Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The Wild Flowers


The Wild Flowers were from Wolverhampton, UK. This was their first LP.
Guitarist and songwriter Dave Newton left the band after this record to start The Mighty Lemon Drops.
The best comparison would be Echo & The Bunnymen.
The Wild Flowers released more records but I never heard them.
'Melt Like Ice' was released as a 7" on Future Records(FS 11) and 'Things Have Changed' as 7" on Reflex(RE 2).

The Joy Of It All LP (Reflex Records-LEX 2-1984)
1. Melt Like Ice
2. Beggar Man
3. The Promised Land
4. After All These Years
5. Dark Times
6. The Joy Of It All
7. Bamboo
8. Hold The Torch
9. Things Have Changed
10. From The Sky

The Wild Flowers

15 comments:

musicmatic said...

The Wild Flowers? Never heard of them.
I'm curious what else you got
(please don't tell now!!) ;)

Anonymous said...

I have still got a couple of their later singles on vinyl, if I can find them. They changed their style slightly, went more towards the Wonderstuff kind of sound. If I can find them and be bothered to rip them from the vinyl I'll let you have them.
We went to se them a few times (living in Wolverhampton)but I don't think they ever did any better then "Melt like Ice".

Curious Guy said...

Yes I think 'Melt Like Ice' is one of their best songs too, but 'After All These Years' and 'Hold The Torch' are also strong.
If you find the time, I'm interested in hearing the later stuff.

Anonymous said...

They released a great single called "a kind of kingdom" I used to have the 12" vinyl version but it is long since lost, any chance of posting a copy if anyone has it?
Ps I used to go to school with Pete the bass player!!!

Curious Guy said...

Hello Jim,
sorry I can't help you. This album is the only record I own of The Wild Flowers.

Anonymous said...

After many years of searching I finally found the Things Have Changed 7" on ebay. I already had this album and the Melt Like Ice 7". I am a big fan of the Bunnymen and I think you're right in taking notice of their influence on this songs. Many thanks for making this rare record available in mp3 format.

Curious Guy said...

Great that you found the 7". How are the B-sides of the singles? Never heard them.

Anonymous said...

Hi:

This is Dave Newton, the guitarist from The Wild Flowers. It is nice to see this album get some kind of recognition, as, well, basically it get's very little!! Yes the band did continue on after I left, & had some success (they released two pretty solid full length albums on Slash Records in the U.S). My memories of the days around the time we made these records are good, if a tad innocent / naive! We were massive fans of jangly romantic post-punk pop, & wore our influences proudly on our sleeves; - we were very young:- it was all about early Icicle Works, Care, Pale Fountains, Bunnymen & Teardrops obviously, Wild Swans, a bit of Chameleons maybe etc... you get the idea!! I still think the original 7" version of "Melt Like Ice" is somehow almost excellent, in an accidental clumsy way! (trust me, we really didn't know what we were doing!!)!!

Curious Guy said...

Hello Dave,
nice to jump in here. Hope you don't mind I posted the album here. Seems it brings back some fond memories with certain people. Personally I think it's a strong album. I've read somewhere that this record suffered from poor production. I really don't mind. Not every band can have big budgets for recording. Adds to the charm.
Are you still involved in music these days?

Anonymous said...

hi there.thanks so much for posting this album.i was wondering if this is the same band who did the single, blushing girl(nervous smile)? i am very fortunate to come across your site and discover this magnificent gem.surely this album is very hard to find.thanks and more power to you

Anonymous said...

I _really_ liked this. Thanks for sharing.

Adam said...

Anonymous said:

"i was wondering if this is the same band who did the single, blushing girl(nervous smile)?"

The answer is "no" - the track you mention was performed by the Wallflowers (The UK band, not the band of the same name from the US, fronted by Jakob Dylan)

They are due to release the first few singles of theirs on CD soon - you can find out more info here:

http://www.thewallflowers.co.uk

sondinivm said...

NICE ONE!

Maximilian said...

any chance of a re up please?

Curious Guy said...

New link for The Wild Flowers album. Enjoy!