Originally called the Sherbet Monsters, The Mighty Lemon Drops first formed as a quartet in the spring of 1985 in Wolverhampton, in The Black Country area of the West Midlands, England. Paul Marsh, Dave Newton and Tony Linehan had played together in a band called Active Restraint in 1982, with Newton later leaving to become a founding member of The Wild Flowers. Dave Newton and Tony Linehan were the principal songwriters for the group. Their sound can best be described as neo-psychedelia in the vein of Echo & the Bunnymen, played with a ringing Rickenbacker guitar as the lead instrument.
After losing original drummer Martin Gilks (later to join The Wonder Stuff), the Drops line-up settled as Paul Marsh (vocals), David Newton (guitar), Tony Linehan (bass), and Keith Rowley (drums). In December 1985 the quartet, now officially The Mighty Lemon Drops, released their first independent single, "Like An Angel," which went to the top of the UK Indie Chart and sold an impressive 14,000 copies. They also recorded a session for John Peel around the same time. Becoming part of the C86 movement, which was championed by the New Musical Express, they were soon snapped up by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade for his new Blue Guitar label, a subsidiary of Chrysalis Records. They signed with Sire Records for the United States and Canada around the same period.
Derek Jarman produced the video for the "Out of Hand" single in 1987 which was followed by their hit "Inside Out" in 1988. In the UK, albums Happy Head and World Without End both charted (peaking at #58 and #33, respectively) and in the US World Without End was a Number 1 Modern Rock/ College album in 1988. The band eventually parted company with Chrysalis in the UK after three albums (Happy Head, World Without End and Laughter) after failing to repeat their initial independent success. But MLD remained signed with Sire in the US, with Laughter, another US Modern Rock #1 entering the lower regions of the Billboard 200 in 1990. During the sessions for Laughter, Linehan left the band and was replaced by Marcus Williams.
The band released two more albums, Sound...Say Goodbye To Your Standards and Ricochet before finally breaking up in 1992. Three more albums followed (two live albums All The Way and Young, Gifted, & Black Country, and the greatest-hits package Rollercoaster) and at the end of 2000 the band played a one-off comeback gig in Wolverhampton. In 2007 the band were reported to have been offered the chance to reform at the Coachella festival.
All of The Mighty Lemon Drops albums are now officially available again through Wounded Bird Records, licenced through Warner Bros, all with extra tracks, b-sides and liner notes.
On a personal note, I discovered the band at the apex of their college radio fame in the US in the late '80s and have maintained an affection for their driving, melodic guitar-fronted sound. As a principal artist in the resurgent Brit-pop movement of the period, I look forward to showcasing both their songwriting and performance talents on Up All Night. My hope is that old fans will enjoy the retrospective and perhaps a few new fans will find their way to the Mighty Lemon Drops' musical catalog as well. Enjoy the show!
Acknowledgement: Wikipedia
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