A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
Taking their name from Richard Bach's inspirational best-selling
book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", A Flock Of Seagulls
were one of the most visually eclectic of the futurist new age
groups; although in the spirit of the period, they were often
criticised by the music press for looking ridiculous.
However, funny thick-rimmed glasses and ex-hairdresser Mike Score's
Henna-sprayed bleach blonde locks did make their videos hard to
miss and they initially achieved fame in America through the fast-growing
promotional MTV.
The Liverpool band also consisted of Ali Score (drum machine /
vocals], Paul Reynolds (guitar) and Frank Maudsley (bass). They
signed to CBS subsidiary label Jive in 1982 and scored an instant
US hit with I Ran (So Far Away)" which only managed a disappointing
number 43 in the UK. The break in their home country came by November
of that year with their wistfully new romantic top 10 single,
Wishing (If I Had A Photograph of You).
Their instrumental track "D.N.A." won a Grammy award
in 1983 but further chart success was
sporadic. "The Seagulls" became widely appreciated as
an album group notably piercing the chart later with a superb
top 30 single in 1984, the catchy guitar-led The More You Live,
The More You Love". The band eventually broke up after four
albums in 1986.
Recommended listening: Greatest Hits ?
