Twenty Flight Rockers | |
|---|---|
 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]
Simon John Ritchie, better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols.
Glen Matlock is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only officially released studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, although he had left the band early in the recording process, credited as bassist and backing vocalist on only one song on the album, "Anarchy in the U.K.". However, on the bootleg album Spunk, Matlock played bass on all the songs, which included earlier studio recordings of 10 of the 12 songs that later appeared on the Bollocks album.
The Moonglows were an American R&B group in the 1950s. Their song "Sincerely" went to number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 20 on the Billboard Juke Box chart.
Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band formed in 1982 by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band have had three UK top-40 hit singles, including "Love Missile F1-11" and "21st Century Boy".
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar is an English drummer. He has worked with John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Whitesnake, Pat Travers, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, Michael Chapman, Jake E. Lee, Leslie West, Kathi McDonald, Keith Emerson, Mike Onesko, Herbie Mann and Flo & Eddie. Dunbar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Journey in 2017.
James McDonnell, known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.
Generation X were an English punk rock band, formed in London in 1976. They were the musical starting point of the career of their frontman Billy Idol, and issued six singles that made the UK Singles Chart and two albums that reached the UK Albums Chart.
Harvey Brooks is an American bass guitarist.
Mark Laff is an English retired drummer who was a member of several rock bands, including Generation X.
Kick Axe is a Canadian heavy metal band from Regina, Saskatchewan. Influenced by rambunctious arena rock from the 1970s and early 1980s, the group is perhaps best known for their 1984 album Vices, praised by publications such as AllMusic for its "down-and-dirty guitar riffs" and managing to crack the American market. The band achieved moderate commercial success in the mid-1980s on the strength of the singles "Heavy Metal Shuffle", "On the Road to Rock", "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Rock the World". Following the release of their 1986 album Rock the World, Kick Axe disbanded and remained on hiatus for many years. In 2004, they re-emerged with the album Kick Axe IV.
"Glory Days" is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. In 1985, it became the fifth single released from his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A.
"Along Comes a Woman" is a song written by Peter Cetera and Mark Goldenberg for the group Chicago and recorded for their album Chicago 17 (1984), with Cetera singing lead vocals. The fourth single released from that album, it is the last Chicago single released with original singer/bassist Cetera, who left the band in the summer of 1985.
Balaam and the Angel are a Scottish rock band founded by Mark, James (Jim), and Desmond (Des) Morris in Cannock, England in 1984.
Brighton Rock is a Canadian hard rock band, who released three albums in their home country during the 1980s and 1990s. They broke up in 1991, before reuniting and releasing a live album in 2002.
Supernaut were an Australian glam rock band from Perth. Formed as a pub-rock group, Moby Dick, by British-born brothers Chris Burnham on guitar and Joe Burnham on drums, they were joined late in 1974 by fellow immigrant Gary Twinn on lead vocals. After Randall Murphy joined on bass guitar, they changed their name. The group's debut single, "I Like It Both Ways", was produced by Molly Meldrum and was heavily promoted on his TV pop music show, Countdown. It peaked at No. 16 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. Their self-titled debut album reached No. 13 on the related Kent Music Report albums chart in November of that year. Murphy had left in June 1976 and was permanently replaced on bass guitar by Philip Foxman in August. The album provided another single, "Too Hot to Touch", which appeared at No. 14. In April 1979, the group shortened their name to the Nauts, returned to a heavier pub-rock sound and released a second album of that name in December 1979. They disbanded by March of the following year, with reformations occurring in 2007 and 2016.
Robert Ian Andrews is a British rock guitarist, and former member of the bands Generation X, Empire and Westworld.
Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr., known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a session and live-performing saxophonist with the band Foreigner during the 1980s.
The International Swingers is an American–British rock supergroup based in Los Angeles Formed in late 2011, the band is composed of Clem Burke (drums), Glen Matlock (bass/vocals), James Stevenson and Gary Twinn.
Gary Twinn is an English singer-songwriter, musician, TV host and editorial writer, currently fronting punk rock supergroup The International Swingers, which also features Clem Burke, Glen Matlock and James Stevenson.
The Mercy River Boys were an American Christian country music band who performed from 1979 to 1985. They were nominated for a Grammy Award for their first album, Breakout. The album was also a finalist for the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Album of the Year, 1979–80, and won a Dove Award for backliner notes, written by Merlin Littlefield.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
