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.

The Flaming Mussolinis

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

The Flaming Mussolinis

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

The Flaming Mussolinis

Members

Alan Savage - vocals/guitar (Now works as a teacher) 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

"Masuka Dan" (1986), Portrait

"Different Kind of Love" (1987), Epic

"Girl on a Train" (1987), Epic

References

English rock music groups

English alternative rock groups

Musical groups established in 1984

Musical groups disestablished in 1988

Epic Records artists

Musical groups from North East England