The Flaming Mussolinis

The Flaming Mussolinis
The Flaming Mussolinis
Origin	Teesside, England
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, pop rock
Years active	1984–1988
Labels	Portrait, Epic
Past members	Alan Savage; Kit Haigh; Jeff Fogarty; Doug Maloney; Craig McClune;

The Flaming Mussolinis were a 1980s pop/rock band from Teesside who released two albums, and had a minor UK hit with "My Cleopatra".

History

The band formed in 1984 in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, although various members had been in local Teesside (North-east England) bands since the late 1970s. The most notable of these bands was Basczax. They signed to CBS in-house label Portrait Records in 1985 and were tipped for big things. The band released five singles: "Swallow Glass", "My Cleopatra" (a minor UK hit at #79), "Masuka Dan", "Girl on a Train" and "Different Kind of Love". They also released two albums: Watching the Film (1986) and Charmed Life (1987). The band's song "Angels Fall Down" was a finalist in the World Popular Song Festival in 1986.^[1]

Critical coverage was mixed. Billboard touted them in 1986 as "a band with something new to say",^[2] and Fanfare described Watching the Film as "good noise of the post-'87 boomlet: laid back, languid, and cleaner than most",^[3]

The band split up in 1988. Alan Savage later became a school teacher.

Members

Alan Savage - vocals/guitar
Kit Haigh - guitar
Jeff Fogarty - saxophone and keyboards
Doug Maloney - bass guitar, keyboard programming, backing vocals
Craig McClune - drums

Discography

Albums

Watching the Film (1986), Portrait
Charmed Life (1987), Epic

Singles

"Swallow Glass" (1985), Portrait
"My Cleopatra" (1985), Portrait - UK No. 79^[4]
"Masuka Dan" (1986), Portrait
"Different Kind of Love" (1987), Epic
"Girl on a Train" (1987), Epic

References

^ "Song Fest Finalists Named", Billboard, 13 September 1986, p. 78
^ Davis, Caris & Jones, Peter (1986) "New Artists: A Non-stop Parade of Ground-breaking Talent", Billboard, 28 June 1986, p. 16
^ Fanfare, vol. 12, Issues 1-2, p. 369
^ "The Flaming Mussolinis", Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 March 2016

[1] "Song Fest Finalists Named", Billboard, 13 September 1986, p. 78

[2] Davis, Caris & Jones, Peter (1986) "New Artists: A Non-stop Parade of Ground-breaking Talent", Billboard, 28 June 1986, p. 16

[3] Fanfare, vol. 12, Issues 1-2, p. 369

[4] "The Flaming Mussolinis", Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 March 2016

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