A Flaming Lips History
compiled by Matt Taylor
(notyeP)
1983
Mark Coyne crashes a party held by Michael Ivin's brother. Mark hears that Michael owns a bass guitar. Mark and his brother, Wayne Coyne, joined with Michael Ivins and formed a band. They called themselves The Flaming Lips.
1984
The Flaming Lips sell a one-sided cassette single at their noisy, rowdy concerts. This release is known as "Blow Job".
1985
The Flaming Lips join with drummer Richard English and record their self-titled E.P. Mark quit soon after and got hitched.
1986
Wayne, Michael, and Richard release a full-length album, Hear it Is.
1987
Oh My Gawd!!!...The Flaming Lips is released.
1988
Touring, waffle iron, not much, Harry met Sally, etc. A few unfortunate teens lost their toes in Russia because of some bad weather or something. I think the Cold War ended, too.
1989
Telepathic Surgery is released. While touring to support it, Richard English quit like a little bitch. I miss his sloppy drum fills. He was replaced by Nathan Roberts. Also, Jonathan (Jonathan, not Phil) Donahue joined as a second guitarist.
1990
In a Priest Driven Ambulance, the Lips' most psychedelic album to that date was released. Restless Records, the group's label, nearly folded. The album was almost impossible to find in stores and especially in the Sea of Gibralter.
1991
Not much. I guess they started recording some stuff. Waffle iron, Alfred Hitchock.
1992
Hit to Death in the Future Head was released on Warner Bros., delayed very much because of corporate red tape and such. Waiting for a sample to clear, that's why.
1993
The group recorded and released Transmissions From the Satellite Heart with a new line-up:
Wayne Coyne- vocals, guitar
Michael Ivins- bass
Steven Drozd- drums, vocals
Ronald Jones- guitar
1994
Our fellows tour with grunge and metal bands. (YUK!) Increasing (only slightly though) college radio airplay. Plus "She Don't Use Jelly" was occasionally on M.T.V. Plus, Due to High Expectations, The Flaming Lips Are Providing Needles For Your Balloons was released.
1995
The band plays on The Late Show with David Letterman, M.T.V.'s Spring Break, and Beverly Hills 90210 (?!). While recording their new project, a bomb blew up the Murrah Federal Building in their hometown of Oklahoma City. (The building was only a mile away from their studio.) Over the summer, their song "Bad Days" appears on the Batman Forever soundtrack. In the fall, Clouds Taste Metallic was released!!! In this little sailor's opinion, this is their greatest album so far. It is a friggin' masterpiece! Unfortunately, it did not sell very well. Oh well, who gives a damn?
1996
Lots of craziness in the unpredictable world of the Flaming Lips. Ronald Jones, their best guitarist yet, has apparently been unhappy ever since Clouds Taste Metallic. He is apparently on some sort of spiritual journey and living in a monestary. Steven Drozd is bitten by a spider and his hand swells up like Bill Clinton's head. Amputation was considered, but luckily for this wonderful drummer, his hand got better and the operation was not performed. Wayne Coyne has been performing all sorts of "experiments" in Oklahoma City parking lots. The basic idea is that he has 40 people in cars put cassettes [of music that he has composed, performed, or sampled] into their car stereos and play them at the same time. This is so innovative and creative. I nearly piss in my pants at just the thought of it. I can't wait. I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it. I know, I know, I know, and I think I like it.
1997
Their song "hot day" appears on the Suburbia soundtrack. Apparently, Ronald Jones isn't coming back or being replaced, either. Parking lot experiments continued throughout the year using anywhere from 30-50 cars each time. Later in the year, Wayne had a new idea of taking the experiments to convention centers using as many as 300 boom boxes in the place of cars. On October 28th, Zaireeka is finally released. It is a four CD set intended to be listened to similtaneously on four CD players! It brings together elements of the Parking Lot Experiments in one wild, octaphonic studio project. This stands as the most accurate proof of Wayne Coyne's genius.
It is a truly wonderful album.
For more info on releases I didn't talk about, check out my discography. It is quite nice.
Back to the history menu.
Back to the World of the Flaming Lips