The
Flying Lizards
LP (US version)
(US) 1979 Virgin Records,
Inc. (VA13137) - Produced by David Cunningham
Side A
01) Der
Song von Mandelay [2:27] [Bertold Brecht/Kurt Weill]
(the UK version titles this song 'Mandelay Song')
02) Her
Story [4:37] [General / Strike / Goldman / Solomon / Cunningham
/ Evans]
03) TV
[3:51] [General / Strike / Solomon / Cunningham / Evans]
04) Russia
[6:11] [Cunningham]
05) Summertime
Blues [3:09] [E. Cochran / J. Capeheart]
Side B
06) Money
(That's What I Want) [5:52] [Barry Gordy Jr. / Janie Bradford]
07) The
Flood [4:57] [Cunningham]
08) Trouble
[2:46] [Cunningham]
09) Events
During The Flood [3:25] [Cunningham]
10) The
Window [4:52] [Cunningham]
Sleeve notes:
Recorded at Berry Street and Brixton,
London
Engineered by Dave Hunt and David Cunningham
Sleeve by Laurie Rae Chamberlain (xerography),
Richard Rayner-Canham (photography) and David Cunningham
Description:
Thanks
to the break-away success of the "Money (That's What I Want)" single,
this Dada/Fluxus inspired debut album by The Flying Lizards became an instant
sleeper (even being released on 8 track!), and ultimately made it onto
a certain generation's list of "favorite albums of all time" because of
it's catchy humor and accessibly abstract qualities. Arty and erratic,
but somehow symmetrical, this album has everything from irreverent Zappa/Residents
humor and catchy Kraftwerk robotics, to Eno sound-scapes and chilly, Joni
Mitchell-esque ballads framed in Cage found-sound hi-jinks. The postmodern
subjects of the album are often presented in a quirky and robotic sound
that
was appropriate for (and slightly ahead of) it's time. Yet for the Lizards,
even when the sound of the music is stop/start herky-jerky and Devo-esque,
it's mid tempo sound is heavily reverb-ed, spacious and soothing. In some
of the album's brightest moments, themes of 80's materialism and Orwellian
prophecy are conveyed not with synths, samples and deconstructed 4/4 beats,
but with sounds of breezy dub, homemade percussion and the hum-able summer
dusk ambiance of your favorite modern suburb.
Side one confidently
starts off with an obnoxious version of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill's
"Mandelay
Song". Any radio friendly listeners scared off by this screetching
decoy probably shouldn't stick around anyway. Using machine gun-speed piano,
clattering snare drum, mock-operetic vocals by Deborah Lizard (real name:
Deborah Evans) and a horn section that sounds like it's played by suffering
asthmatics - it almost ends up as a reverent version of a song that is
so inappropriate anyway that it ends up doing a conceptual double flip
- a perfect way to start the record. This is sharply contrasted by
the next two numbers;
"Her Story" and "TV" are both harmonious
little tunes despite the delicate cacophony created by found-object drums,
wah-wah guitar, smatterings of computer data and delicious vocals by Deborah.
The lyrics mix Reganomics with feminist anthems and bohemian clichés,
Deborah singing "...you can still make money by singing sweet songs of
love" and Cunningham comrade Julian Marshall chiming in to repeat "I think
you're very... very... very... very... very...
" until long after the song has ended. The roots and "feel" of later music
groups such as Stereolab, Saint Etienne and Portishead can inarguably be
traced back to the Lizard's odd vision through this LP, exemplified perfectly
by these two tracks (however the Lizards would prove, despite their brief
and sporadic existence, to be a bit more imaginative that all those artists
combined). Almost ending off side one, the next (very long) piece,
"Russia",
is a strange marching song rant with David and crew slowly chanting Sanskrit
to marching (dub-inspired) bass and snare drum, with oddly sequenced samples
weaving in and out of the robotic rhythm..
Now, the first time
I heard the Lizards' cover of
"Summertime Blues" I stated that Deborah's
vocal stylings sounded like that of a kidnap victim being forced to sing
at gunpoint over the telephone by her captors in order to prove her still
living status to her rich loved ones, the fear and apprehension in (and
mere presence of) her vocal cords canceling out any need for harmony or
key (or singing). "Summertime Blues" was really Cunningham's "Pop
Culture Blues", the first official Lizards song, this deconstruction of
the hallowed Eddie Cochran anthem wanted to comment on (and probably rip
the rug out from under) the mechanics of classic rock and roll, but also
pay it's own warped homage to the new industrialized and suburban society
that spawned it. Deborah's deadpan, disembodied recitation of the famous
lyrics over David's ironic drum/guitar/piano interpretation of the classic
beat sounds like a high school youth anthem intended for the captain of
the football team that was hijacked at the last minute by that brainy,
mis-fit girl who sat in the back of art class in an act of square peg defiance.
Side two starts out
with the Lizards' now (in)famous cover of the Bary Gordy Jr./Janie Bradford/Beatles
tune "Money (That's What I Want)". If you haven't heard it (and
there can't be too many of you), it's a post-structuralist act of appropriation
that ironically out-smarted it's de-ducers by becoming a rock and roll
classic of it's own kind. Building itself on the mischievous ground work
that "Summertime Blues" laid down (but this time with more confidence
- and better recording techniques), the song successfully mixes heavily
reverb-ed bass, booming drum (reportedly recorded live in a large room
with a single microphone, achieving it's echo-y sound because the cord
wasn't long enough to get close to the drum), guitar, piano, loud handclap
crashes (slamming doors?) and sci-fi bleeps and bloops. This serves as
the backing track for Deborah's now trademark mannequin singing and ghost-like
"whoooo-whoooo" backing vocals by "The Random Brothers". It's hard
to put your finger on why, but it all makes for an infectious and instantly
likable (laughable?) groove that is easy to plug into, probably because
of rather than despite it's strategic lunacy. Even kids from middle American
roller rinks who didn't know the Beatles from Duchamp could dance to the
song's wickedly funky beat, which they did in record numbers. And even
though David Cunningham might have had a saboteur's agenda with this song
in Beatles-proud England, on the other side of the Atlantic it made an
early 80's America (giddy with their first tastes of 'new wave' and ravenous
for more) want to wear a garbage bag and 3-D glasses, spray their hair
green and dance like a robot in front of a Warhol painting, which they
also did in record numbers. This song's inclusion on a zillion and counting
"80's" music compilations and film soundtracks attests to it's forever-icon
status. The album version of the song is quite lengthy and after it finishes
it's homage, goes into a long instrumental jam of sorts that mixes sound
effects and found samples (just what is that talk about appearing between
the speakers anyway?) around the skull-thud beat.
The album takes a surprisingly
pleasant turn from that point. "The Flood",
"Trouble" and
the super-soporific
"Events During the Flood" are three pulsing,
Krautrock-ish, and very effective ambient sound-scapes that mix Eno qualities
with pulsing throbs (a heartbeat on 'Trouble'?), floating poly rhythms,
peppers of samples, wailing/whispering vocals that sound like they were
recorded in a far-off canyon (they are indeed there on 'The Flood'
- listen again), and a hundred other layers that slowly reveal themselves
over repeated listens. Done with drummers from This Heat and The Pop Group,
the bass player from Aswad and final mixing and arrangement (and vocals?)
by Cunningham - the results are an excellent and effective triptych.
The album's closing
track, "The Window", is many people's favorite song on the record.
A surreal ballad written and sung by British music journalist Vivien Goldman,
it has chilly lyrics about a girl sitting in her room while her possibly
un-dead ex-boyfriend sits outside the window watching her. Does he want
to kill her? Will she find the strength to fight? Did she remember to the
lock the door tight? Should she just remain motionless? Is it all just
in her head? "Sometimes I think he's a vampire/He's making holes to drain
blood..." Vivien alternativley whispers and sings with remarkable aplomb.
It probably should sound scary but it's somehow heart warming. Maybe it
could have been the theme song to Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" - the melody
and lyrics echoing inside Catherine Deneuve's head as she sits in her flat,
arms reaching out for her from the walls and ceiling. Vivien's haunting
vocal style, over tinkering piano melody and a percussion section that
sounds like gently clapping cinder blocks, closes out the album with a
spine chilling stun. Towards the end of the song, when the music stops
momentarily and Viv's relaxed "doot-doot, doot do-do-do-do-do's" kick in
- everyone in the room's got goose bumps.
And what of the quiet
sounds that secretly inhabit the spaces between the songs? The between-track
noises credited to "Additional recordings made in Munich, Maidstone and
in transit" on the sleeve (the UK version of the sleeve bothered to credit
them anyway)? In the end they're just one more strange layer. They actually
give the album even more breathing room, more psychic space between the
speakers as it were. It's like you're witnessing the whole record performed
live in a large concert hall: the ever-so-quiet footsteps, creaking doors,
snippets of conversations, outside street roar and birds being the awkward,
incidental noises heard by an audience that isn't quite sure if it's supposed
to applaud or not between the numbers. How appropriate.
Availability:
LP
is out of print but is easy to find, especially on the web. Also still
available as a Japanese import CD.
The
Flying Lizards
LP (UK version)
(UK) 1980 Virgin Records
/ Polygram Records Ltd. (VA2150) - Produced by David Cunningham
NOTE: an additional
1980 UK pressing exists that has the US version of the outside sleeve artwork
(inner sleeve unknown), it has the same title/catalogue code (VA2150),
and this particular pressing has inscriptions on the vinyl inner groove
(see below)*
outer sleeve:
inner sleeve:
Side A
01) Mandelay
Song [2:27] [Bertold Brecht/Kurtweill]
02) Her
Story [4:37] [General / Strike / Goldman / Solomon / Cunningham
/ Evans]
03) TV
[3:51] [General / Strike / Solomon / Cunningham / Evans]
04) Russia
[6:11] [Cunningham]
05) Summertime
Blues [3:09] [E. Cochran / J. Capeheart]
Side B
06) Money
(That's What I Want) [5:52] [Barry Gordy Jr. / Janie Bradford]
07) The
Flood [4:57] [Cunningham]
08) Trouble
[2:46] [Cunningham]
09) Events
During The Flood [3:25] [Cunningham]
10) The
Window [4:52] [Cunningham]
Sleeve notes:
Recorded at Berry Street and Brixton,
London
Engineered by Dave Hunt and David Cunningham
Additional recordings made in Munich,
Maidstone and in transit
Sleeve by Laurie Rae Chamberlain (xerography),
Richard Rayner-Canham (photography) and David Cunningham
Inner sleeve notes:
"is demystification the natural result
of the exposure of a dilemma? you cannot really 'expose' a dilemma unless
you actually create the situation that brings it into relevance. and sometimes
all you can do is to change the context in which the dilemma is seen sufficiently
to disable whatever functional relationship the components of the dilemma
were in and thereby unmask it. this could be seen as a negative action."
*Inscriptions on vinyl (pressing with US version of sleeve art only): side a: "CAMOFLAGE" "BALANCE" side B: "ACTIVITY" "DILEMMA"
Description: UK version of album has different front cover using photo of Deborah splashing herself with glass of milk, and a color inner sleeve with additional "xerography" and photos of David looking at Deborah(?) on a TV screen, plus the paragraph about "dilemmas" quoted above. All music and sounds are identical to US release.
Availability:
Out
of print collector's item. This UK pressing of the album is hard to find.
Also still available as a Japanese import CD.
The
Flying Lizards
Compact Disc
(Japan) 1995 Virgin
VJCP-17501 - Produced by David Cunningham
track
listing same as above, plus adds three bonus tracks:
01) Mandelay
Song [2:27] [Bertold Brecht/Kurtweill]
02) Her
Story [4:37] [General / Strike / Goldman / Solomon / Cunningham
/ Evans]
03) TV
[3:51] [General / Strike / Solomon / Cunningham / Evans]
04) Russia
[6:11] [Cunningham]
05) Summertime
Blues [3:09] [E. Cochran / J. Capeheart]
06) Money
(That's What I Want) [5:52] [Barry Gordy Jr. / Janie Bradford]
07) The
Flood [4:57] [Cunningham]
08) Trouble
[2:46] [Cunningham]
09) Events
During The Flood [3:25] [Cunningham]
10) The
Window [4:52] [Cunningham]
extra tracks:
11) All
Guitars [2:41] [Cunningham]
12) Tube
[5:09] [General / Strike / Solomon / Cunningham]
13) Money
(Single Edit) [2:32] [Barry Gordy Jr. / Janie Bradford]
Recorded at Berry Street and Brixton, London
Engineered by Dave Hunt and David Cunningham
Additional recordings made in Munich,
Maidstone and in transit
Sleeve by Laurie Rae Chamberlain (xerography),
Richard Rayner-Canham (photography) and David Cunningham
Description:CD
booklet uses US version of album artwork, plus adds some 1995 commentary
on the group (all in Japanese), all the lyrics (in English and Japanese),
plus some unusual photos of David and Patti Palladin (but none of Deborah?).
Bonus tracks: "All
Guitars" (the B side to the original "Summertime Blues" 7" single)
is a scrappy, abstract instrumental that uses de-tuned guitars and what
sounds like snares and plastic buckets being used as percussion. Midway
through the song, a very loud synthesizer tone (or maybe a tuba or french
horn?) comes blaring into the mix. "Tube" (the B-side to the "TV"
7" single) is an echo-y, reverbified, mixed down (and longer) instrumental
of "TV" with some additional horn playing. Only vocal: just one single
"very..." added after the song has ended. The "Money (Single Edit)"
simply fades out after 2:23, like the 7" mix.
note: apparently the Toshiba-EMI Japan CD releases of the first LP and "Fourth Wall" were put together without David Cunningham's knowledge, were not approved sonically by him and supposedly the sleeve notes and photos are inaccurate.
Availability:Still
in print, available from Amazon.com, CDNow, etc., or a specialty store.
The
Flying Lizards
LP (Japanese pressing)
(Japan) 1980 Victor
(VIP-6950) - Produced by David Cunningham
Description: Japanese pressing of vinyl LP (done in 1980?) uses US sleeve artwork. Pressing has white label, and includes a large black and white booklet with liner notes and (somewhat innacuratley translated) lyrics. Much of the booklet is reproduced in the Virgin Japan CD re-issue booklet.
Availability: Out of print collector's item, very, very hard to find.