Flowered Up
| Flowered Up | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Camden Town, London, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Baggy, alternative dance, indie pop, neo-psychedelia |
| Years active | 1989–94 |
| Labels | Heavenly, London |
| Past members |
Liam Maher Tim Dorney Joe Maher Andy Jackson John Tuvey Barry Mooncult |
Flowered Up were a five-man British band, formed in Camden Town, London in the late 1980s. They were influential in the Baggy movement alongside "Madchester" bands Happy Mondays and Northside and were best known for their 13-minute single "Weekender".
Career
The band was formed in mid-1989 by singer Liam Maher, along with his younger brother Joe (guitar).[1] After a few changes in personnel, the settled line-up included Tim Dorney (keyboards), Andy Jackson (bass guitar), and John Tuvey (drums), with dancer Barry Mooncult adding to their live shows.[1] After releasing two singles ("It's On" and "Phobia") on Heavenly Records, both of which were minor hits, Flowered Up signed to London Records and recorded their only album, A Life With Brian, in 1991.[2] "Take It" had lyrics from Joe Strummer.[3] The group appeared on the covers of both Melody Maker and NME before releasing the album.[2]
A Life With Brian contained many of their popular live songs, as well as new versions of the previously released singles. Not long afterwards, Flowered Up released the 13-minute-long single "Weekender" on Heavenly,[2] with a video directed by W.I.Z. starring Lee Whitlock and Anna Haigh. Despite the group's - and Heavenly's - refusal to compromise on a standard-length edit for radio play (although two "radio edits" were circulated, neither really addressed the needs of radio programmers, as one was merely the full-length version but with the two instances of the phrase "fuck off" muted, while the other reduced the length of the intro, but still ran for over 12 minutes), the track went on to become their biggest hit, reaching number 20 in the UK singles chart. After much publicised drug problems with some members of the band, and unproductive (and some unreleased) studio work, the band split up. Keyboardist Tim Dorney went on to form Republica.[2]
A Life With Brian was re-released by London Records as The Best of Flowered Up, and included the original version of "Weekender". Flowered Up tried to re-form in 2007, but Dorney refused, and the planned reunion tour was cancelled.
On 20 October 2009, Liam Maher died of a heroin overdose, aged 41.,[4] followed in November 2012 by Joe Maher.[5]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Release date | Label | UK Albums Chart[6] |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Life with Brian | 1991 | London Records | 23 |
Singles
| Title | Release date | Label | UK Singles Chart[6] |
|---|---|---|---|
| "It's On" | 1990 | Heavenly Records | 54 |
| "Phobia" | 75 | ||
| "Take It" | 1991 | London Records | 34 |
| "It's On" (re-recorded version) / "Egg Rush" | 38 | ||
| "Weekender" | 1992 | Heavenly Records | 20 |
| "Don't Talk Just Kiss" (from the Right Said Fred covers EP The Fred EP) | 26 | ||
| "Better Life" (limited to 500 copies) | 1994 | - |
References
- 1 2 Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 742
- 1 2 3 4 "Biography by Heather Phares". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
- ↑ "Flowered Up - A Life With Brian (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
- ↑ Liam Maher's death
- ↑ Joe Maher's death
- 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 206. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.