A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls |
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A Flock of Seagulls (also known as Flock of Seagulls) are a synth rock group originally formed by brothers Mike Score (keyboards, vocals) and Ali Score (drums), with Frank Maudsley (bass) and Paul Reynolds (guitar). They became notable in the 1980s for their MTV video for the song "I Ran (So Far Away)".
Band history
Late 1970s
A Flock of Seagulls was started by Mike Score and his brother Ali in 1979 in Liverpool. Mike, who was previously a hairdresser, played keyboards, guitar, and vocals, Ali played drums and their friend Frank Maudsley played bass. The band took their name from a line in the song "Toiler on the Sea" by The Stranglers, which appears on their album Black and White.[1] The band added guitarist Paul Reynolds and began writing songs, playing clubs and trying to land a record contract.
1980s-1990s
Eventually, under the management of Tommy Crossan and Mick Rossi (Checkmount Limited), they began to release singles through Jive Records.
Reynolds abruptly left A Flock of Seagulls, leaving the band a trio, and the band continued to tour. The Score brothers wanted to base the band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band was able to sell out four straight shows in Philadelphia. Mike and Ali Score and Frank Maudsley all applied for, and were conditionally awarded, green cards, and the three settled in Philadelphia.
Maudsley returned to England, while Mike and Ali Score stayed in Philadelphia. The brothers then had a falling out that resulted in Mike Score remaining as the sole remaining original member of the band and Ali going to Boston, where he played in a hard rock band and then worked for a computer company in Cambridge.
During this time, two videos, "Who's That Girl" and "Heartbeat Like a Drum", were filmed in quick succession. These two videos were the last time the three remaining members were together in a recording or performance capacity until 2004.
Following the dissolution of the band in the wake of Dream Come True, Mike Score resurfaced in a series of new bands with changing line-ups. The band released two singles ("Magic" and "Burnin' Up") and one album (The Light at the End of the World) which achieved some success. The group made a cameo appearance in the 1999 movie The Suburbans, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Will Ferrell.
2000s
In 2003, A Flock of Seagulls performed for the unveiling of the Syracuse A-league football logo and team's name, Syracuse Salty Dogs, in Syracuse, New York. The band returned later that year for a performance at one of the Salty Dogs' games at Syracuse's P&C Stadium.
In November 2003, the original line-up (Mike and Ali Score, Paul Reynolds and Frank Maudsley) reunited for a one-off performance on the VH1 series, Bands Reunited. In September 2004, they reformed again and played a small number of live shows in the United States, but broke up immediately afterward. The reunion included a performances at Nike Run Hit Wonder, a series of 5000 and 10,000 metre road races, featuring popular one hit wonder bands (including Devo, General Public, and Tommy Tutone) playing along the race course.
Mike Score continues to tour under the band's name with a new line-up, but the other original members have retired from music. The band plans on releasing a new album in 2007.
The band's 2005 lineup was Mike Score, lead singer, keyboards; Joe Rodriguez, lead guitarist; Pando, bassist; and Michael Brahm, drums. In June 2005, the current line-up appeared on the debut episode of the American edition of NBC's Hit Me Baby One More Time. Besides performing their hit song I Ran (So Far Away), they also performed a cover of Ryan Cabrera's "On the Way Down".
The hit song "I Ran (So Far Away)" was featured in the 2002 game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Also, "I Ran (So Far Away)" was featured in the game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s, and the song "Space Age Love Song" was used in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
Hairstyle
Mike Score's distinctive hairstyle has been mentioned, copied, and parodied many times in the media, most notably in the American television sitcoms Friends (by Chandler and Ross, when they joined a new wave band during their college years) and That 70's Show. It has also been referred to in movies such as Pulp Fiction and The Wedding Singer.
In the musical The Wedding Singer the character Sammy sings a line in the song "Saturday Night" referring to Mike Score's hair style: "Can't wait 'til chicks start flocking to my Flock of Seagulls hair".
A Diet Pepsi commercial shows a man telling us that he wants to feel young again, then it shows a montage of the man with Score's hairstyle while the song "I Ran (So Far Away)" plays, but finding out it's a bad idea. In the song "Albuquerque" by "Weird Al" Yankovic, the song's main character encounters a hermaphrodite with a "Flock of Seagulls haircut" in which they both get involved in a violent scuffle for ownership of a "lucky, lucky autographed glow in the dark snorkel."
In a Supercuts commercial, a man enters a hair salon. After a few moments he notices that the only hairstyle given is Mike Score's famous haircut. (In the background, the sound of seagulls can be heard.)
When Danny Pintauro came out of the closet, The Daily Show referred to his Flock of Seagulls haircut on Who's the Boss? as an indicator of his orientation.
In the film The Wedding Singer, Adam Sandler's character approaches an air steward who is sporting a Mike Score hairstyle. The steward says "Do you like Flock of Seagulls?" with Sandler's reply, "I can see you do."
In an XM Satellite Radio TV commercial, the logo's wavelengths take different shapes; one of which is Mike Score's hairstyle as the guitar riff for "I Ran (So Far Away)" plays on the background. [2]
In the Larry the Cable Guy Christmas Special, Tony Orlando and Larry look at photographs of the past and sees a picture of Larry with Mike Score's hairstyle. Orlando says, "Look at that! The 80s!" Larry replies, "No, that was actually last year. I just like Flock of Seagulls."
Videos
In 1984, a VHS video, Through the Looking Glass, was released in the UK. It contained A Flock of Seagulls songs from 1981-1984 and a brief interview. It is an extremely rare item.[citation needed]
In the video for "The More You Live The More You Love", you actually see a flock of seagulls flying in the sky.[3]
Discography
- A Flock of Seagulls (1982) #10 US, #32 UK, #26 Germany, #32 SE
- Listen (1983) #16 US, #16 UK, #14 Germany, #44 SE
- The Story of a Young Heart (1984) #67 US, #30 UK, #31 Germany
- Dream Come True (1986)
- The Light at the End of the World (1995)
Singles
| Year | Song title | U.K. singles | U.S. Hot 100 | U.S. Main' Rock | U.S. Dance | Germany Top 50 | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Modern Love Is Automatic EP" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| "(It's Not Me) Talking" | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| "Telecommunication" | - | - | - | - | - | A Flock of Seagulls | |
| 1982 | "I Ran (So Far Away)" | 43 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 31 | |
| "Space Age Love Song" | 34 | 30 | - | - | - | ||
| "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" | 10 | 26 | - | - | 37 | Listen | |
| 1983 | "Nightmares" | 53 | - | - | - | - | |
| "Transfer Affection" | 38 | - | - | - | - | ||
| "(It's Not Me) Talking" (Re-issue) | 78 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1984 | "The More You Live, The More You Love" | 26 | 56 | 23 | - | 37 | The Story of a Young Heart |
| "Never Again (The Dancer)" | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| "Remember David" | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1985 | "Who's That Girl (She's Got It)" | 66 | - | - | - | - | Dream Come True |
| 1986 | "Heartbeat Like a Drum" | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1989 | "Magic" | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1995 | "Magic" (Re-issue) | - | - | - | - | - | The Light at the End of the World |
| "Burnin' Up" | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996 | "Rainfall" | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2000 | "Rainfall" (Re-issue) | - | - | - | - | - | - |
See also
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
- ^ Smith, Steve Bits and Pieces: the Penguin Book of Rock and Pop Facts and Trivia. Penguin, 1988 ISBN 0140107436
- ^ YouTube - Broadcast Yourself
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slQopQQm9Xo&feature=related