The Flys (UK band)
Encyclopedia
The Flys were a British punk rock
band that originally formed in 1976 in Coventry
, England
. After the self-release of their initial EP, Bunch of Fives, they were signed by EMI Records
. With EMI they released the albums Waikiki Beach Refugees and Own. In 1980 they changed labels to Parlophone
and soon disbanded.
, England
named Midnight Circus. Midnight Circus was composed of Dave Freeman (guitar
, vocals
), Joe Hughes (bass
), Neil O'Connor (vocals, guitar, keyboard
), and "a string of unnamed drummers". In 1976 their manager's brother, Pete King, joined in on drums
and Flys were born.
for the English punk band
the Buzzcocks
. In late 1977, with Lyn Dobson on saxophone
, they self-released the EP
Bunch of Five with the tracks "Saturday Sunrise", "Love and a Molotov Cocktail", "Can I Crash Here?", "Me and My Buddies", and "Just For Your Sex". The EP, particularly "Love and a Molotov Cocktail", caught the attention EMI Records
, a label that rejected Midnight Circus, who signed them to a deal.
of 1978". In March they would release the single "Fun City" which had another Bunch of Five track, "E.C.4.", as its b side
.
, Waikiki Beach Refugees, came on 17 October 1978. It contained the previously released track "Fun City", the future single "Oh Beverly", and the title track "Waikiki Beach Refugees" which EMI released as a single on yellow vinyl.
They would spend early 1979 sharing the bills with such acts as The Psychedelic Furs, the Pretenders, and Black Slate
. It was around this time that Pete King, who would later join After the Fire
, left the band and was replaced on drums by Graham Deacon. In April EMI released a compilation
of early punk 45s called The Rare Stuff that contained the three tracks from the EP Love and a Molotov Cocktail.
. With Parlophone they released an EP, Four from the Square, and a single, "What Will Mother Say?", before disbanding.
band, the Flys disbanded in 1980. In 1991 See for Miles Records
released a Flys compilation album, The Flys Buzz Back, and in 2001 Waikiki Beach Refugees was reissued with eight bonus tracks covering their brief history. Also in 1991, "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" was covered by the German band Die Toten Hosen
on their album Learning English, Lesson One
. Joe Hughes and David Freeman would work together again in the short-lived 1980s new wave band
The Lover Speaks
.
, referred to as 'poppy punk' and 'half-punk, half pop' is closer to the style of their actual playing.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band that originally formed in 1976 in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. After the self-release of their initial EP, Bunch of Fives, they were signed by EMI Records
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. With EMI they released the albums Waikiki Beach Refugees and Own. In 1980 they changed labels to Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
and soon disbanded.
Midnight Circus
Flys evolved from a band from CoventryCoventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
named Midnight Circus. Midnight Circus was composed of Dave Freeman (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
), Joe Hughes (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Neil O'Connor (vocals, guitar, keyboard
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
), and "a string of unnamed drummers". In 1976 their manager's brother, Pete King, joined in on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and Flys were born.
Early days
Their career began by regularly openingOpening act
An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...
for the English punk band
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
the Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
. In late 1977, with Lyn Dobson on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, they self-released the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Bunch of Five with the tracks "Saturday Sunrise", "Love and a Molotov Cocktail", "Can I Crash Here?", "Me and My Buddies", and "Just For Your Sex". The EP, particularly "Love and a Molotov Cocktail", caught the attention EMI Records
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, a label that rejected Midnight Circus, who signed them to a deal.
Early months with EMI
Their initial EMI release came on 20 January 1978, the EP Love and a Molotov Cocktail, which was a release of three of the tracks from Bunch of Fives; "Can I Crash Here?", "Civilization", and "Love and a Molotov Cocktail". "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" would also be released as a single, "the first undisputed classic 45Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
of 1978". In March they would release the single "Fun City" which had another Bunch of Five track, "E.C.4.", as its b side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
.
Waikiki Beach Refugees
The release of their first LPLP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, Waikiki Beach Refugees, came on 17 October 1978. It contained the previously released track "Fun City", the future single "Oh Beverly", and the title track "Waikiki Beach Refugees" which EMI released as a single on yellow vinyl.
They would spend early 1979 sharing the bills with such acts as The Psychedelic Furs, the Pretenders, and Black Slate
Black Slate
Black Slate are a reggae band based in the United Kingdom, and formed in 1974. They toured heavily around London and backed Jamaican musicians such as Dennis Brown, Delroy Wilson, and Ken Boothe when they played in the UK...
. It was around this time that Pete King, who would later join After the Fire
After the Fire
After the Fire are a British rock band that progressed from playing progressive rock to new wave over their initial twelve-year career, while having only one hit in the United States, and one hit in the United Kingdom .-Early career:Keyboard player Peter Banks originally formed the band in the...
, left the band and was replaced on drums by Graham Deacon. In April EMI released a compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of early punk 45s called The Rare Stuff that contained the three tracks from the EP Love and a Molotov Cocktail.
Own
Their second LP, Own, was released on 11 October 1979 and contained 14 new tracks and would be their last release on EMI. Own did not attract the attention that Waikiki Beach Refugees did and the band moved to Parlophone RecordsParlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
. With Parlophone they released an EP, Four from the Square, and a single, "What Will Mother Say?", before disbanding.
Aftermath
In the wake of the departure of Neil O'Connor, who joined his sister Hazel'sHazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
band, the Flys disbanded in 1980. In 1991 See for Miles Records
See For Miles Records
See for Miles Records is a British record label which distributed some of the records of Dandelion Records on CD in the 1990s. The name hints both to its owner Colin Miles and The Who's "I Can See for Miles."...
released a Flys compilation album, The Flys Buzz Back, and in 2001 Waikiki Beach Refugees was reissued with eight bonus tracks covering their brief history. Also in 1991, "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" was covered by the German band Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany.The band's name literally means "The Dead Pants" in English, although the phrase "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "nothing going on" or "boring"...
on their album Learning English, Lesson One
Learning English, Lesson One
Learning English, Lesson One or Learning English, Lesson 1 is the second cover album by the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. The album includes covers of mostly British bands, which were big influences for DTH.This is also the first all-English album for DTH, although the first English language...
. Joe Hughes and David Freeman would work together again in the short-lived 1980s new wave band
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
The Lover Speaks
The Lover Speaks
The Lover Speaks was the new wave duo of David Freeman , and Joseph Hughes . They sang the original version of the song "No More "I Love You's"", covered by Annie Lennox in 1995 on her Medusa album, taking it to #2 on the UK Singles Chart.Freeman and Hughes formed The Lover Speaks The Lover Speaks...
.
Influences and musical style
Although they were rooted in the 1970s British punk scene and influenced by The Damned and the Buzzcocks their music did not always fall into that mold. Pop punkPop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
, referred to as 'poppy punk' and 'half-punk, half pop' is closer to the style of their actual playing.
Members
- Dave Freeman – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Joe Hughes – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Neil O'Connor – vocals, guitar, keyboardElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
- Pete King – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Graham Deacon - drums
- Lyn Dobson – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Discography
- Bunch of Five EP 1975 (Zama)
- Love and a Molotov Cocktail EP 1978 (EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) - Waikiki Beach Refugees LP 1978 (EMI)
- Own LP 1979 (EMI)
- Four From the Square EP 1980 (ParlophoneParlophoneParlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
)
External links
- http://punkmodpop.free.fr/flysview.htm Interview: Neil O'CONNOR - The FLYS - August 2007