Inside - Music

The Flying Lizards Was An Experimental New Wave / Post-Punk Pop Group From London UK Which Existed From 1976 To 1984. The Group Was Formed And Led By David Cunningham Whose Concept Was To Have A Loose-Knit Line-Up The Group Included Avant-Garde And Free-Improvising Musicians Like David Toop And Steve Beresford Both Of General Strike As Well As Keyboard Player Julian Marshall Of The Duo Marshall Hain And The Late Painter Michael Upton. Vocal Duties Tended To Be Taken By A Variety Of Female Singers Such As Deborah Evans-Stickland 1978-9 Vivien Goldman 1979 Patti Palladin 1981 And Sally Peterson 1984 . The Flying Lizards Are Known Mostly For Their Singles Featuring Quirky But Catchy Covers Of Pop Hits From The Mid 1950s To Early 1970s Cloaking The Band's Avant-Garde Sensibilities In True Post-Modern Fashion In The Guise Of The Then Popular Novelty Genre. These Covers Were "Summertime Blues" 1978 Original By Eddie Cochran "Move On Up" 1981 Original By Curtis Mayfield "Sex Machine" 1984 Original By James Brown And "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" 1984 Original By Larry Williams . But Their Biggest Hit Was Their 1979 Cover Of Barrett Strong's "Money That's What I Want " Which Remains Popular To This Day Due It Having Since Become A Regular Staple In Popular Hollywood Movies And TV Shows Such As The Wedding Singer Empire Records The First Charlie's Angels And Lord Of War. The Unlikely Success Of Their Single "Money" Allowed The Band Creative Freedom To Record Their Eponymous Debut Album The Flying Lizards. Besides Three Covers The 1979 Album Contained Seven Original Tracks Which Typical For Post-Punk Of The Time Combined Elements Of Krautrock Dub And Funk. Deborah Evans-Stickland And Vivien Goldman Provided Most Of The Vocals. A Cover Of The 1922 Music Hall Novelty Song "The Laughing Policeman" Was Recorded In 1980 With Kit Hain Of The Duo Marshall Hain On Vocals But When The Group's Label Virgin Was Not Interested In Releasing It As A Single Cunningham Took It To Arista And Released It Under The Alias The Suspicions. The EP Is Now A Rare Collector's Item. The Recording Of The Band's Second Album Fourth Wall Was A More Ambitious Affair Featuring A Proper Horn Section And Guest Musicians Like Robert Fripp And Michael Nyman. The New York Singer Patti Palladin Of The Duo Snatch Did Most Of The Vocals. Released In 1981 The Album Was A Commercial Failure Despite Being Critically Acclaimed. The Flying Lizard's Third And Last Proper Studio Album Top Ten Consists Entirely Of Covers Done In A Deliberately Emotionless Robotic Style Featuring Vocals By Sally Peterson. The Album Released In 1984 Makes Use Of The Then-Emerging Digital Technology Such As Sampling. A Posthumous Album Of Dub Instrumentals The Secret Dub Life Of The Flying Lizards Appeared In 1995 Which Contains Remixes Of Existing Dub Reggae Tracks Recorded In Jamaica In 1978 By Jah Lloyd. As The Original Recordings Were Already Mixed-Down To Mono Remixing Them Stretched The Creativity Of Cunningham And Chums To The Limits. read less