Flaming Lips Tickets

As well as having odd lyrics and album titles, the band is also known to put on an extravant and bizarre live show as well. The members are often dressed in strange costumes and interact with the audience in an unusual manner; for example, singer Wayne Coyne often wears a bubble ball in which he walks through the audience.

The band formed in 1983 in the hometown of brothers Wayne and Mark Coyne. The brothers and a friend Michael Ivins decided to come together and play music. Together, the trio played their first concert at the Blue Note Lounge in Oklahoma City. To complete the lineup, the group recruited Richard English as the drummer in 1984.

The band released their first album titled ‘Hear it is’ on Pink Dust Records in 1986. The album contains ten songs such as ‘Charlie Manson Blues,’ ‘Staring at Sounds/With You (Reprise)’ and ‘Jesus Shootin’ Heroin.’ The album was somewhat well received by critics; however it was not a huge hit. Shortly after Hear it is, the band released ‘Oh My Gawd!!!,’ an album with eleven songs. Songs such as ‘One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on Sunday Morning’ and ‘The Ceiling is Bendin’ demonstrate the psychedelic and odd ways of the band.

Two short years later, the band released yet another album ‘Telepathic Surgery’ under Restless/ Enigma records. The album has two sides, both containing six songs. The album was originally created with the intent of making it into a 30 minute long sound collage; howver, the idea was forgotten as the album was released. Side A contains songs such as ‘Drug Machine in Heaven’ and ‘Michael, Time to Wake Up’ and side B has ‘Redneck School of Technology,’ ‘The Spontaneous Combustion of John’ and ‘The Last Drop of Morning Dew.’

In 1990, after relentless recording and performing various gigs, the band were playing a concert and almost burnt down the building due to over-use of pyrotechnics; although this was potentially an act that could have ruined the band, it did quite the opposite, and a representative of Warner Bros. Records signed them shortly afterwards, opening the doors for bigger and better things.