harvey) as well as a studio album entitled Ride. [21] [22] [23] [24] In 1988 the song "Black Leather Jacket" was released as a single promo (which again failed to chart), [25] with the album's release due to follow in mid-1988. However, in the meantime Epic Records was bought out by Sony, which subsequently dropped the band from the label after a review of its newly acquired holding's acts. Unable to find another record label willing to sign them, Twenty Flight Rockers broke up in 1989. [26] [27] [28]
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