A Flock of Seagulls



Hairdresser Mike Score (lead vocals, keyboards) formed A Flock of Seagulls with his brother Ali (drums) and fellow hairdresser Frank Maudsley (bass) in 1980, adding guitarist Paul Reynolds several months later. The group released its debut EP on Cocteau Records early in 1981, and while the record failed to chart, its lead track, "Telecommunication," became an underground hit in Euro-disco and new wave clubs. The band signed a major-label contract with Jive by the end of the year, and their eponymous debut album appeared in the spring of 1982. "I Ran (So Far Away)" was released as the first single from the album, and MTV quickly picked up on its icily attractive video, which featured long shots of Mike Score and his distinctive, cascading hair. The single climbed into the American Top Ten, taking the album along with it. In the U.K., "I Ran" didn't make the Top 40, but "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" reached number ten later that year; in America, that single became a Top 40 hit in 1983, after "Space Age Love Song" peaked at number 30. "Wishing" was taken from the group's second album, Listen (1983), which was moderately successful.

Mike Score's distinctive hairstyle, dubbed "the flock of seagulls" hairdo has been mentioned, copied, and parodied many times in the media even though the hairdo first appeared in Xanadu with the band The Tubes.

Their songs other than I Ran (So Far Away) include:


 * "(It's Not Me) Talking"
 * "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)"
 * "Nightmares"
 * Space Age Love Song
 * "The More You Live The More You Love"

A Flock of Seagulls has examples of


 * Anime Hair - It helps that Mike Score was a hairdresser.
 * Book Ends: The Story Of A Young Heart starts off with the title track and ends with a slight reprise of the song at the end of "Suicide Day".
 * Broken Record: "This is the story of a young heart, this is the story of a young heart..."
 * Concept Album: Attempted with The Story Of A Young Heart.
 * Creator Backlash
 * The Eighties - for a band that's largely known for one song, they're an icon from that decade.
 * Eighties Hair
 * Eyes of Gold: The girl in "I Ran" spoken of as having "auburn hair and tawny eyes".
 * MTV
 * Notable Music Videos
 * Performance Video
 * Popcultural Osmosis
 * Real Song Theme Tune
 * Signature Song - "I Ran (So Far Away)"