The Flying Lizards: Discography: Money and Other Love Songs CD:
Money and Other Love Songs: The Flying Lizards Compilation
Note: This was a tentatively planned release in the late 90's, and has been shelved. For the curious: in 2010, Cherry Records in the UK released a wonderfully remastered double CD of the first two Flying Lizards albums, including many extra tracks, and booklet with archival photos and new interviews.
Description: this is a compilation of Flying Lizards material that was planned but shelved.
It contains past hits by the Lizards (some in never released versions), "The Laughing Policeman" single and some nice B-sides and odds and ends. Most notably however, the CD will contain four never released songs culled from different recording sessions; "You Really Got Me" (1986), "Fly Me To The Moon" (1984), "I've Got You Under My Skin" (recorded in1991) and "Wipe Out" (1983 - can't wait to hear this one). The last three appear to contain male vocals only - unusual for The Flying Lizards. Cover art: the splashing milk image (originally used for the 'Summertime Blues' single and UK version of first LP).
Track listing and breakdown:
01) Money [2:28]
voice - Deborah
prepared piano - Julian Marshall
drums and guitar - David Cunningham
backing voices The Random Brothers
recorded 1979; Julian's front room, cold storage and The Cold Room, London
02) Then He Kissed Me [2:54]
voice - Sally Peterson
strings - Elisabeth Perry and Alexander Balanescu
percussion - Peter Gordon
percussion, keyboard and guitar - D.C.
recorded 1984; The Cold Room and Outside, London
03) Summertime Blues [3:13]
voices -Michael Upton, Deborah
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1976; AV Studio, Kent
04) Suzanne [5:30]
voice - Sally Peterson
strings - Elisabeth Perry and Alexander Balanescu
keyboards and percussion - D.C.
recorded 1983; The Cold Room, London
05) Dizzy Miss Lizzie [2:05]
voice - Sally Peterson
piano - Julian Marshall
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1983; Julian's front room and The Cold Room, London
06) Fly Me To The Moon [3:04]
voice - Kristoffer Blegvad
bass, piano drone and keyboard -John Greaves
percussion and guitars - D.C.
recorded 1984; The Cold Room, London
07) You Really Got Me [4:04]
voice - Sally Peterson
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1986; The Cold Room, London
previously unreleased
08) Sex Machine [4:34]
voices - Michael Upton, Sally Peterson
piano - Julian Marshall
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1984; The Cold Room, London
previously unreleased mix
09) Tears [4:31]
voice - Sally Peterson
piano - Steve Beresford
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1984; The Cold Room, London
10) The Laughing Policeman [3:13]
voice - Kit Hain
bass - Steve Beresford
guitar - David Toop
drums - Dave Solomon
mouth organ, guitars and radio - D.C.
recorded 1980; Townhouse and Berry St. Studio, London
11) Tutti Frutti [2:39]
voice - Sally Peterson
bass guitar - John Greaves
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1984; The Cold Room, London
12) TV [4:42]
voice - Deborah
bass, organ and tibetan voice -Steve Beresford
guitar and tibetan voice - David Toop
drums - Dave Solomon
backing voices - General Strike
mouth horn and verys - Julian Marshall
recorded 1979; Berry St. Studio, The Cold Room, London
13) I've Got You Under My Skin [4:28]
voice - Kristoffer Blegvad
keyboard - John Greaves
guitars and orchestration - D.C.
recorded 1991; The Cold Room, London
previously unreleased
Appendix - B sides and other manifestations:
14) Wipe Out [3:04]
reverse voice, guitars and snare -Ned Sublette
keyboard, saxophones and snare -Peter Gordon
guitar solo and percussion - D.C.
recorded 1983; Aquarius, Geneva
previously unreleased
15) Flesh and Steel [3:20]
found voices and machines - D.C.
recorded 1984; The Cold Room, London
16) Shake [3:32]
recorded by Jah Lloyd and his musicians, date and location unknown
additions and reworking by D.C. at The Cold Room, London 1979
17) Dizzy [3:29]
piano fragments - Julian Marshall
the rest - D.C.
recorded 1984; julian's front room and the cold room, london
18) All Guitars [2:39]
everything -dc
recorded 1976; AV Studio, Kent
19) Money (12" version) [6:10]
voice - Deborah
prepared piano - Julian Marshall
drums and guitar - David Cunningham
backing voices The Random Brothers
recorded 1979; Julian's front room, cold storage and The Cold Room, London
Sleeve notes:
In 1978 Dave Fudger wrote in his sleeve note to The Flying Lizards' first single, "Summertime Blues"; "The first time I heard The Flying Lizards, almost a year ago, the country was in grave economic difficulties. Twelve months later the Lizards have brought their petulant minimalism to the public ear and the country is still in economic difficulties." As this compilation appears some years later the country is still in economic difficulties but music has changed. There is more noise in pop and the noise of The Flying Lizards, in their petulantly minimalist way contributed to this change, inadvertently inspiring others towards the "anyone can do it" or "have a go" school of music which seems to be alive and well within rap, rave, neo-punk, post-ambient and the horribly mutated cover version. The press release for that first single refers to "...the entirely novel combination of a synthesizer and a pile of cardboard boxes which attempt to replace the role of a conventional drum kit. This engendered a recording process where the instruments were played without any regard for what they actually sound like, the group being under the assumption that it would sound all right when put through the wonderful electronic hardware that we find in the best recording studios".The recording situation involved a number of elements that were then unusual but are now widespread: domestic recording (taking the tape recorder to the music) misuse of studio equipment (too much to go into here) contextual mix of musics (the stylistic mix of bits of dub reggae, disco, John Cage... the unlikely combinations of musicians) avant-garde techniques (prepared piano, tape loops, invented instruments and so on).
When does music stop being termed avant-garde and start being called silly?
The Flying Lizards is the name adopted by producer David Cunningham to indulge his megalomaniac desires to make pop records (and to play with possibilities which were difficult to introduce into his other, more formal work). The constant shift of personnel can be attributed not only to the megalomania but also to foster the idea of a band that wasn't a band - that could do anything, that could be a heavy metal outfit on one record and Abba on the next (more interesting, the possibility of being both at the same time). Perhaps this never worked but the possibilities that came out of this bizarre constraint were equally worthwhile. To Cunningham, pop music stardom is not interesting; his personality is unsuited to the conventional showbiz idea of what a pop group should do; in combination with his complete inability to sing in tune or play the same thing more than once leaves him little option but to invent some other strategy to interfere with pop music.
These strategies generally involved a number of miscalculations; the chart success of "Money" left record company and producer taken by surprise; the immediate consequence was that the first LP by The Flying Lizards had to be recorded in a couple of weeks. There is little of that material on this CD - many of those studio experiments had embarrassing results and the stronger tracks don't fit well in the cover version context of this CD.
The second LP (a collaboration between Cunningham and songwriter Patti Palladin which will eventually appear in a revised form under the name 'David Cunningham/Patti Palladin - Fourth Wall') was not particularly silly, got great reviews from the clever chaps in the music press and was never heard of again (except in Japan). The third LP "Top Ten", (being ten cover versions) was released in 1984 after a year's delay and re-recording occasioned by contractual problems.
Contemporary with the recording of "Money" was a then unreleased album of dub reggae "The Secret Dub Life Of The Flying Lizards", finally released in 1996, which provides "Shake" in the appendix to this compilation alongside a selection of the curiously relentless B sides which appeared on the singles.
photography:
cover photograph - Richard Rayner-Canham
booklet photographs by Garrard Martin, Tiaré Ferrari, Richard Rayner-Canham
and Anton Corbijndesign - Jon Wozencroft
sleeve notes - Kaikan Uchotenproduced by David Cunningham
Availability: Not being released.