Everyone knows the hit song “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls. But even a passing listen to the band’s catalog reveals a wealth of amazing tunes, any one of which could become an instant earworm.
A Flock of Seagulls, still fronted by original vocalist Mike Score, performs at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Saturday, Dec. 2, and it’s a show not to be missed if you love stylish, moody synthesizers.
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 10, taking the album along with it.
A Flock of Seagulls’ “Space Age Love Song,” also from that 1982 debut album, peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard charts, and it was followed by “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” from the band’s sophomore album, Listen.
Watch the official music video for “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” by A Flock of Seagulls on YouTube:
The band soldiered onward with albums The Story of a Young Heart (1984) and Dream Come True (1986) before breaking up. Frontman Mike Score recruited new members and the band returned to the studio with The Light at The End of the World in 1995. In 2018, the classic AFOS lineup reunited to record Ascension, featuring orchestral versions of the band’s best-known songs. In 2021, the original four members gave the same treatment to songs selected by the band for the orchestral album String Theory.
A Flock of Seagulls
W/ Strangelove: The Depeche Mode Experience
The Fillmore Silver Spring
Saturday, Dec. 2
Doors @ 7pm
$29.50
All ages