Songoftheday 8/1/12 - I walked along the avenue, I never thought I'd meet a girl like you...

A Flock Of Seagulls - "I Ran"

from the album A Flock Of Seagulls (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #9 (two weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: #10

Today's Song of the Day is by the English new-wave quartet A Flock Of Seagulls. The group was founded by brothers Mike and Ali Score in Liverpool at the end of the 70s. Mike was a hairdresser before this, and his unique locks were a signature part of their look. Their sound, however, was dominated by the awesome guitar skills of Paul Reynolds, whose futuristic attack carried their debut full-length album. The first US single from it was "I Ran", that was accompanying by a minimal yet modern-looking video shot on a revolving set...

Besides making the top-10 on the pop chart, the song was one of the first huge new-wave hits on rock radio, hitting #3, as well as #8 on the dance chart. It also was big down under, hitting the top-10 in New Zealand and #1 in Australia. However, in their native England, there wasn't as much love, with the song peaking just under the top-40 at #43. The self-titled album would also become a top-10 record here in the States, which along with the Human League's Dare rang the opening bell for the upcoming 2nd British Invasion of the pop charts.

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Since then the song has been covered a bunch of times - in 1997 electronic act Assemblage 23 took it on for their new wave covers set...