Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Re-upped: Flying Squad - Flying Squad (1978)


Flying Squad, a Scottish hard rock quartet from Glasgow, came together in 1976 from the ashes of local rock heroes, Rogue. After a lineup shift and a name change (The Boyz) which was halted by another band in Illinois, the band settled on the name Flying Squad. By now, the band had grown into a quintet, featuring future Waysted vocalist, Finn. Conquering the UK club circuit, the band was spotted at a live gig by a CBS Records exec and were quickly shuffled into the studio to record their debut. That debut came in the form of "Flying Tigers" and was produced by Status Quo's Francis Rossi. Though Rossi's name power and the potent material on the record should've helped the band get a firm grip on the charts, the album was met with indifference, partially due to the burgeoning punk scene that was beginning to take hold in the UK. Management disputes ensued and soon the band collapsed amidst in-fighting and financial woes. Finn would soon form Waysted, and several other members would regroup as The Difference. Finn now enjoys success in Denmark as a karaoke DJ personality.

Though this album has been slagged by many, it's actually a superb example of UK hard rock which takes liberal doses of american AOR to embellish upon its sound. The result is twelve vibrant tracks that gel together well. Finn never sounded better than he does here, folks. If you're a Waysted fan, it's imperative that you give this one a spin. Regardless, there's much to love about this criminally underrated and long forgotten piece of Scotland's contributions to the rock and roll pantheon.

13 comments:

micksguitar said...

thanx for still another great lp. my thanx to you. mick

jp said...

Thank you. Great album. Finn's voice is very like on Waysted's lp (except on the first track) and I liked it.
Greetings from France

Unknown said...

Ronnie,mate,
Can you please re-up this? Megaupload says it's no longer available... :-(
Cheers! ;-)
Greetings from Italy!

PMac0508 said...

Please Re-Up the Flying Squad self-titled album. Very hard to find and would enjoy a listen. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Can you please re-up this? Megaupload says it's no longer available, your blog ROCKS!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

hello ronnie
franck from france here
could you reupload some of the megaupload links for acme thunder and flying squad please thanks in advance franck

Rich AfterSabbath said...

Very hard to find this! Wold love a re-up soewhere, somehow...
Cheers
Rich
www.aftersabbath.com

Unknown said...

I saw Flying Squad in '78 at Faslane Naval Base. They were awesome. I bought their album at the gig and still have it. I fully expected to see them storming the charts and conquering the world. They set the place alight that night. It just shows that raw talent is not enough for success- you need timing too.

adam1138 said...

hi,
can you please reupoad this or send it me?
cheers

singar67 said...

Desperately looking for this...I've been a Waysted fan since 1983 and never even knew this existed. Please help if you can.

Anonymous said...

hey man thanks for all your hard work...it's really appreciated by us old school 70s hardrock geeks...keep em comin!

singar67 said...

Thanks so much for the re-post!!!!!!!!!

djsoup said...

Awesome!I heard some similar samples to these tracks, i left link here - www.lucidsamples.com