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Mike Score

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by K7k (talk | contribs) at 19:05, 5 November 2021 (corrected info regarding the 7-inch single released by Tontrix; it was not an album). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mike Score
Score performing with A Flock of Seagulls in Liverpool, in 2011
Born
Michael Gordon Score

(1957-11-05) 5 November 1957 (age 67)
Beverley, England
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • hairdresser
Years active1976–present
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Websitemikescore.com

Michael Gordon Score (born 5 November 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who achieved worldwide fame as the founder, lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist of the new wave band A Flock of Seagulls. He released a solo album on 1 March 2014 titled Zeebratta.

His band is one of the most influential of the 1980's and still shaping much of today's dance music, contemporary pop and electronic music.[1]

Early life

Mike Score[2] was born on 5 November 1957[3] in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.[4] Score was a hairdresser in Liverpool, until in 1978 he formed the post-punk band, Tontrix, where he played bass, along with Hambi Haralambous, (vocals), Steve Lovell, (guitar), Bobby Carr, (keyboards), and Chris Hughes (drums).

The band released just one 7-inch 45 with two songs, Shell Shocked and Slipping into Life. The band played many shows in the North West of England and, in late 1979, the band was disbanded, with the members following different paths.[5]

A few months later, in the same year, he founded the New Wave band, A Flock of Seagulls, with his brother Ali Score, (drums), his friend Frank Maudsley, (bass), and Paul Reynolds (guitar). Mike played keyboard, guitar and was a vocalist, A Flock of Seagulls started playing in bars and practiced on top of the hall where Mike worked, until they got a contract with a record label, in which soon with his first album, which bears the name of band, A Flock of Seagulls, released in 1982, achieved international success. In 1983 he released the album Listen, which was quite successful. In the same year he started doing shows together with The Police and The Fixx. In 1984 they released The Story of a Young Heart, which was moderately successful, however well. In 1985 with the album Dream Come True, it was very bad and the following year the band broke up.

But when he decided to reform the band again in 1988, the other members refused to join him. He performed and toured A Flock of Seagulls with different members. In 1995 he released the failed album by the band The Light at the End of the World which made no progress.

In 1999, Score recorded a song for the compilation album Trackspotting V, called "All I Wanna Do". It was the eighth track (out of 18) on the album, and it is credited as "Scorey".

In 2003, the original members of A Flock of Seagulls were brought together by VH1's Bands Reunited. They played their hit "I Ran (So Far Away)" in a unique performance in London. In an interview before the performance, it was revealed that his "seagull" or "wings" hairstyle was created when the actor tried to style his hair as David Bowie's character, Ziggy Stardust. AFOS bassist Frank Maudsley was trying to use the mirror at the same time, and put his hand on Score's head, leaving only the hair on the sides of the head up. The band's reunion apparently resolved the tension between him and his brother, Ali Score, the band's former drummer, who has been around since the end of the band.[6]

On 4 February 2013, Score indicated, through his YouTube account, that he had started a solo career and on the same day, Score sent a video clip of his song "All I Wanna Do" (re-recorded, as the original). version is in Trackspotting V). It was released as a single on 18 February 2013, on Right Track Records. The genre of the track is ambient electronica. Score planned to release a solo album soon after, but in July 2013, the van used by Score and his musicians was stolen from a Comfort Inn in Downey, California. The van contained Score's equipment, clothing and hard drives containing the album tracks. The next day, the van was found with nothing inside. The hard drives containing the audio files have been recovered.[7]

In January 2014, Score released his second single entitled "Somebody Like You". On 1 March 2014, Score released Zeebratta, his first studio album.[8]

On 3 May 2018, it was announced that the original four members of the band would meet again to record a new album entitled Ascension, their first studio recording since 1984. Featuring the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, it will be a 10-track album composed of exclusive songs. versions of his previous hits and a new song. The video for "Space Age Love Song" debuted on YouTube on 6 June, and a five-track EP featuring five versions of the song was released digitally two days later.[9]

On 12 July 2019, the original members got together again for another album, Inflight (The Extended Essentials), this time the band reworked their original hits and extended them in a 12 ”remix style from the 80s Ten new recordings, expanded to fill the imagination of dreamers around the world, which is now available in physical and digital stores.[10]

Style

Mike brought the band a great New Romantic style, and made the band have that futuristic style, the band is very much remembered for songs with futuristic footprints, for Mike's synthesizers, his vocals and the costume that Mike had, when the band started Mike had an ordinary hair, but he decided to create a type of haircut to remember, in an interview for Classic Pop, Mike said "My mom used to say," Don't copy people. Try to be yourself, because then people will remember you. ' There was a little bit of David Bowie and Alice Cooper in the band's appearance, without copying them. '' And that was what Mike did, created his own style for his hair and costumes, influenced the culture of the 1980s a lot, becoming a brand for the decade and for people who followed the style New Romantic and New Wave, the cut came when the band was going to do a show in Trinidad, they were in an old and miserable dressing room. Mike was combing his hair back and all the other members wanted to go to the mirror to do their hair and put on makeup to perform. When bassist Frank Maudsley was trying to use the mirror and Mike was doing Mohawk-style hair, almost like a David Bowie, Frank rested his hand on Mike's hair, which tore it apart, so the band's manager started to hurry them up to going up on the stage, Mike and Frank started doing their hair and left it more perish with a seagull, soon after that they went on stage and Mike's hair became a trademark of the band.[11][12]

Equipment

Guitars

Mike Score has a large list of guitars that he has used over the years, each used to play a different song, among them we can highlight his red Yamaha SG1000 that he used a lot for songs like Man Made and Pick Me Up, another The guitar used a lot by Score was the Gibson Moderne Electric Guitar which was used a lot by Mike at the beginning of the band, he used this guitar to play songs like Telecommunication and others. Other guitars also used by Mike were guitars like a blue Aria Pro II ZZ Deluxe, which was very marked for being used at the US Festival in 1983, Mike performed this guitar to perform several songs and was one of the most used by Score in the 1980s, another one that Mike used a lot after 1984 was a black Fender Telecaster. He currently uses a black Fender Made in Japan Modern Telecaster HH.[13]

Synthesizers

Score became very well known for his riffs with the synthesizer, creating unique sounds, which brought a great mark to his style of composition. Among the various synthesizers in its collection we can highlight the Korg Delta, Korg MS-10, Roland Jupiter-8 Synthesizer, Roland Juno-60, Roland SH-101 Synthesizer, Ensoniq TS-10, Roland SH-09 Synthesizer, Roland Fantom-X6 and among others that have been used throughout the extensive musical career that Mike Score has carried since the late 1970s.[14]

Personal life

Mike Score lives in Florida with his wife, both of whom travel regularly between the US and Liverpool with their boats. Mike has been married four times, has been married to Ceena Score since 25 June 2012, he had a child from his first marriage.[15]

Discography

See also: A Flock of Seagulls discography

Solo

Collaborations

  • Looking for You (with Isaac Junkie) (2018)

A Flock of Seagulls

Tontrix
  • Shell Shocked and Slipping into Life (1979)

References

  1. ^ Zimmerman, Lee (2 July 2015). "A Flock of Seagulls: A Legacy of Influence and Insults". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Mike Score". Discogs. Zink Media. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Michael Score". IMDb. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. ^ "A Flock of Seagulls' Mike Score Releases New Single 'Somebody Like You'". BroadwayWorld. Wisdom Digital Media. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Tontrix". Discogs (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  6. ^ Twilight1964, Twilight1964 (22 April 2021). "Bands Re-united A Flock of Seagulls". YouTube. Retrieved 22 April 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Alan Duke. "Flock of Seagulls' van found, but gear's gone". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  8. ^ Mike Score – Zeebratta (2014, File) (in Brazilian Portuguese), retrieved 22 April 2021
  9. ^ "SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS WITH THE PRAGUE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA - ASCENSION". The Spill Magazine. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Review: A Flock of Seagulls - Inflight - The Extended Essentials". Classic Pop Magazine. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  11. ^ "A Flock of Seagulls Interview: 'Try to be yourself, because that way people will remember you'". Classic Pop Magazine. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  12. ^ Catchpole, Matt (31 July 2018). "HIGH FLYING BIRDS – A Flock of Seagulls' Bassist Frank Maudsley On The Return Of The 1980's Fab Four". Essentially Pop. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Mike Score's Guitars | Equipboard". equipboard.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Mike Score's Keyboards and Synthesizers | Equipboard". equipboard.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Michael Score". IMDb. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
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