TWENTY FLIGHT ROCKERS – TOWER BLOCK ROCK 7″ – Nr MINT UK GENERATION X

Twenty Flight Rockers – Tower Block Rock
(ABC Records  1985  ABCS008)

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Twenty Flight Rockers were a late 1980’s English rock music band, founded by the singer Gary Twinn, drummer Mark Laff, and the bassist Steve Counsel.

The band was formed in London in 1985 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. Counsel soon quit the new band to join The London Cowboys, and was replaced by the bass guitarist Jeff D. Vine.

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 and Mayfair Ballroom. They were subsequently invited to play the BBC’s Janice Long show. 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.

In 1985 it released the single “Tower Block Rock” (ranked #31 for Best Single of the year in Rockerilla Magazine) 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. 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.

The band performed at Richfield Avenue for the first day of the resumed Reading and Leeds Festivals on 22 August 1986.

In 1987 Bernie Rhodes was hired as the band’s manager, and secured a contract for it with Epic Records. Rhodes also had McKean replaced by guitarist Danny B. Harvey. The band recorded a series of sessions (compiled by Twinn and Harvey) as well as a studio album entitled Ride. In 1988 the song “Black Leather Jacket” was released as a single promo (which again failed to chart), 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.

Members

• Gary Twinn – lead vocals (1985-1989)
• Mark Laff – drums (1985-1989)
• Danny B. Harvey – lead guitar, backing vocals (1986-1989)
• Jeff D. Vine – bass, backing vocals (1985-1989)
• Ian McKean – lead guitar, backing vocals (1985-1986)
• Steve Counsel – bass, backing vocals (1985)

Tracklist