Mark Laff (born Mark Red Laffoley; 19 May 1958) is a retired English drummer and former member of several rock bands, including

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

Early life and career

Mark Red Laffoley was born on 19 May 1958 at

Barnet General Hospital Barnet Hospital is a district general hospital situated in Barnet, in North London. It is managed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. Overview The original hospital on the site was the Wellhouse Hospital which was opened by Viscount ...

, at

Chipping Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...

in the County of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. He received his formal education a
Christ Church (Church of England) Secondary School
in

North Finchley North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Ba ...

. He began playing drums as a teenager, being influenced by England's 1960s

Mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

fashion and music movement and the work of

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

. After a failed audition for

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

(he was one of two drummers to get a call back), his first drumming role was with

Subway Sect Subway Sect were one of the first British punk bands. Although their commercial success was limited by the small amount of recorded material they released, they have been credited as highly influential on the Postcard Records scene and the indi ...

, sharing the bill with the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

, The Clash, and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

for the Anarchy and White Riot tours, however he left the band shortly afterwards.

Generation X

In April 1977, the 18-year-old Laff was recruited as a replacement drummer for the punk rock band

, a few months before it signed to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

and released its first single, ''Your Generation''. He was Generation X's drummer through its two long-players, the self-titled ''

'' (1978), followed by '' Valley of the Dolls'' (1979); which saw the band amidst a heavy performance schedule across Great Britain gaining momentum, drawing recognition and impacting the British pop music charts with its releases. However, after the relative commercial failure of the ''Valley of the Dolls'' long-player, internal disagreements about the band's musical direction and personality clashes within it came to a head in late 1979 during the recording of its abortive third long-player (which would be released retrospectively 20 years later under the title '' K.M.D. - Sweet Revenge''). Lead guitarist Bob "Derwood" Andrews quit the band in December 1979, followed by Laff in January 1980, when he was asked to leave after a disagreement with the act's frontman/singer

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

and bass player Tony James over song-writing credits for the band's recorded work. With Laff and Andrews' departure, Generation X essentially came to an end; a re-branded act, Gen X, with a replacement guitarist and drummer subsequently launched by Idol and James went on to fail commercially, and was gone by early 1981.

Empire

After leaving Generation X Laff and Andrews played together as

session musicians Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Jimmy Pursey James Timothy Pursey (born 9 February 1955) is an English people, English rock musician. He is the founder and frontman of the punk rock band Sham 69, which he has performed with since 1976, along with releasing material as a solo artist. Early ...

's solo long-player, ''Imagination Camouflage''. In mid-1980 they set up a new band entitled

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, recruiting bassist Simon Bernal to complete the line-up. A single entitled ''Hot Seat'' was released, followed by a musically influential but commercially unsuccessful album entitled ''Expensive Sound''. The trio undertook four gigs before Bernal left. After a number of line-up changes of personnel and more concerts, but little commercial success, Laff left Empire's line-up in February 1983, and band was ended by Andrews in 1984.

Twenty Flight Rockers

In 1985 Laff founded a new retro rock & roll/

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

band called

Twenty Flight Rockers 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. Career The band was formed in London in 1983 by Gary Twinn, former singer/frontman of the Austr ...

with the singer/frontman

Gary Twinn Gary Twinn (born 7 December 1956 in West Ham, London, England) 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 Ma ...

. The band released via ABC Records the single 'Tower Block Rock' (1985) (ranked #31 for Best Single of that year by

Rockerilla ''Rockerilla'' is a monthly Italy-based music and cinema magazine founded in 1978. It has collaborated with, among others, Richard Bertoncelli and Guido Chiesa. According to Federico Guglielmi, ''Rockerilla'' was followed by those most passionate ...

Magazine, but making no impact on the UK Singles' Chart), and another single entitled 'Johnny 7' via

WEA Records Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

in 1986, which was also a commercial failure. In March 1986 the band released the song 'Searching for a Hero' in cassette format on a compilation L.P. advertising new bands entitled ''Spools Gold'', given away free with the ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

''.

Bernie Rhodes Bernard Rhodes is a designer, band manager, studio owner, record producer and songwriter who was integral to the development of the punk rock scene in the United Kingdom from the middle 1970s. He is most associated with two of the UK's best kn ...

, who Laff knew back from his early days with

was hired to manage them, and arranged the signing of the band with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

.
The band recorded a series of sessions, and a self-produced studio album entitled ''Ride'', which was scheduled for commercial release in 1988, however Epic Records in the meantime was bought out by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, which subsequently opted to drop the band from the label, leading to Twenty Flight Rockers breaking up. The ''Ride'' L.P. would not see the light of day until 2001 when it was put out by ''Revel Yell Music'' as a retrospective release under the title ''Twenty Flight Rockers''. In 2004 'Revel Yell' released a second retrospective L.P. from the band entitled ''Twenty Flight Rockers – The New York Sessions 1988''.

Later career

On 20 September 1993, during

's ''No Religion'' tour, Laff played with a re-formed Generation X in a reunion concert at the

Astoria Theatre The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further developme ...

in London's West End. In 2006 Laff re-recorded the song 'Hot Seat' with Derwood Andrews to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of Empire's ''Expensive Sound'' L.P., which was re-released on the ''Expansive Sound Volume II'' compilation L.P. Laff briefly reunited with

Vic Godard Vic Godard (born Victor John Napper) is an English singer-songwriter formerly of the punk group Subway Sect. He is now also a solo performer, while continuing to appear with various incarnations of Subway Sect. Biography Born Victor John Napper ...

in 2007 to re-record Subway Sect's previously unreleased debut album under the title ''1978 Now''. In 2019, he joined the touring line-up of LAMF, a band fronted by

Walter Lure Walter Lure (born Walter C. Luhr Jr., April 22, 1949 – August 21, 2020) was an American rock guitarist and singer. He was a member of the rock group The Heartbreakers. Biography Lure was born in Queens and raised in Floral Park, Long Island. H ...

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which also featured Mick Rossi, former guitarist of

Slaughter & The Dogs Slaughter and the Dogs are an English punk rock band formed in 1975 in Wythenshawe, Manchester. Their original line-up consisted of singer Wayne Barrett McGrath, rhythm guitar Mick Rossi, drummer Brian "Mad Muffet" Grantham, lead guitarist M ...

. This band played several gigs, including an appearance at the

Rebellion Festival The Rebellion Festival, formerly Holidays in the Sun and the Wasted Festival is a British punk rock festival first held in 1996. The festival has attracted mainstream press coverage from such sources as The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Post-music career

Laff semi-retired from professional music in 2004, and went into business as the director of a holistic lifestyle therapy company in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

.Interview with Mark Laff, 'Mudkiss Fanzine' (2012) http://www.mudkiss.com/marklaffinterview.htm.

Discography

;Generation X: *1978 – ''

'' (

) *1979 – '' Valley of the Dolls'' (Chrysalis Records) *1998 – '' Sweet Revenge'' (Empty Records) (Originally recorded in 1979.) *2004 – '' K.M.D. – Sweet Revenge Xtra'' (Revel Yell Music) (Featuring bonus tracks.) ;Generation X Compilations: *1985 – '' The Best of Generation X'' (Chrysalis Records) *1990 – ''The Idol Generation'' (

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's product ...

) (Australia only.) *1991 – ''Perfect Hits 1975–81'' (Chrysalis Records) *1999 – ''Live at the Paris Theatre '78 & '81'' (

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

) (Reissued (and edited) in 2002 as ''One Hundred Punks – BBC Live in Concert''.) *2002 – '' Radio 1 Sessions'' (

Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom. The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions.Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) ''T ...

) *2003 – ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

'' (EMI Records) *2003 – ''Live at Sheffield'' (Empty Records) ;Empire: *1981 – ''Expensive Sound'' (Dinosaur Discs) (American reissue in 1986 by Highway 61 Records) *2003 – ''Expensive Sound'' (Poorly Packaged Products) (Featuring bonus tracks.) *2009 – ''Expansive Sound Volume II'' (Poorly Packaged Products) ;Twenty Flight Rockers: *2001 – ''Twenty Flight Rockers'' (Revel Yell Music) (Originally recorded in 1988 as ''Ride''.) *2004 – ''Twenty Flight Rockers – The New York Sessions 1988'' (Revel Yell Music) ;Subway Sect: *2007 – ''1978 Now'' (Overground Records) ;Subway Sect Compilations: *1999 – ''Twenty Odd Years – The Story Of...'' (Motion Records) *2011 – ''Live and Rare Vol 1'' (Gnu Inc. Recordings) *2012 – ''Live and Rare Vol 2'' (Gnu Inc. Recordings)

References

External links

Mark Laff – Discogs.com
* Review of Empire's album at allmusic.com
Twenty Flight Rockers Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laff, Mark 1958 births English punk rock drummers Generation X (band) members Living people People from Chipping Barnet People from Finchley Musicians from Hertfordshire Subway Sect members