The Flying Lizards (album)

The Flying Lizards is the 1979 self-titled debut album[3] by The Flying Lizards and was released on the Virgin Records label.[4]

The Flying Lizards
Studio album by
The Flying Lizards
Released28 July 1979
Recorded1978 - 1979
StudioBerry Street Studio and Brixton Academy
additional recordings in
NYC, Munich, Maidstone
and in transit
Length42:07
LabelVirgin
ProducerDavid Cunningham
The Flying Lizards chronology
The Flying Lizards
(1979)		 Fourth Wall
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Smash Hits7½/10[2]

Preceded by two surprise hit singles, the album reached No. 60 in the UK Album Chart.[5]

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.[6] New material for the album featured improvisational musicians Steve Beresford and David Toop.[6]

The album encompasses "dub-style audio experiments" and "bent interpretations of pop music constructs."[6] Critic Simon Reynolds 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."[7]

Chart performance

The album charted in the UK for 3 weeks from 16 February 1980 peaking at No. 60,[8] and in New Zealand for 5 weeks peaking at No. 28.[9]

Track list

1979 release

All tracks by David Cunningham except as noted

  1. "Der Song von Mandelay" (titled "Mandelay Song" on UK release) - 2:27 (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill)
  2. "Her Story" - 4:37 (Dave Solomon, David Cunningham, General-Strike, Vivien Goldman)
  3. "TV" - 3:51 (David Cunningham, Deborah Evans-Stickland, General-Strike)
  4. "Russia" - 6:11
  5. "Summertime Blues" - 3:09 (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
  6. "Money (That's What I Want)" - 5:52 (Berry Gordy, Janie Bradford)
  7. "The Flood" - 4:57
  8. "Trouble" - 2:46
  9. "Events During Flood" - 3:25
  10. "The Window" - 4:52 (Vivien Goldman)

Bonus tracks on 1995 CD

11. "All Guitars" - 2:41 ("Sunmmertime Blues" single B-side)
12. "Tube" - 5:09 (instrumental remix of "TV" - B side of "TV" single)
13. "Money (That's What I Want)" - 2:32 (single edit)

General Strike are David Toop and Steve Beresford, who also made the album Danger In Paradise with David Cunningham in the years 1979-1982[10]

Personnel
gollark: Oh, we replaced trout with apioforms centuries ago.
gollark: What? That's stupid.
gollark: Wow, my new faster computer can compile this Rust project in a mere 32 seconds.
gollark: As such, companies buy things at full price, and broke individuals can pirate.
gollark: Piracy is in a somewhat stable equilibrium because it's not legal in a bunch of places, but that's hard to enforce.

References
  • "The Flying Lizards" album cover
  1. The Flying Lizards at AllMusic
  2. Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (February 7–20): 31.
  3. Discogs - the Flying Lizards cassette 1979, Virgin (CS 13137) US
  4. Discogs - the Flying Lizards vinyl promo 1979, Virgin (VA13137) US
  5. http://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/flying%20lizards/
  6. Deming, Mark. "The Flying Lizards – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  7. Reynolds, Simon (2005). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. Penguin. p. 188. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. http://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/flying%20lizards/
  9. http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Flying+Lizards&titel=The+Flying+Lizards&cat=a
  10. staubgold - Danger In Paradise
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