The Flying Lizards

Sound DNA

• Electronic
• Synth-Pop / New Wave

• brittle
• sarcastic
• art school

About

The Flying Lizards were one of the great, bizarre stories of the late-‘70s new wave scene. Avant-garde composer David Cunningham had been recording his own minimalist compositions when he hit upon the idea of recording a deadpan version of Eddie Cochran’s legendary hit “Summertime Blues” with his former art-school friend Deborah Evans providing her own cold, distant, disinterested vocals. Virgin Records picked up the single and had an immediate hit. Cunningham followed it up with another oddball production of Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)” and the “band” had an even bigger hit. The album that followed is less accessible but no less enjoyable. Brecht-Weill get a new-wave workover with “Mandelay Song” and the originals range from a vague deconstruction of girl-group pop on “TV” to excursions into the land of Brian Eno’s ambience for “The Flood,” “Trouble” and “Events During the Flood." They even rustle up the sound of Eno’s key collaborators Talking Heads with “Russia,” a garage-rock version of world-beat fusion.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits