Gerry Laffy/GIRL (Official Thread)

METALPRIEST

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GIRL....Great band ! Count me in MP.
Sadly never achieved their potential, their glam image didn't go down too well with the NWOBHM scene in the 80s. Despite the critics GIRL produced some fine albums, and had a few supports to bands others would have been envious....KISS.U.F.O. Pat Travers etc come to mind
Easy to say if GIRL had emerged a few years later in the glam 90s things would have been better.....
I think Phil Lewis and Phil Collen had the last laugh at their early critics with the success they have had with LA GUNS and DEF LEPPARD.
Gerry Laffy too....a fine musician

......Hmm favourite GIRL track? "Ice in the blood"


YES!! Cool track Lou!!!! :cheers2
 

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If you want to check out some more tunes and hear stuff with his work with John Taylor as well...

..here is his Myspace and Myspace Music player

GERRY LAFFY MYSPACE MUSIC LINK

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John Taylor & Gerry Laffy
 

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Gerry Laffy - ‘Just A Little Blurred’ & Girl - ‘Live At The Greyhound Fulham, London 1982’ (Die Laughing Records)




Laffy_Blurred.jpg


by Johnny Hayward
Friday, 31 May 2013 03:40


Originally given a limited pressing back in April of this year by the time you read this review of the latest releases to come out of the ex Girl guitarist Gerry Laffy’s Die Laughing label the chances are this “2 CDs for £5” mega deal will be almost sold out. Why? Well couple with the fact that disc one is Laffy’s first studio venture in donkeys years that disc two is a free “promo only” recording of the infamous ‘Live At The Greyhound 1982’, which is also considered to be the definitive bootleg of the band from back in the day, and you have to wonder what more could you want for your hard earned? Well how about the fact that on top of providing us with some fantastic music, nice guy Gerry is also donating all proceeds from the sale of this package to charity?

So I can hear you sitting there thinking “there must be a catch right?” Well the only catch really is that you have to accept that the discs, when you do get yours, are CDRs and that along with this ‘Just A Little Blurred’ features a reworking of ‘My Number’ that might just stretch some Girl diehards tolerance levels a bit further than they might enjoy. Aside from these considerations though, ‘Just A Little Blurred’, which is effectively a set of eleven tunes Laffy recorded back in March of this year with his Sheer Greed Facebook group buddy Craig Bundy on bass, is a surprisingly coherent and vibrant collection of songs.



I say surprisingly because Gerry admits that these tunes were apparently recorded on the spur of the moment with the aid of a Yamaha D55 drum machine and a Fostex MR16, and in all honesty you would never guess this unless it were not laid out for you in black and white in the sleeve notes. Album opener ‘I’m Free’ for example sweeps in on a radio friendly hook that could see Robbie Williams knocking Laffy’s door anytime soon looking to get in with the rock chic crowd once again. But on that note anyone expecting a total rock out within the virtual grooves of ‘Just A Little Blurred’ will be sadly disappointed, as the musical direction of the CD flicks from the current day Gun-like funk pop of ‘Liar’ to the Bowie esque ‘Karmic Gangster’ in the blink of an eyelid, whilst the country shuffle of ‘Sunshine’ recalls the Mark Rankin era of those aforementioned Glaswegian rockers, and everything in my world sounds just fine thanks to these excellent tunes.



There are a couple of glimpses of Laffy’s former guitar histrionics, most notably on his signature tune ‘My Number’, plus the fret frenzy of the album’s sole instrumental ‘NHS’, which at places reminds me of eighties Gary Moore jamming with Grandmaster Flash, a comparison that Laffy will no doubt raise a wry smile over.



I should perhaps at this point admit that I’ve never really been a fan of Laffy’s solo material, I’ve never been able to get to grips with his vocals, but ‘Just A Little Blurred’ has really opened my eyes to the fact that the guitarist from one of the best bands to come out of the UK around the turn of the eighties can still pen (and sing) a really decent set of tunes three decades on.

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Talking of which, the second disc here is a blistering “promo only” fourteen track live set from that band known as Girl, and every second of it just makes me wish even more that I’d seen them back in the day.



With a set list full to the brim with classics from the band’s two albums released to that point, the tracks from ‘Wasted Youth’ like ‘Overnight Angels’ and ‘Ice In the Blood’ sound a million times better than those committed to vinyl by Nigel Thomas.



There are also glimpses of ‘Killing Time’, the band’s third album that never got released, via tracks like set opener ‘Big Night Out’ and one of my all time fave tunes by the band ‘The Sound Of Cars’, plus of course there’s the ever present ‘My Number’ and set closer ‘Hollywood Tease’ to help do more than just raise the odd cheer.



Having listened to this recording a fair few times over the last few days, I think it captures a certain vibrancy unmatched by any of the other Girl recordings I have - and trust me when I say I have a lot, Phil Lewis in particular here truly shines, sounding hungry and exuding rock star attitude and charisma with every note he sings.



So, if you want to own a real musical yin and yang in the career of Gerry Laffy then you need look no further than Gerry’s Facebook page which you access via the link below.



Tell him Uber Rock sent you, and send him our best wishes for this mighty fine release.

 

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