![]() We did not see music as a business proposition at the time. “It did happen too fast for us, Paul in particular found that difficult. The trappings of mega-fame may now be behind him, but Maudsley says he’s happy back where he started in Norris Green with his family. “We did Madison Square Garden three times in front of 100,000 people.” It was one of the best days of my life – playing to 250-300,000 people, supporting David Bowie! “We did this big desert festival in America, Duran Duran and Yazoo went on before us. “There are kids who’d give their right arm to do what we’ve done. ![]() “I was a just a kid on the street when we started and I can look back and say this is all I have achieved,” he says. Space Age fashion: Ali Score, Paul Reynolds, Mike Score and Frank MaudsleyĬackling at the memories, Maudsley admits he still pinches himself at what he and the band accomplished. Ascension is their first studio album together since 1984. Mike Score would continue to tour and release records under The Flock of Seagulls monicker with different line-ups, but the original four members would not play together again until VH1 reunited them in 2003. Reynolds was replaced by Gary Steadman, but he also left shortly after the band’s third album ‘Dream Come True’.īy then A Flock Of Seagulls were past their critical and commercial peak and with sales dwindling, the band tried re-locating to Philadelphia.īut when Maudsley grew disenchanted with living in America the band eventually dissolved in 1986. ![]() Mentally and physically exhausted, he quit the band in 1983 after suffering a breakdown. The group’s youngest member – wunderkind guitarist Paul Reynolds, struggled most with the pressures of fame. However, even at the height of their success in 1982, cracks we beginning to appear, with the brothers in the band – Mike and drummer Ali Score –frequently at loggerheads. I was attracted to the dark side of the Seagulls – things like Suicide Day and Remember David, because that’s what fitted in best with my writing.” “If anyone had an idea we would all work to develop it – the song was the most important thing. Mike Score was the principal songwriter, but Maudsley insists all four contributed to the songs. To begin with they were a tight-knit unit, partially held together by Maudsley’s pranks and wisecracks. The band’s rapid success demanded constant touring and all the pressures and excess that went with it. Mike Score’s iconic hairdo was copied by Chandler from Friends “And that was it – the hairstyle – we massaged it a bit so that it looked a seagull – and that was the look.”ĭespite attracting its fair share of ridicule, the hairstyle made Score and the Seagulls instantly recognisable ’80s icons, on a par with Boy George or Adam Ant. ![]() “I didn’t want to go on stage in two minutes looking like a disaster – so I pushed him away from the mirror and the front of his hair went down and the sides went up. Mike was backcombing his hair and we all wanted to get to the mirror to do our hair, get our make-up on,” he remembers. “We were getting ready for a gig in Trinidad, it was in a miserable, dirty old dressing room. It’s a story Maudsley has told many times before, but doesn’t seem to tire of sharing. Key to that look was Score’s outrageous hairstyle, which was created by accident shortly before a gig in the West Indies. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push(,” he explains.”Video Killed The Radio Star – know what I mean?” Happily settled back in his beloved Liverpool, he’s determined not to let a little thing like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy get in the way of the band’s comeback tour. A Flock of Seagulls clockwise: Mike Score, Ali Score, Paul Reynolds and Frank Maudsleyīut now, having first been brought back together by VH1‘s Bands Reunited in 2003, A Flock of Seagulls have returned with Ascension a series of orchestral re-workings of some of their most famous songs, along with a brand new title track.įor bassist Frank Maudsley, however, the band’s revival has been bittersweet, coming not long after he was diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening heart condition. They achieved rapid fame – perhaps too rapid in retrospect, burning brightly but briefly – the original quartet releasing just two albums before imploding in a whirl of breakdowns and inter-band rivalries. With their futuristic sound and frontman Mike Score’s outlandish haircut, A Flock of Seagulls were as synonymous with the eighties as yuppies, ET and DeLorean cars.
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