bIG fLAME - another pivotal moment

this was the first bIG fLAME record i bought.
i had recently heard them in session on the john peel show. it was a session that included a cover version of 'wake me up before you go-go". that's what got me first i think. that use of a huge pop hit - not quite mangling it, but certainly f*cking with it's innards.

soon afterwards i got hold of this:


and at that moment bIG fLAME became my favourite band in the world.
and they still are.
they are a yardstick by which i measure a lot of things - mainly my own music.

you see, to me bIG fLAME are a pop band. they made two minute slices of sheer unadulterated joy.
each song just xPLODES!
and whether you like it or not young pop-picker, bIG fLAME songs are full of tUNES.
mELODIES underpin the lyrics - and they're great lyrics.
it's just that bIG fLAME did all this at about 300 miles per hour, threw in some odd time signatures, and used a guitar sound thinner - no, not thinner - LEANER, than you imagined possible.
but it is POP!

i never saw them live, though i know someone who did - and, though he's a very dear friend, i hate him for it.