The Lightning Seeds are an alternative pop band, largely the brainchild of writer, singer and guitarist Ian Broudie (born August 4 1958, Liverpool, England).

Ian Broudie and Simon Rogers formed the act as the "perfect pop project," and The Lightning Seeds broke through in 1989 with the shimmery, psychedelic synth pop hit, "Pure", which made the UK Top 20.

In the 1990s The Lightning Seeds would become one of the most popular and enterprising of the era. The 1994 album Jollification was a critical success, spawning several hit singles, including "Lucky You," "Change," "Marvellous," and "Perfect." Its cover was also memorable: it was dominated by an enormous strawberry with people's faces as its seeds. The sleeve for "Change" was a strawberry wearing a Groucho Marx nose, glasses and moustache set.

In 1996, The Lightning Seeds provided the music and production for the official England anthem for the Euro '96 football tournament. The lyric was written and sung by comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, and the song, "Three Lions", went straight in at Number 1.

The Lightning Seeds maintained their popularity, enjoying three more UK Top 20 hits, including a version of "You Showed Me," which became the act's biggest hit. In 1998, though the Football Association decided not to re-endorse it, a second version of "Three Lions" was cut for the World Cup in France, featuring a re-written lyric; again, it went to Number 1, easily outstripping the official England anthem of that tournament. It became the first song ever to top the charts on two separate occasions with different sets of lyrics.

Since the end of the 1990s, the act has taken a back seat as Broudie concentrated on producing the works of others. In 2004, Broudie released his first proper solo album, Tales Told. It was his first release since The Lightning Seeds' Tilt of 1999.

The band released their second greatest hits album, The Very Best of the Lightning Seeds on June 20th to coincide with the England World Cup campaign. Summer 2006 sees The Lightning Seeds reforming for a number of gigs.

Discography

Albums

• 1989 Cloudcuckooland #50 UK, #46 US
• 1992 Sense#53 UK, #154 US
• 1994 Jollification #12 UK
• 1996 Pure (compilation) #27 UK
• 1996 Dizzy Heights #11 UK
• 1997 Like You Do... Best of the Lightning Seeds (compilation) #5 UK
• 1999 Tilt #46 UK
• 2004 Life of Riley: The Lightning Seeds Collection (compilation)
• 2004 Tales Told (as Ian Broudie)
• 2006 The Very Best of the Lightning Seeds (compilation) #33 UK

UK singles

• Pure (17/7/1989) 16
• All I Want (1989)
• Joy (1990)
• The Life Of Riley (9/3/1992) 28
• Sense (25/5/1992) 31
• Lucky You (15/8/1994) 43
• Change (9/1/1995) 13
• Marvellous (10/4/1995) 24
• Perfect (17/7/1995) 18
• Lucky You (Re-release) (16/10/1996) 15
• Ready Or Not (4/3/1996) 20
• Three Lions (27/5/1996) 1
• What If… (28/10/1996) 14
• Sugar Coated Iceberg (13/1/1997) 12
• You Showed Me (21/4/1997) 8
• What You Say (8/12/1997) 41
• Three Lions '98 (15/6/1998) 1
• Life's Too Short (22/11/1999) 27
• Sweetest Soul Sensations (13/3/2000) 67
• Three Lions '98 (re-release) (10/6/2002) 16
• Three Lions (re-release) (5/6/2006) 09
• Song For No One (26/6/2006) - does anyone know what happened to this? It's not in the shops or on hmv.co.uk, but when I checked it last week it was.

External links

• The Official Web site of The Lightning Seeds
• Lightning Seeds Guitar Chords and Tabs
• French Page about The Lightning Seeds

Rock music groups | Alternative musical groups | House music groups | Synthpop | English musical groups | Music from Liverpool

The Lightning Seeds