''The Flying Lizards'' is the 1979 debut
album by
The Flying Lizards
The Flying Lizards were an experimental English new wave band, formed in 1976. They are best known for their eccentric cover version of Barrett Strong's "Money", featuring Deborah Evans-Stickland on lead vocals, which reached the UK and US re ...
and was released on the
Virgin Records label.
Preceded by two surprise hit singles, the album reached No. 60 in the
UK Albums Chart.
Background
Following the unexpected success of the group's 1979 singles—covers of "
Summertime Blues" and "
Money"—
David Cunningham and Deborah Evans were offered a deal with
Virgin Records.
New material for the album featured improvisational musicians
Steve Beresford and
David Toop.
The album encompasses "
dub-style audio experiments" and "bent interpretations of pop music constructs."
Critic
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...
called it "an exercise in pop absurdism" which included "a
Brecht-
Weill cover,
Sanskrit chants,
found sounds, and unlikely instrumental textures" alongside "Cunningham's penchant for excessive studio processing and daft effects."
Charts
Track list
1979 release
All tracks by David Cunningham except as noted
# "Der Song von Mandelay" (titled "Mandelay Song" on UK release) (
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
,
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
) - 2:27
# "Her Story" (Dave Solomon,
David Cunningham, General-Strike,
Vivien Goldman) - 4:37
# "TV" (David Cunningham, Deborah Evans-Stickland, General-Strike) - 3:51
# "Russia" - 6:11
# "
Summertime Blues" (
Eddie Cochran,
Jerry Capehart
Jerry Neil Capehart (August 22, 1928 – June 7, 1998) was an American songwriter and music manager. Capehart co-wrote the songs "Summertime Blues" and " C'mon Everybody" with Eddie Cochran, whom he also managed. One of his most-recorded so ...
) - 3:09
# "
Money (That's What I Want)" (
Berry Gordy,
Janie Bradford) - 5:52
# "The Flood" - 4:57
# "Trouble" - 2:46
# "Events During Flood" - 3:25
# "The Window" (Vivien Goldman) - 4:52
Bonus tracks on 1995 CD
11. "All Guitars" ("Summertime Blues" single B-side) - 2:41
12. "Tube" (instrumental remix of "TV" - B side of "TV" single) - 5:09
13. "Money (That's What I Want)" (single edit) - 2:32
General Strike are
David Toop and
Steve Beresford, who also made the album ''Danger In Paradise'' with David Cunningham in the years 1979-1982
Personnel
*
David Cunningham
*
David Toop
*
Steve Beresford
*
Michael Upton
Michael Upton (1938–2002) was a British artist notable as a painter, performance artist and teacher.
Biography
Upton was born in Birmingham and after studying at the Birmingham College of Art from 1954 to 1958 he went on to study at the Roya ...
* Deborah Evans-Stickland
*
Vivien Goldman
* Julian Marshall
References
* "The Flying Lizards" album cover
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Lizards, The
1979 debut albums
The Flying Lizards albums
Virgin Records albums