A Flock of Seagulls

Infobox musical artist
Name = A Flock of Seagulls


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Liverpool, United Kingdom
Genre = New Wave, Synthpop, pop rock, New Romantic, electropop
Years_active = 1979 – 1986
1989 – present
Label = Cocteau, Jive
URL =
Current_members = Mike Score
Joe Rodríguez
Pando
Michael Brahm
Rob Koreman
Past_members = Ali Score
Frank Maudsley
Paul Reynolds

A Flock of Seagulls (also known as "Flock of Seagulls") are an English band originally formed by brothers Mike Score (keyboards, Vocals) and Ali Score (drums), with Frank Maudsley (bass) and Paul Reynolds (guitar). They became notable in the 1980s for their MTV video for the song "I Ran (So Far Away)".

Band history

Late 1970s

A Flock of Seagulls was started by Mike Score and his brother Ali in 1979 in Liverpool. Mike, who was previously a hairdresser, played keyboards, guitar, and Vocals, Ali played drums and their friend Frank Maudsley played bass. The band took their name from a line in the song "Toiler on the Sea" by The Stranglers, which appears on their album "Black and White".Smith, Steve "Bits and Pieces: the Penguin Book of Rock and Pop Facts and Trivia". Penguin, 1988 ISBN 0140107436The band added guitarist Willie Woo and Mark Edmondson joined briefly when Ali and Mike had a fall out with Ali re joining when Mark took ill. They then began writing songs. Soon later Willie left allowing Paul Reynolds to join. They then started playing clubs, and soon enough, they got a contract. The choice of their name was between "The Seagulls" and what it is today. A friend chose "A Flock of Seagulls" because it was a shorter name to write on first time gig posters.

1980s-1990s

Eventually, under the management of Harry Maguire Tommy Crossan and Mick Rossi (Checkmount Limited), they began to release singles through Jive Records.

Reynolds abruptly left A Flock of Seagulls, leaving the band a trio, and the band continued to tour. The Score brothers wanted to base the band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band was able to sell out four straight shows in Philadelphia. Mike and Ali Score and Frank Maudsley all applied for, and were conditionally awarded, green cards, and the three settled in Philadelphia.

Maudsley returned to Liverpool and is now the owner of a newsagent in the City Centre, while Mike and Ali Score stayed in Philadelphia. The brothers then had a falling out that resulted in Mike Score remaining as the sole original member of the band and Ali going to Boston, where he played in a hard rock band and then worked for a computer company in Cambridge.

During this time, two videos, "Who's That Girl" and "Heartbeat Like a Drum", were filmed in quick succession. These two videos were the last time the three remaining members were together in a recording or performance capacity until 2004.

Following the dissolution of the band in the wake of "Dream Come True", Mike Score resurfaced in a series of new bands with changing line-ups. The band released two singles ("Magic" and "Burnin' Up") and one album ("The Light at the End of the World") which achieved some success. The group made a cameo appearance in the 1999 movie "The Suburbans", starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Will Ferrell.

2000s

In 2003, A Flock of Seagulls performed for the unveiling of the Syracuse A-league football logo and team's name, Syracuse Salty Dogs, in Syracuse, New York. The band returned later that year for a performance at one of the Salty Dogs' games at Syracuse's P&C Stadium.

In November 2003, the original line-up (Mike and Ali Score, Paul Reynolds and Frank Maudsley) reunited for a one-off performance on the VH1 series, "Bands Reunited". In September 2004, they reformed again and played a small number of live shows in the United States, but broke up immediately afterward. The reunion included performances at Nike Run Hit Wonder, a series of 5000 and 10,000 metre road races, featuring popular one hit wonder bands (including Devo, General Public, and Tommy Tutone) playing along the race course.

Mike Score continues to tour under the band's name with a new line-up, but the other original members have retired from music. The band played a show at Classic Bowl in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The band plans on releasing a new album in 2007.

The band's 2005 lineup was Mike Score, lead singer, keyboards; Joe Rodriguez, lead guitarist; Pando, bassist; and Michael Brahm, drums. In June 2005, the current line-up appeared on the debut episode of the American edition of NBC's "Hit Me Baby One More Time". Besides performing their hit song "I Ran (So Far Away)", they also performed a cover of Ryan Cabrera's "On the Way Down".

The hit song "I Ran (So Far Away)" was featured in , , SingStar '80s, and a cover by Spacebar vs. Naughty G. in Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2.

The song "Space Age Love Song" was used in ,Kickin' It Old Skool, and a cover by No Motiv was used in Not Another Teen Movie.

Hairstyle

Mike Score's distinctive hairstyle has been mentioned, copied, and parodied many times in the media:
*In the American television sitcoms "Friends" (by Chandler and Ross joined a new wave band during their college years)

*In "That 70's Show".

*It was referred to in "Pulp Fiction".

*In the musical "The Wedding Singer" the character Sammy sings a line in the song "Saturday Night" referring to Mike Score's hair style: "Can't wait 'til chicks start flocking to my Flock of Seagulls hair".

*A Diet Pepsi commercial shows a man telling us that he wants to feel young again, then it shows a montage of the man with Score's hairstyle while the song "I Ran (So Far Away)" plays, but finding out it's a bad idea.

*In the song "Albuquerque" by "Weird Al" Yankovic, the song's main character encounters a hermaphrodite with a "Flock of Seagulls haircut" in which they both get involved in a violent scuffle for ownership of a "lucky, lucky autographed glow-in-the-dark snorkel."

*In a Supercuts commercial, a man enters a hair salon. After a few moments he notices that the only hairstyle given is Mike Score's famous haircut. (In the background, the sound of seagulls can be heard.)

*When Danny Pintauro came out of the closet, "The Daily Show" referred to his Flock of Seagulls haircut on "Who's the Boss?" as an indicator of his orientation.

*In the film "The Wedding Singer", Adam Sandler's character approaches an airline ticket agent who is sporting a Mike Score hairstyle. The ticket agent says "Do you like Flock of Seagulls?" with Sandler's reply, "I can see you do."

*In an XM Satellite Radio TV commercial, the logo's wavelengths take different shapes; one of which is Mike Score's hairstyle as the guitar riff for "I Ran (So Far Away)" plays on the background. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzTm8hXQc-E YouTube - Broadcast Yourself ] ]

*In the "Larry the Cable Guy" Christmas Special, Tony Orlando and Larry look at photographs of the past and sees a picture of Larry with Mike Score's hairstyle. Orlando says, "Look at that! The 80s!" Larry replies, "No, that was actually last year. I just like Flock of Seagulls."

*The band is referenced in "" when Austin Powers says "The 70s and the 80s? You're not missing anything, believe me. I've looked into it. There's a gas shortage and A Flock of Seagulls. That's about it."

Videos

In 1984, a VHS video, "Through the Looking Glass", was released in the UK. It contained A Flock of Seagulls songs from 1981-1984 and a brief interview. It is an extremely rare item.Fact|date=March 2008

Fact: In the music video for "The More You Live, The More You Love", you actually see a flock of seagulls flying in the sky. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slQopQQm9Xo&feature=related YouTube - Broadcast Yourself ] ]

Discography

* "A Flock of Seagulls" (1982) #10 US, #32 UK, #26 Germany, #32 SE
* "Listen" (1983) #16 US, #16 UK, #14 Germany, #44 SE
* "The Story of a Young Heart" (1984) #67 US, #30 UK, #31 Germany
* "Dream Come True" (1986)
* "The Light at the End of the World" (1995)

ingles

ee also

*1982 in music

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/aflockofseagulls Official MySpace site]
* [http://www.afosfanclub.com/ Fan Club site]