The Flying Lizards

This article is about the band. For other uses, see Flying lizard (disambiguation).

The Flying Lizards
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Experimental rock, new wave
Years active	1976–1984
Labels	Virgin, Statik
Past members	David Toop Steve Beresford David Cunningham Vivien Goldman Robert Fripp Bob Black Deborah Evans-Stickland Patti Palladin Peter Laurence Gordon Sally Peterson Julian Marshall

The Flying Lizards were an English experimental rock band, formed in 1976 in England. Their cover version of Barrett Strong's "Money" reached the UK and US record charts in 1979.

Career

Formed by and led by record producer David Cunningham, the group was a loose collective of avant-garde and free improvising musicians, such as David Toop and Steve Beresford as instrumentalists, with Deborah Evans-Stickland, Patti Palladin and Vivien Goldman as main vocalists.

In August 1979 the band appreared twice on BBC's Top of the Pops performing their hit single "Money (That's What I Want)". They also appeared in February 1980 performing follow up single "TV". Virgin Records extended the band's recording contract after the success of "Money". The group released their début album The Flying Lizards in 1980. The album included two songs – "Her Story" and "The Window" – written and sung by Goldman. Their single issues included their postmodern cover versions of songs such as Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and "Money".

The 1981 album Fourth Wall received praise from critics but did not sell well. Top Ten (1984), with vocalist Sally Peterson, released. by Statik records, consisted entirely of covers, done in a similarly deliberately emotionless, and robotic style, (described by the NME at the time as "Sloane Rap"), including two singles, James Brown's "Sex Machine" and "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy" as well as an album track of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne". Cunningham and Peterson worked together on music production for film and advertising after Top Ten was released, including a re-recording of "Money".

The Flying Lizards version of Barrett Strong's "Money" remained popular, and was used in the film soundtracks for The Wedding Singer, Empire Records, Charlie's Angels and Lord of War, as well as in the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television medical drama Nip/Tuck and the follow-up to the UK TV drama Life on Mars, called Ashes to Ashes. In 2011, the song was used in a commercial for Taco Bell.

An album of dub instrumentals, The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards, recorded by David Cunningham mostly in 1978, was finally released in 1995. The first two albums, The Flying Lizards and Fourth Wall, were re-released by RPM in 2010, with the catalogue number RETROD883. With only one single making the UK Top 40, the Flying Lizards join the list of one-hit wonders.

Band members

• David Toop
• Steve Beresford
• Michael Upton
• Julian Marshall
• Michael Nyman
• David Cunningham
• Vivien Goldman
• Robert Fripp
• Bob Black
• Deborah Evans-Stickland
• Patti Palladin
• Peter Laurence Gordon
• Sally Peterson

Discography

Albums

• The Flying Lizards (Virgin Records, 1980) (UK No. 60, US No. 99)
• Fourth Wall (Virgin, 1981)
• Top Ten (Statik, 1984)
• The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards (Piano Records, 1996)
• The Flying Lizards & Fourth Wall (re-release, RPM Records, 2010)
• The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards (vinyl re-release, Staubgold, 2010)

Singles

• "Summertime Blues" (Virgin VS230, 1978)
• "Money" (Virgin VS276, 1979) (UK No. 5 US No. 50)
• "TV" (Virgin VS325, 1979) (UK No. 43)
• "The Laughing Policeman" (under the pseudonym 'The Suspicions', Arista 361, 1980)
• "Move On Up" (Virgin VS381, 1980)
• "Hands 2 Take" with Michael Nyman (Virgin VS392, 1981)
• "Lovers and Other Strangers" (Virgin VS421, 1981)
• "Sex Machine" (Statik tak19, 1984)
• "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy" (Statik tak25, 1984)
• "Money"/"T.V." (Old Gold, 1988)

See also

• List of new wave artists and bands
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• List of post-punk bands

External links

• The Flying Lizards - They Were a Very Different Band (fan page)
• David Cunningham website
• The Secret Dub Life of The Flying Lizards
• The Flying Lizards biography
• RPM Records
• Staubgold