Saturday, November 23, 2019

When the Wild Flowers Nearly Bloomed

Have been spending lots of time in the W section of the vinyl collection. Dusted off and resurrected these two 12" singles from 1985 and 1986. David Newton co-founded this band in 1983 but moved on to form the Mighty Lemon Drops in 1985. He was replaced by Dave Atherton, and the band signed on to the legendary indie label Chapter 22. Bands on the roster at that time included, among others, Mighty Mighty, the Mission, Pop Will Eat Itself, Suicide and the Pastels.

It's a funny thing that Newton wasn't on these two singles because they sound an awful lot like the Mighty Lemon Drops, particularly "A Kind of Kingdom." By extension, Echo & the Bunnymen may come to mind as well since the Mighty Lemon Drops always sounded a lot like Ian and the gang. Both of these songs would eventually reappear on the 1987 long player 'Dust.' The Wild Flowers never had a hit on the UK indie charts in the '80s, but they did garner enough attention to sign a deal with Slash Records in America. They were the first ever British act to do so. Prepare to pogo.

A Kind of Kingdom
It Ain't So Easy

5 comments:

C said...

I totally missed out on these at the time but know I would've had to have them if I'd heard them then - as you say, can certainly hear shades of E & the Bunnymen and the Mighty Lemon Drops.

Brian said...

Hi, C. I think you have mentioned you used to order all of that Cartel stuff for the shop, and this falls under that umbrella. I honestly don't know how well known the Wild Flowers were in your neck of the woods, but I'm guessing not very. As you would expect, they were not known over here either... even with the eventual signing to Slash. I only knew of them because of I liked other bands on Chapter 22. Still, I enjoyed listening to these singles yesterday. Thanks for chiming in.

Howard said...

Hey Brian,

Fine post! These are the only two The Wild Flowers tracks I knew and was surprised to see such several LPs isn their catalog. Went and checked out the first two singles and reminds me of Blue in Heaven a bit but that sound just oozes of the time. Definitely hearing the shift post-Newton. Anything from then you highly recommend from '88 onward?

Enjoy all that free time in October without Cubs playoff ball? Me neither.

--Howard

Brian said...

Hi, Howard. Good to hear from you. Only my opinion, but I feel the Chapter 22 material is their peak. As for the Cubs, my gut says the slide will continue. That window slammed shut in a hurry, didn't it? I will miss Joe, but the September slumps the past two seasons are all the proof you need that a change was necessary. Could be a very different team by spring training. Keep up the good work at IPSML. We have a shared love for the Wild Swans and The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years. That album felt like a miracle.

manics1865 said...

Saw these as a support band, they where magnificent, have Dust on record, what a great record that is, love the site x