This new wave electro-pop act from Liverpool, England, had remarkable success in the USA before finding a large following in Britain.
Originally called Tontrix the band comprised Mike Score (keyboards, vocals), Ali Score (drum machine, vocals), Paul Reynolds (guitar) and Frank Maudsley (bass).
Following an adventurous EP on Bill Nelson’s Cocteau label, the band made their album debut with A Flock Of Seagulls, a splendid example of futurist pop that contained a number of notable tracks including I Ran (So Far Away), which made the US Top 10 in July 1982.
Ex-hairdresser Mike Score received numerous press jibes for his “silly haircut” as he had cultivated his none-too-natural blonde locks to hang irritatingly over his keyboards.
Although Listen was another infectious collection of songs, the group were unable to find any lasting popularity in their homeland to back up the success of (Wishing) If I Had A Photograph Of You, which reached number 10 in November 1982.
Paul Reynolds departed after the release of The Story Of A Young Heart. That album and Dream Come True (made as a trio) were way below par and the band subsequently disintegrated.
Score organised a new version of the band in 1989, touring the USA and issuing a single, Magic – a commodity this band, unfortunately, had very little of. They, too, broke up.
Score resurfaced once more in 1995 with The Light At The End Of The World and has carried the band name on into the new millennium. Thankfully, Mike’s demonic haircut has been put out to pasture.
