flying lizards

Biography

The Flying Lizards were an experimental new wave and post-punk pop group formed in London, England in 1976 by David Cunningham, an Irish-born avant-garde composer and producer who had studied painting at Maidstone College of Art.[1][2] Cunningham conceived the project as a deliberately loose-knit collective that would allow him to explore pop music possibilities that would have been difficult within his formal experimental work, deliberately choosing the name as "a kind of alias" to operate within the commercial pop world.[3] The group's shifting personnel included avant-garde and free-improvising musicians such as David Toop and Steve Beresford, alongside vocalists Deborah Evans-Stickland, Patti Palladin, and Vivien Goldman, creating a fluid, situationalist approach to music-making that reflected Dada and Fluxus philosophies.[1][3]

The Flying Lizards achieved unexpected commercial success with their unconventional, minimalist cover of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" in 1979, which allowed Cunningham to renegotiate his contract with Virgin Records on his own terms.[3] The group's eponymous debut album (1979) combined three covers with seven original tracks that blended Krautrock, dub, and funk elements, recorded in approximately three weeks with a rotating cast of collaborators.[1][3] Their second album, Fourth Wall (1981), was a more ambitious production featuring a proper horn section and guest musicians including Robert Fripp and Michael Nyman, though it was a commercial failure despite critical acclaim.[1] The Flying Lizards became known for their quirky, catchy covers of pop standards—including "Summertime Blues" (1978), "Move On Up" (1981), and "Sex Machine" (1984)—which cloaked their avant-garde sensibilities in novelty pop aesthetics.[1] The group's third and final studio album, Top Ten (1984), consisted entirely of covers performed in a deliberately emotionless, robotic style using emerging digital technology such as sampling.[1] The Flying Lizards officially disbanded in 1984, though a posthumous album of dub instrumentals, The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards, was released in 1995.[1]

Fun Facts

• David Cunningham chose the name 'The Flying Lizards' as an unlikely, cute-sounding alias specifically to allow him creative freedom within the commercial pop world that would have been impossible within his formal experimental work.[3]
• The group recorded a cover of the 1922 Music Hall novelty song 'The Laughing Policeman' in 1980 with Kit Hain on vocals, but when Virgin Records declined to release it as a single, Cunningham took it to Arista Records and released it under the alias 'The Suspicions,' making it a rare collector's item.[1]
• The Flying Lizards' debut album was recorded in approximately three weeks with a rotating cast of collaborators including members of other avant-garde groups like General Strike and This Heat, with no official lead singer or lead guitarist—just whoever could fill whatever spot or contribute ideas.[3]
• The group's third album Top Ten (1984) made use of then-emerging digital technology such as sampling to create deliberately emotionless, robotic renditions of pop standards, representing an early adoption of digital production techniques in pop music.[1]

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Marcel Duchamp - Conceptual and philosophical influence on Cunningham's approach to deconstructing and recontextualizing pop culture (Conceptual art philosophy applied to pop music covers) [1970s-1980s]

Key Collaborators

• David Toop - Avant-garde musician and drummer, member of General Strike, participated in The Flying Lizards' debut album and early projects (The Flying Lizards (1979 album)) [1976-1979]
• Steve Beresford - Multi-instrumentalist (piano, trumpet, euphonium, bass) and free-improvising musician from General Strike, core member of the project (The Flying Lizards (1979 album), multiple singles) [1976-1984]
• Deborah Evans-Stickland - Primary vocalist on the debut album and early singles, provided distinctive vocal styling for covers (The Flying Lizards (1979 album), 'Summertime Blues' (1978), 'Money' (1979)) [1978-1979]
• Patti Palladin - New York-based vocalist from the duo Snatch, provided vocals for the second album Fourth Wall (Fourth Wall (1981 album)) [1981]
• Vivien Goldman - Musician and rock journalist who provided vocals and contributed to the debut album (The Flying Lizards (1979 album)) [1979]
• Robert Fripp - Guest musician who contributed to the ambitious second album Fourth Wall (Fourth Wall (1981 album)) [1981]
• Michael Nyman - Guest musician and composer who contributed to Fourth Wall (Fourth Wall (1981 album)) [1981]
• Julian Marshall - Keyboard player from the duo Marshall Hain, member of The Flying Lizards (The Flying Lizards (1979 album)) [1979]

External Links

• Spotify
• [Wikipedia](Not found in search results)