The Flowers (sometimes credited as Flowers), active from 1978–1980, were a

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, part of the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

scene which spawned bands such as Scars, Josef K and

The Fire Engines The Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Fire Engines were an influence on many bands that followed, including Franz Ferdinand and The Rapture, with Meat Whiplash and The Candyskins both taking their names from Fi ...

. They are known for their feminist lyrics and "astringent" music. The band, and the musical scene of which they were a part, are profiled in the 2015 film ''

Big Gold Dream ''Big Gold Dream'' is a 2015 film documenting the story of Scotland's post-punk scene, focusing on record labels Fast Product and Postcard Records. Directed by filmmaker Grant McPhee, the film's name is taken from the 1981 Fire Engines single of ...

''.

Biography

The Flowers formed in 1978, when local band The Dirty Reds split into two offshoot bands, The Dirty Reds Two and the group which would become The Flowers. This latter group included Dave Carson (later of Boots for Dancing) on bass, Andy Copland on guitar, and drummer Russell Burn (later of

and

Win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

). Carson invited Hilary Morrison to join as vocalist. Morrison was also the co-founder of two influential independent record labels, Fast Product and Pop:Aural, with then-partner Bob Last. The Flowers' music would be released on both of these labels. Within a year, founding members Carson and Burn had left. By the time of their first recording in 1979, the band had settled into the following lineup: * Hilary Morrison (credited as “HL Ray”) – vocals * Andy Copland – guitar * Fraser Sutherland – bass * Simon Best – drums The band played regularly throughout the UK, often opening for Human League and The Mekons, and also touring with The Beat and OMD. The Flowers played the 1980 Futurama Festival in Leeds, which was headlined by

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

and

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was convicted of downloading child pornography i ...

Post-Breakup

Hilary Morrison went on to sing with several other bands in the Edinburgh post-punk scene, including Fire Engines and Restricted Code. In 1981, after the breakup of Fire Engines, she and Davy Henderson formed Heartbeats, whose song "Spook Sex" was included on the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

compilation ''Racket Packet'' in 1983. Later, Morrison worked in theatre, and eventually became a community educator working with charities.

Recordings

The Flowers never released a full-length album, but between 1979 and 1980, eleven songs were recorded (including two different versions of two songs, “After Dark” and “Tear Along”), seven of which saw a formal release. The band made their recorded debut in May 1979, when their songs “Criminal Waste” and “After Dark” were included on the first Earcom compilation, ''Earcom 1'', on Fast Product. John Peel played "Criminal Waste" on his 24 May show, and a member of the band called in to point out that what was apparently "surface noise" on the recording was actually an overdub of rain. "After Dark" has been described as a "revelatory" song which "dissect the rituals of the disco" from a female perspective. On 28 August 1979, The Flowers recorded a session for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

's show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. Their four tracks were “Living Doll,” “Tunnels,” “The Deep End Dance,” and “Tear Along”. This session was broadcast on 12 September 1979. Although it never saw a physical release, the broadcast can be readily found online. In December 1980, their single ''Confessions / (Life) After Dark'' was released on Pop:Aural. “(Life) After Dark” is a different version of “After Dark,” which had previously appeared on the first Earcom compilation. These tracks were later included on ''Mutant Pop 78/79'', a compilation of Fast Product and Pop:Aural songs released in North America. Other bands on this compilation included

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

, Scars, and

The Mekons The Mekons are a British Post-punk band formed in 1976 as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of co ...

. Their second release on Pop:Aural, the ''Ballad of Miss Demeanour'' EP, was recorded in 1979 and 1980 and released on May 23, 1980. It consisted of three songs: “Ballad of Miss Demeanour,” “Food,” and “Tear Along.” This would be the band’s final release. None of the group’s full releases has been officially reissued on CD or in any digital format, although several of their songs have been included in compilations: "Confessions" appears on the ''Big Gold Dreams'' documentary tie-in CD box set, from Cherry Red Records; "After Dark" was included on the limited-run ''A Reference of Female-Fronted Punk Rock: 1977–89'' CD set; and "Ballad of Miss Demeanour" was included on Cherry Red Records' ''Make More Noise! Women In Independent Music UK 1977-1987'' compilation.

Discography

The below discography includes all releases issued during the life of the band. It does not include reissues of the group's songs on later compilations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers Scottish post-punk music groups Scottish indie rock groups