Flying Lizards - Money (single version)

March 31st, 2005 by Rachelandthecity

I need to let you know a little summin about myself - I am a late bloomer. I wasn’t into Radiohead until yeeears after all the initial MTV hype wore off, I just learned how to braid my own hair a few months ago, and I never had the mind to find out the name of the band who made one of my all time favorite quirky tunes. That is, until about two nights ago. I was perusing through a friend’s CD collection, didn’t see much I knew, as he has a wonderfully eclectic collection, and I finally just said “play me something off”. He did just that. Two tracks later I am giggling myself silly, all while nodding to the off-centred groove when a song came on, and at the first three sharp beats I knew exactly what it was and had one of those overdone little fits while the 80’s came rushing back like an old Eurythmics album. It was “that song”!

So now on to the band in question - The Flying Lizards. Since I was a complete tard on who these guys were, I had to do some digging. They were a three member outfit from the early 80’s that had a different approach to life and music. They were the brian child of one David Cunningham. A man with more of a focus on creating experimental pieces in lue of pop. They helped paved the way for avantgard art-rock with their disjointed sound and revolutionized rock. David was a bit ahead of his time - but lived in it very well, using his music to comment on the state of the econmic and social-political world around him.

They also took their hand at covering well known older pop hits - a whole albums worth, named “Top Ten”(check out the bonus song). All of which come off as deeply amusing and a parody of more than just the song, but the time period as well.

An ironic bit about the posted song:
“It seems fitting, somehow, that The Flying Lizards’ “Money” should have cost so little and made so much. Forget about expensive studio gadgets and weeks of rehearsal time - “Money” was recorded in an industrial meat fridge, using a technique called “Prepared Piano” (which means chucking things like ashtrays, tape cassettes and paperweights onto the strings to get that tinny ‘banjo’ sound). And it cost less that £6.50 to record, yet it sold more copies in the last year than any other singles released by Virgin records.” Oh yeah, and it was recorded with just a 4-track tape machine.

Bonus - Sex Machine (from the album Top Ten)