Music Review: ‘The Flying Lizards’

The Flying Lizards

If you were listening to the radio in 1980, you’ve probably heard the Flying Lizards’ self-titled album’s unlikely hit single, a reading of Barrett Strong’s classic “Money (That’s What I Want)” that even Virgin (the Lizards’ record label) termed “wretched.” If so, you should be able to conjure up the group’s equally ludicrous version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” where it again features what sounds like a jaded Yoko Ono on a bottle full of downs. At any rate, both songs fit my sense of humor, but the music, particularly on the remaining entries, is a whole lot stranger than it is compelling. One friend calls it “great,” but something tells me that, like Lizards prime mover David Cunningham, she’s only kidding. It’s hard to believe this stuff is still being reissued 30 years later, but here it is on CD, complete with album and single versions of “Money.” (That’s what they want.)

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