The Flying Lizards (album)
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additional recordings in
NYC, Munich, Maidstone
and in transit
| The Flying Lizards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1978–1979 | |||
| Studio | Berry Street Studio and Brixton Academy additional recordings in NYC, Munich, Maidstone and in transit | |||
| Length | 42:07 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | David Cunningham | |||
| The Flying Lizards chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Record Mirror | [2] |
| Smash Hits | 7½/10[3] |
The Flying Lizards is the 1980 debut album[4] by The Flying Lizards and was released on the Virgin Records label.[5]
Preceded by two surprise hit singles, the album reached No. 60 in the UK Albums Chart.[6]
The front cover was designed by Laurie-Rae Chamberlain, Richard Rayner-Canham and David Cunningham. It partially shows the first page of Roland Barthes's essay "Musica Practica", translated by Stephen Heath.
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.[7] New material for the album featured improvisational musicians Steve Beresford and David Toop.[7]
The album encompasses "dub-style audio experiments" and "bent interpretations of pop music constructs."[7] 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."[8]
Track list
1980 release
All tracks by David Cunningham except as noted
- "Der Song von Mandelay" (titled "Mandelay Song" on UK release) (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) - 2:27
- "Her Story" (Dave Solomon, David Cunningham, General-Strike, Vivien Goldman) - 4:37
- "TV" (David Cunningham, Deborah Evans-Stickland, General-Strike) - 3:51
- "Russia" - 6:11
- "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart) - 3:09
- "Money (That's What I Want)" (Berry Gordy, Janie Bradford) - 5:52
- "The Flood" - 4:57
- "Trouble" - 2:46
- "Events During Flood" - 3:25
- "The Window" (Vivien Goldman) - 4:52
Bonus tracks on 1995 CD
11. "All Guitars" ("Summertime Blues" single B-side) - 2:41
12. "Tube" (instrumental remix of "TV" - B side of "TV" single) - 5:09
13. "Money (That's What I Want)" (single edit) - 2:32
General Strike are David Toop and Steve Beresford, who also made the album Danger In Paradise with David Cunningham in the years 1979-1982[9]
