The Wild Flowers - The Joy Of It All

Like Del Amitri, Wolverhampton’s Wild Flowers became tired of a disinterested UK pop scene and looked to America for inspiration and appreciation, chiefly being inspired by New York punk rock, especially Television and the Ramones. The ‘Flowers mate the breakneck speed of the Ramones’, and Television’s guitar interplay with Echo and the Bunnymen’s intensity and attack. The band's original membership included guitarist/vocalist Neil Cook, guitarist Dave Newton, bassist Mark Alexander, and drummer Dave Fisher. This line-up recorded two singles, ‘Melt Like Ice’ and ‘Things Have Changed’, and an LP titled The Joy of It All. Poorly recorded for the small Reflex label in 1984 the album disappeared quickly as, so it seemed, did the band when founding guitarist-songwriter Dave Newton left to start the Mighty Lemon Drops.