I have heard many versions of the Flaming Lips' history. This is one of the stranger versions. I recommend that you hear it out, but not form any opinions until you have read all of the others. So without further ado, here is the strangest F'Lips history.

In 1979, twenty-year-old Wayne Gibb met Ivan Michaels, who had just turned 18. They were both interested in covering disco tunes. (Wayne's older brothers, who deny relation to him, were a popular group at the time. We cannot reproduce their name in this context because of applicable U.S. bullshit laws.) Wayne and Ivan were smoking pot in the latter's backyard when a young punk, by the name of Richard English, threw rocks at them. They ran after him, but he got away on his bike. They tried throwing a watermelon at him, (they were high as kites) but it landed on Ivan's foot.

About a month later, they broke into Richard's house and were caught by Richard's older brother, Marvin. After Marvin beat them up with a ceramic elephant, they started up a conversation. Wayne and Ivan found out that Marvin had some drums. Everything snowballed from there and before the year ended, the three guys had an unnamed disco group.

Time passed and by 1982, Marvin had gotten arrested for shoplifting, and disco went out of style. Richard took his brother's place in the group and turned out to be a better drummer. Luckily, he couldn't "swing" enough for disco. The group then changed in the direction of "new wave" after seeing The Talking Heads in concert. The guys were too weird [and sometimes too hard] for "new wave" music. They sounded more like some sort of hardcore psychedelia.

After changing their names [Wayne Gibb to Wayne Coyne and Ivan Michaels to Michael Ivins], the guys finally named their band. They called themselves "The Flaming Lips" partially after the Rolling Stones' logo and partially after a porno movie they watched on the night Marvin got arrested. (The film was called Hot Pussy Lips.) The Flaming Lips played loud, noisy songs at their loud, noisy concerts in Oklahoma City. They quickly recieved a reputation as the craziest, druggiest band in the city. Wayne even had to quit the band for a period of three months after being ordered to a mental hospital. (After a police raid at a Lips concert, one police officer made a suggestion that the band members be examined by a psychiatrist. It just so happened that Wayne was tripping on LSD while being examined, and he kept going on about how he was the spirit of one million one-legged firemen from Mars. One thing led to another, and Wayne was getting shock treatment therapy.)

During Wayne's absence, Michael (Ivan) and Richard developed a strong friendship. It was during this time that they imagined up their psychedelic sound collage "ODE TO C.C. (PART I)", which appeared some four years later on their 1987 album Oh My Gawd!!!...The Flaming Lips. Wayne returned in late '83. He was not happy with Michael's concentration on Richard's creative side. Wayne threatend to kick Michael and Richard both out of the band if they didn't realize that he was the creative boss.

The group healed their wounds with two years of touring. They recorded and released their self-titled E.P. in 1985. This release featured Wayne's non-disco group brother, Mark, on lead vocals. However, he quit the band six days after recording the E.P. because he thought Wayne and his friends were "bratty pussies".

Wayne buttoned-down and cleaned-up over the next few months. The band got along very well from then on and started recording full-length albums for Restless Records. In 1992, they released Hit to Death in the Future Head on Warner Bros. They haven't got as much commercial success as they deserve yet, but they are working on a new album now that should be out in late 1997. This will either make them or Warner Bros. will drop them after this. It is full of risks galore that are supposed to make a Pet Sounds for the 1990s. It will prove to be very different, I can tell you that.

Back to the History Menu.

Back to the World of the Flaming Lips.