Today’s post has more than one song featured. That’s all down to my abject failure to previously fully recognise and acknowledge the contribution made by The Flowers to the post-punk music scene in Scotland. It was something I wasn’t fully aware of until I went along to see the world premiere of Big Gold Dream back in 2015.
Flowers formed in 1978, and were part of a strong Edinburgh scene which spawned bands such as Scars, Josef K and The Fire Engines. The line-up eventually settled around Hilary Morrison aka Hl Ray (vocals), Andy Copland (guitar), Fraser Sutherland (bass) and Simon Best (drums).
The band contributed two tracks to the first Earcom compilation released by Fast Product in 1979, and recorded two singles across 79/80 for the Pop Aural label. There was also a John Peel session.
Like many others who were initially inspired by punk, the band got a bit disillusioned after the first wave of euphoria had died off and they soon called it a day in the summer of 1980 shortly after the release of their second single.
Here’s a selection from what was, in the end, a catalogue of just six songs, albeit some were recorded more than once for different releases:-
mp3 : The Flowers – After Dark (Earcom compilation)
mp3 : The Flowers – Confessions (debut single)
mp3 : The Flowers – The Ballad of Miss Demeanour (second single)
It sounds like Joy Division and/or Gang of Four being fronted by a Scottish Lene Lovich. The song from the Earcom compilation is a genuine long-lost classic with its bitter lyric about a post-disco sexual encounter gone horribly wrong….
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 