[A Flock of Decades] -- Due to movies, TV, and the Space Shuttle, the 1980s had something of a fascination with "space age." That simply meant folks were fascinated with things that looked or sounded ... space age. One band that capitalized on that fascination, at least briefly, was A Flock of Seagulls. A Flock of Seagulls formed in 1979 as a four-piece band: Mike Score (keyboards, vocals) and Ali Score (drums) formed the original lineup with Frank Lee Maudsley (bass) and Paul Reynolds (guitar). In a 2017 interview, Score said the band took their name from a song – "Toiler on the Sea" by the Stranglers – and the 1970 book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. And forty years ago this week, on April 30, 1982, this quartet released their self-titled debut album. Their debut recording is, according to some, a concept album about alien abduction [reference: The New Rolling Stone Album Guide; 4 Rev Updated edition 2004]. Looking back, maybe their hair had some alien interaction.
I was all of 14 years old when A Flock of Seagulls was released and I devoured it. I eventually owned the album on cassette and even had three of the four singles on 45. I still own one of those 45s. Two of the singles – "Modern Love Is Automatic" and "Telecommunication" – were released in late 1981, but still count as singles from A Flock of Seagulls as they were released to generate buzz. "Modern Love Is Automatic," which also appeared on the band's 1981 EP, failed to chart, at least as far as I can tell. "Telecommunication," the second single, did very well in the dance circuit, peaking at #19 on the U.S. Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The third single was the heavily popular "I Ran (So Far Away)," which hit the top ten in many countries, including three charts in the US: US Billboard Hot 100 (#9), US Billboard Dance/Disco Top 80 (#8), and US Billboard Top Tracks (#3). It failed, however, to dent the top 40 of the band's home country of the UK. Released fourth, "Space Age Love Song" didn't chart very well; it peaked at #30 in the US and #34 in the UK. But I still rank it as something of a personal favorite. After all, it's the single I still own on 45. Oh, and "Space Age Love Song" apparently earned its name because lead guitarist Paul Reynolds suggested it actually sounded like a space age love song.
The US track listing, which matches this post's embedded YouTube playlist, differs from the original UK track listing. Not only are the songs in a different order, but the UK release also includes an extra track: "Tokyo."
So, enjoy an album that turns 40 in the very same week in which I turn 54!
Flashback: A Flock of Seagulls (1982)
That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
Note: For this week's writeup, I leaned heavily on my three-song A Flock of Seagulls retrospective from November 2014. Looking back, that post was not as retrospective as I would have liked: It has one song from the debut album, which is covered in more detail in today's post, and two from the band's 1983 follow-up, Listen.
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