Today is the 31st birthday of Sean Dickson, former lead singer of
psychedelic dance-pop pioneers the Soup Dragons. Dickson and his
bandmates, along with the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, spearheaded the "Manchester Sound" in the late '80s and
early '90s. That sound combined dance rhythms with swirling, psychedelic guitars and influenced much of the electronica and ambient music that has been produced in its wake.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Dickson first hooked up with his bandmates in
1985 in Belshill, Scotland. They took their name from a British cartoon series and based their sound on the music of such punk-pop groups as the Buzzcocks. Within two years, however, the Soup Dragons abandoned their roots and concentrated on performing songs that provided a soundtrack for the never-ending parties that became popular in England in the late '80s, drug-fueled dance marathons that became known as raves. In 1990, they released Lovegod, an album packed with danceable psychedelia that spawned the group's biggest hit, a cover of the Rolling Stones' "I'm Free." That album was followed by 1992's Hotwired, which found the group moving a bit away from psychedelia and more toward pop. Hotwired yielded two minor hits, "Divine Thing" and "Pleasure," but faded relatively quickly. The Soup Dragons disbanded midway though the writing process of their follow-up,
Hydrophonic; the album became a solo project for Dickson. Though filled with work by such illustrious musicians as former P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, Hydrophonic barely registered with fans and critics.
Other birthdays: Rosemary Stone (Sly and the Family Stone), 53; Ray Dorset (Mungo Jerry), 52; Roger Hodgson (Supertramp), 48; Russell Thompkins Jr. (the Stylistics), 47; Guy Chadwick (House of Love), 42; and Jonas Petter Berggren (Ace of Base), 31.
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