Gerry Laffy

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Gerry Laffy (born 4 January 1960 in Hoxton, London) is a singer and guitarist who has played in the bands Girl, 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 26 albums; he has has played in venues as diverse as Wembley Arena, Taipei Hard Rock Cafe, the Reading Festival and, the now infamous Girl three-night residency at the former Marquee Club in Wardour St.

He has been offered gigs with Def Leppard, LA Guns, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Human League and Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks, but declined them all due to his other commitments in his multi-faceted career. He owns the label Die Laughing Records and all his own released material.

Contents

[edit] Musical Career

In 1978, Laffy was a founding member of the band Girl (along with his brother Simon Laffy). The band 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 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 Die Laughing 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.

[edit] Film career

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 (An Absurd Notion). He managed Mulcahy through the pinnacle of his career, including ten feature films and dozens of award-winning music videos (including Duran Duran, Queen, 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 the $20 million film Vampires starring James Woods.

[edit] Art career

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.

Laffy currently resides in South Hampstead, London, England. He has a son and a reputedly vast art and guitar collection.

[edit] Discography

  1. 1980 - Girl: Sheer Greed
  2. 1982 - Girl: Wasted Youth
  3. 1998 - Girl: Killing Time (*finally released)
  4. 1999 - Girl: Live at the Marquee(*r)
  5. 1999 - Girl: Live At The Exposition Hall, Osaka, Japan (*r)
  6. 2002 - Girl: My Number: The Anthology
  7. 1985 - London Cowboys: Dance Crazy
  8. 1985 - London Cowboys: Live at The Milkweg Amsterdam
  9. 1990 - Gerry Laffy: Money & The Magic
  10. 1990 - Highlander II European Soundtrack: song: Gerry Laffy "Shoot 'Em Down" from Money & The Magic
  11. 1992 - Sheer Greed: Sublime to the Ridiculous
  12. 1993 - Sheer Greed: Live in London
  13. 1994 - Gerry & Simon Laffy: Lying With Angels
  14. 1994 - Ultravox: Revelation (CD)
  15. 1997 - John Taylor, Feelings Are Good (CD)
  16. 1998 - John Taylor Terroristen, 5.30.98 (EP)
  17. 1998 - Roxy Music Tribute album: Dream Home Heartaches (CD)
  18. 1999 - John Taylor, Meltdown (recorded in 1992)
  19. 1999 - John Taylor, Juicy Jeans Promo Sampler (EP)
  20. 1999 - John Taylor, The Japan Album (CD)
  21. 2000 - John Taylor, Japanese (EP)
  22. 2000 - John Taylor, Live Cuts (CD)
  23. 2001 - John Taylor, Techno For Two (CD)
  24. 2001 - Gerry Laffy: All Day Long
  25. 2005 - Chris Chesney & Gerry Laffy - Diabolical Liberties
  26. 2006 - Girl - Live Bootlegs - Tokyo 1980
  27. 2006 - Girl - The Rare DVD Collection

[edit] References

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