About The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne , Steven Drozd , Derek Brown , Matt Duckworth Kirksey and Tommy McKenzie . Coyne and Drozd have remained the band's only consistent members since 1991, with Coyne being the only remaining founding member following the departure of bassist and keyboardist Michael Ivins in 2021.

The group recorded several albums and EPs on an indie label, Restless, in the 1980s and early 1990s. After signing to Warner Brothers they released Hit to Death in the Future Head , followed by Transmissions from the Satellite Heart and the hit single "She Don't Use Jelly" which broke the band into the mainstream. They later released The Soft Bulletin , which was NME magazine's Album of the Year, followed by the critically acclaimed Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots . In February 2007, they were nominated for a BRIT Award for "Best International Act". The group has won three Grammy Awards, including two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. They were placed on Q magazine's list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die" in 2002.

The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983 with Wayne Coyne on guitar, his brother Mark singing lead vocals, Michael Ivins on bass and Dave Kotska on drums. The band debuted at Oklahoma City's Blue Note Lounge. After they hired Dave Kotska as the drummer, Richard English joined the band in 1984. That same year they recorded The Flaming Lips EP, their only release with Mark singing lead vocals.

There are several theories as to how the band chose their name. One possibility is that it was inspired by the 1953 feature film Geraldine, in which comedian Stan Freberg sings several songs, including one named "Flaming Lips". Another possible source is from the 1964 Shirley MacLaine film What a Way to Go! in which Gene Kelly's character stars in a film titled Flaming Lips. However, according to an article in the September 16, 1993, issue of Rolling Stone, Mark and Wayne came up with the name as a reference to a rumor about a classmate who contracted genital herpes after receiving cunnilingus from a partner with active cold sores. Wayne elaborated:

When Mark and I were in, I think it was Junior Year in High School, there was a rumor about this girl who got herpes from this guy at a party. He went down on her with a cold sore. I don't think we knew the girl, and I'm not sure if she even existed, you know how kids just spread bullshit. But when we were thinking of band names one night over a pack of Schlitz and some left-handed cigarettes and remembered how we joked that they both had "Flaming Lips" and it just stuck.

After his brother's departure, Wayne assumed the vocal duties and the band released their first full-length album, Hear It Is, on Pink Dust Records in 1986. This line-up recorded two more albums: 1987's Oh My Gawd!!! and 1989's Telepathic Surgery, the latter originally planned to be a 30-minute sound collage.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Flaming Lips", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.