The Flying Lizards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
 |
This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. |
| The Flying Lizards | |
|---|---|
 The Flying Lizard's debut album.
|
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genre(s) | Experimental rock |
| Former members | |
| David Toop Steve Beresford Michael Upton David Cunningham Vivien Goldman Robert Fripp Deborah Evans-Stickland Patti Palladin Peter Laurence Gordon |
|
The Flying Lizards were a British experimental rock band.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Formed by and led by record producer David Cunningham, the group was in fact a loose collective of avant-garde and free improvising musicians, such as David Toop and Steve Beresford as instrumentalists, plus Deborah Evans, Patti Palladin, and Vivien Goldman as main vocalists. It also boasted artist Michael Upton.
The group released an album entitled The Flying Lizards in 1980. The album included two songs - "HerStory" and "The Window" - written and sung by Goldman.[1] Singles include the postmodern cover versions of songs such as Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" (1958) and James Brown's "Sex Machine" (1984), as well as several originals. Their album Top Ten consists entirely of covers, done in a deliberately emotionless, harsh and robotic style. Their version of Barrett Strong's "Money" remains popular, and was used in the film soundtracks for The Wedding Singer, Empire Records, Charlie's Angels and Lord of War, as well as in the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television medical drama, Nip/Tuck.
An album of dub instrumentals, The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards, recorded by David Cunningham mostly in 1978 was finally released in 1996.
With only one single making the UK Top 40, the Flying Lizards join the list of one-hit wonders; a list that includes other UK punk or new wave acts such as The Banned, John Cooper Clarke, Jilted John, 999, the Radio Stars, the Rich Kids and The Vibrators.
[edit] Band members
- David Toop
- Steve Beresford
- Michael Upton
- David Cunningham
- Bob Black
- Vivien Goldman
- Robert Fripp
- Deborah Evans-Stickland
- Patti Palladin
- Peter Laurence Gordon
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- The Flying Lizards (Virgin Records, 1979) (UK #60, US #99)[2]
- Fourth Wall (Virgin, 1981)
- Top Ten (Statik, 1984)
- The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards (Piano Records, 1996)
[edit] Singles
- "Summertime Blues" (Virgin VS230, 1978)
- "Money" (Virgin VS276, 1979) UK #5 US # 50[2]
- "TV" (Virgin VS325, 1979) UK #43[2]
- "The Laughing Policeman" (under the pseudonym "The Suspicions," Arista 361, 1980)
- "Move On Up" (Virgin VS381, 1981)
- "Hands 2 Take" with Michael Nyman (Virgin VS392, 1981)
- "Lovers and Other Strangers" (Virgin VS421, 1981)
- "Sex Machine" (Statik tak19, 1984)
- "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (Satik tak25, 1984)
- "Money"/"T.V." (Old Gold, 1988)
[edit] References
- ^ Allen, Mark (April 2001). "The Flying Lizards: A Pop Band Arranged According to the Laws of Chance". #6 (Sound Collector). http://www.markallencam.com/soundcollector2001.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-18.
- ^ a b c Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Flying Lizards", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1 84195 335 0
