AFOS | Hairspray & synthesizers
It made sense that Mike Score, half of the founding brother duo (with Ali, who played drums) of Flock of Seagulls, was once a hairdresser. It was pop music’s greatest version of the combover – which Mike solidified and kept in place with a half a can of hairspray – that became the what the band was best known for.
New wavers and 80s fans remember more about “I Ran,” the band’s biggest hit (and one of MTV’s most memorable, and strange, early videos, which you can see below). It was recorded as part of the band’s self-titled 1982 album and reached #9 in the U. S. and #1 in Australia. Interestingly enough, the song didn’t hit the top 40 in the band’s native United Kingdom. (The band’s follow-up album, “Listen,” had a song I liked as much, “Wishing (I Had a Photograph of You)”.)
Mike Score still tours with a version of AFOS (the band is “Flock of Seagulls,” but also known as “A” Flock…) today. A very memorable edition of VH1’s “Bands Reunited” in 2003 brought him and his original bandmates back together for a brief time; at the time, Ali Score was working in Cary, N. C., in a manufacturing plant.
Song: I RAN
Artist: Flock of Seagulls
Year: 1982
Where I heard it: on the store sound system in Cary’s Cold Stone Creamery with my kids
Posted by bhorner3 
