The Mighty Lemon Drops

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The Mighty Lemon Drops
Origin Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Genre(s) Alternative Rock
College rock
Indie Rock
Jangle pop
Years active 1985–1992
Label(s) Chrysalis, Sire
Members
Paul Marsh (vocals, rhythm guitar)
Dave Newton (guitars)
Tony Linehan (1985-1989, bass guitar)
Marcus Williams (1989-1992, bass guitar)
Keith Rowley (drums)

The Mighty Lemon Drops were an English rock group active from 1985 to 1992.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Originally called the Sherbet Monsters, the quartet first formed in the spring of 1985 in Wolverhampton, in the The Black Country. 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, which allowed them to transcend, and not merely imitate, the work of their influences.

In December of 1985 the quartet, now officially The Mighty Lemon Drops, released their first independent single, "Like An Angel," which shot to the top of the UK Indie Chart. 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 Blue Guitar, a subsidiary of Chrysalis Records. They later signed with Sire Records for the USA and Canada. Derek Jarman produced the video for the "Out of Hand" single in 1987 which was followed by their hit "Inside Out" in 1988. They were eventually dropped by Chrysalis after three albums (Happy Head, World Without End and Laughter) after failing to repeat their initial independent success, but remained signed with Sire. 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 (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.

Tony Linehan now works as a project manager and emigrated to New Zealand in April 2007.

Dave Newton still works as a recording engineer and producer, and has recently completed projects for The Little Ones and The Blood Arm. In 2006, he produced a cover of "Inside Out" (as well as played bass on the track) for the LA noise pop/shoegazers The Lassie Foundation's double CD final album, Through and Through.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Like An Angel" 1985
  • "The Other Side Of You" 1986
  • "My Biggest Thrill" 1986
  • "Out Of Hand" 1987
  • "Inside Out" 1988
  • "Fall Down (Like The Rain)" 1988
  • "Into The Heart Of Love" 1989
  • "Beautiful Shame" 1989
  • "Too High" (Remix) 1991
  • "Unkind" (Remix) 1991

[edit] Albums

  • Happy Head 1986
  • Out of Hand 1987
  • World Without End 1988
  • Laughter 1989
  • Sound...Say Goodbye to Your Standards 1991
  • Ricochet 1992
  • All The Way (Live In Cincinnati) 1993
  • Rollercoaster: The Best Of The Mighty Lemon Drops 1997
  • Young, Gifted, & Black Country 2004

[edit] External links and references