In the late 1970s, composer and producer David Cunningham
was savvy enough to cloak his experimental music in the disguise of a novelty
record, at least for a while; his fractured deconstructions of Eddie Cochran's
"Summertime Blues" and Barrett Strong's "Money," released
under the moniker the Flying Lizards, managed to inch into the pop charts
because folks thought they were some sort of musical joke, even though
Cunningham's wit didn't negate the seriousness of his musical ambitions. After
the international success of "Money," Virgin Records wanted a Flying
Lizards album to go along with it, and the resulting LP was where Cunningham's
cred as an artist ran up against his instincts as a pop satirist. The principle
reason "Money" became a left-field hit was that even though the song
had been bent within an inch of its life, it still had a catchy hook and, if
you wanted to, you could dance to it. That can't honestly be said for the new
material Cunningham and his associates put together for the album; except for
Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill's "Der Song von Mandelay," which
doesn't have an honestly memorable hook, the new tracks are all originals and
they're informed by the space and anything-goes vibe of dub instead of
radio-ready pop, and while they're intelligent and well-executed, they're not
especially compelling. Through the soundscapes that dominate the second half of
this album are more interesting to talk about than to hear, at least they're
better than the vocal tracks closer to the beginning, which sound both
pretentious and musically flawed. The Flying Lizards' first album unwittingly
followed one of the greatest traditions of '50s and '60s pop -- take a hit
single, surround it with a whole bunch of filler less interesting than the hit,
and presto! You have an album.
Ripped from the vinyl album to MP3@320kbps
The Flying Lizards; The Flying Lizards
A1. Der
Song Von Mandelay
A2. Her
Story
A3. TV
A4. Russia
A5. Summertime
Blues
B1. Money
(That’s What I Want)
B2. The
Flood
B3. Trouble
B4. Events
During Flood
B5. The
Window
Great album. Not a poor track on the lp. Bought it when it came out. Showing my age. I like the track Window especially as it is way beyond its time and a post punk classic.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get around to buying the album until the mid 80's from a second hand record store in Edinburgh. I honestly didn't know quite what to make of it apart from the two singles that I purchased when they came out, and were the reason behind spending £1.99 on the album. It was a slow burner as they say.
DeleteThanks! JG
ReplyDeleteThanks JG
DeleteI wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of this album :) If there's any filler (there isn't!), it's the two main singles, but I also think that his approach to creating a cover version is the only approach—fuck it up completely, Ã la The Residents or Devo—Summertime Blues is genius. I think the rest of the album is where Cunningham comes into his own. His obvious dub influences make this album shine. There isn't a bad track. I was bought it when it came out and it blew me away. As did Fourth Wall. Top Ten is a bit more novelty, but it still works really well because of his insane approach to making cover versions.
ReplyDeleteI hear where you're coming from Cormac, but I just don't rate it as a coherent album. I get why people do enjoy it, that's why I posted it, I just can't honestly say that I liked the album
Delete