This happened last week, and I got the email, but things were up in the air so we were not discussing it until now. But A Flock Of Seagulls have recorded various and sundry revisits of their canon, often with the original quartet, but there have been no new albums of songs by Mike Score since the 1995 release “The Light At The End Of The World” on the Big Shot label. In the 90s, Mike Score lived in Florida and he played locally quite a bit and the one time I saw the band was in a gig put on by the City of Orlando at a downtown outdoor concert spot in 1993. By that time the original foursome had disbanded to the four winds.
Now, August Day Recordings, who have been working with the band since 2018, have made the push for some new growth on the AFOS tree. The new album is called Some Dreams and this time it’s Mike on vocals, keys, bass, and guitar. A pair of drummers have covered that role and I see there’s a trumpet credit as well. Interesting. Sare Havlicek of August Day was co-producer, engineer, and mixer so he brings his chops to the project we’re familiar with on a long line of modern Visage discs.
SOME DREAMS CD
A Flock of Seagulls: Some Dreams – UK – CD [2024]
- Some Dreams 4:48
- Him 4:33
- Castles In The Sky 4:27
- Lovers And Strangers 5:42
- You’re A Fool 6:35
- All To You 4:16
- Valley Of The Broken Dreams 4:32
- We Want It Back Again 4:48
- Got To Get To You 5:15
- Perfect 3:42
For those who can’t have too much of a good thing, the label and the band are selling an expanded four disc version of the album as shown above, from their sites only, with three extra CDs and a signed postcard. Here’s what you get in the executive version.
SOME DREAMS DELUXE 4XCD
CD1 Some Dreams
- Some Dreams 4:48
- Him 4:33
- Castles In The Sky 4:27
- Lovers And Strangers 5:42
- You’re A Fool 6:35
- All To You 4:16
- Valley Of The Broken Dreams 4:32
- We Want It Back Again 4:48
- Got To Get To You 5:15
- Perfect 3:42
CD2 Some Dreams Instrumentals
- Some Dreams (Instrumental) 4:45
- Him (Instrumental) 4:33
- Castles In The Sky (Instrumental) 4:27
- Lovers And Strangers (Instrumental) 5:52
- You’re A Fool (Instrumental) 6:35
- All To You (Instrumental) 4:16
- Valley Of The Broken Dreams (Instrumental) 4:32
- We Want It Back Again (Instrumental) 4:48
- Got To Get To You (Instrumental) 5:15
- Perfect (Instrumental) 3:42
CD3 Some Dreams Remixes + Extras One
- Some Dreams (Extended Version) 6:49
- Him (Europa Mix) 4:32
- All To You (Enough Of A Remix) 3:17
- We Want It Back Again (Love Dub) 4:46
- Valley Of The Broken Dreams (Orange Friday) 5:10
- Story Of A Young Heart (Cocktail Instrumental) 7:21
- Castles In The Sky (California Remix) 3:46
- Lovers And Strangers (Overlord Remix) 5:49
- Perfect (Sunset Mix)2:13
- Messages (Neoclassical Dubstrumental) 4:03
- Some Dreams (Extended Instrumental Version) 6:49
CD3 Some Dreams Remixes + Extras Two
- Some Dreams (Aquaplex Remix) 4:24
- You’re A Fool (Verved Version) 4:24
- We Want It Back Again (Stripped Version) 4:48
- Got To Get To You (GBH Remix) 5:30
- Castles In The Sky (Stringed) 4:08
- Him (Radio Version) 3:28
- All To You (Radio Version) 3:08
- Lovers And Strangers (Radio Version) 3:10
- Some Dreams (Video Edit) 3:17
- Him (Short Radio Version) 2:56
And if you missed the obscure 1995 album, the band have also reissued that in an new expanded edition. Since the original CD came out on a label out of Winter Park, Florida, I’m guessing that many fans worldwide might have had a hard time tracking down a copy. Though I saw it a lot in the 90s. This has been rectified with August Day also reissuing that one.
THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE WORLD DLX RM CD
A Flock Of Seagulls: The Light At The End Of The World DLX RM – UK – CD [2024]
- Burnin’ Up
- Magic
- Setting Sun
- Rainfall
- Ordinary Man
- You’re Mine
- Walking In The Garden
- Hearts On Fire
- Life is Easy
- Say You Love Me
- The Light At The End of The World
- Seven Seas
- Burnin’ Up [single version]
- Rainfall [Single Version]
- Hearts On Fire [1995 Extended Mix]
I just gave a listen to the samples on iTunes. It’s got a good vibe to it. I thought that Mike Score acquitted himself nicely on the lead guitar. He’s no Paul Reynolds, but he’s close enough to that standard. It sounds like AFOS should sound…if they were stuck in amber. The songs have the same kind of simple moon/june structure that they have always had, and that is where my problem with A Flock of Seagulls lay.
It’s as if the act had appeared when Score was 21 and writing songs as a young man and the songs 40 years later sound just as simple. It’s why when I re-bought the debut album in 2001 at a garage sale, I gave it one listen and sold it off. I’m just not wired to respond to this music the same way I was at the age of 18. Truth be told, I was done with the band by 21. There is a lot of simple pop music that makes me happy. What does and doesn’t click with me is down to something perhaps ineffable.
But if you’re someone who anticipates each new chapter of the AFOS saga, then there’s probably a lot of weight that this new album carries for you. The 4xCD pack [there’s no special box but a thousand copies were made] with signed postcard is $49.99 from August Day’s webstore or the band’s website. All other retailers will sell you the single CD version. The “Light At The End Of The World” reissue is $14.99. And the band can ship from their US shop for huge savings on shipping for Stateside buyers. DJs, click those buttons!
SOME DREAMS DELUXE 4XCD/THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE WORLD REISSUE CD
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![Want List: Visage DLX RM […finally!]](https://i0.wp.com/postpunkmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/visage-dlxrmuscda.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
Just to let you know that the AFOS CD reissue ‘The Light At The End Of The World’ has 16 tracks, not 15. Track 16 is “Say You Love Me (1995 Extended Version)”.
Track 15 is also the “1995 Extended Version” (not Mix) ;)
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Dave Turner – Grrr. The website says THREE extra tap racks but the listing on the August Day website and the AFOS website is ambiguous, since the list the longer DL version of the album.
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Very true. Certainly confusing. What they should have done is made it a 2CD set and put all the extra mixes on disc 2. The versions of “Magic” could have been included then too.
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Dave Turner – Right?! I remember seeing the “Magic” CD single though it’s not in Discogs. Only because it was an Orlando area label issuing that album/singles!
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Bought my copy of the “Magic” CD single way back then in HMV in London. But it’s certainly on Discogs – https://www.discogs.com/master/33147-A-Flock-Of-Seagulls-Magic
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Dave Turner – I missed that somehow! I plead mental incompetence!
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hi mr monk,
glad you pointed this out. the album is decent, and has a few hits that have the classic sound. there’s a few ballads, and a couple of rockers. not great, but better than the last 4 albums at least, going back to dreams come true.
i ordered the boxset, and there is also a new digital single ‘him’ out. which is the 2nd from this album, along with ‘some dreams’.
its a nice return from all the orchestral hits, and remakes.
—-
as far as light at the end of the world goes, i didn’t pay attention to it until much much later.
as far as the singles go, there was magic on cassette, and 12 inch too. and then a few years later :
there was ‘burnin’ up’ on 12 inch and cd singles with 3 mixes, and lastly
a 2 track US cd single for rainfall, with an edit. that covered all the mixes.
and yes, it would have been better to put all these together either digitally or 2xcd but you could just make your own.
that brings their catalog up to date. unless they do more deluxe editions. would love to have them for ‘listen’ and ‘story of a young heart’.
later
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negative1ne – Trust me… “Listen” and “Story Of A Young Heart” will get the DLX RM nod. “Listen” had their second biggest hit, “Wishing” on it!
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hi mr monk,
i hope you’re right. its been way too many years for listen, and although they had a big hit on it. i don’t think the album did as well as their debut, and ‘story of a young heart’ didn’t even do that well.
i’m putting out a bounty, to anyone that can find a non US promo of the Wishing 12 inch, that 40+ people on discogs claim they have.
of course i have the promo 12 inch, and UK and european variations, with several copies. but i have never been able to source the actual US 12 inch. even my hardcore friend that knows the band only has a promo.
it was a huge hit, but i never saw the 12 inch in stores, and i contacted 30+ people on discogs, and NONE of them can prove they have it either. the original posted never put up scans, and theres a generic picture on discogs, with no picture of the back. no labels, nothing.
every single copy on EBAY for the last 20 years has been a promo.
how is it that such a prominent 12 inch that would have been a huge seller does not exist.
until some proves it with picture, i’m half minded to edit the listing on discogs and see if someone can come up with proof. people have promised to get back to me, but not one has ever responded again.
well let me know if anyone out there actually has a real copy, i would pay well for it.
later
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Light at the End of the World was a pleasant surprise when it came out. I used to see AFOS play fairly regularly in Atlanta and later in Maitland [FL], since Mike lived there at the time. I’d run into him from time to time doing normal things (banking, groceries, etc) and he was always affable and game for a brief chat.
I’m not enough of a fan to get the 4CD version of the new album, but I might spring for the single-CD version for nostalgia’s sake. I’ve heard the lead single and it’s fine, but I echo your sentiments that Mike has defined AFOS as having a certain sound and style (probably wisely) to fit his talents as a songwriter, and that it will hit you different when you’re middle-aged, but OTOH you were young when that sound was everywhere.
One could argue that OMD are mostly a more sophisticated/intelligent/artier AFOS, though …
(setting cat amongst pigeons with that one, methinks …)
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Well A Flock Of Seagulls is a band I’m happy to return to life, and were always more welcome to the palate than the crappy likes of Spandau Ballet (them a group even?), they had more colourful songs than Visage did, and had quite an ambitious scope, so I don’t get the moon/june criticism above when many so-called serious acts have this thing down, like Bon Jovi and the Madonna bint and others and get a whole so-called career out of it. At least AFOS try to be different.
My only problem with them-apart from making the clumsy and rather cringe ‘Who’s That Girl (She’s Got It)’ a single, is their name, a common mistake that 99% make even now. Basically, there’s no such thing as a “seagull”. The collective adult term is gull, with a fair number of species falling into that. Just a typical example of childishly inaccurate colloquialisms that adults then project widely into adult life. It’s good to name the serious things!
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As a huge AFOS fan, I am stoked for this new album. “Some Dreams” sounds amazing and I like the AI-generated video. I saw the band live last month and Mike was at the top of his game. Saw them a few years back and his consistency is commendable.
I can’t speak for anyone but myself but I love “The Light At The End Of The World” even though Paul Reynolds does not appear (he’s my favorite New Wave guitarist).
Just so you know where I’m coming from, here’s a list of my top 200+ New Wave songs. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4TXZRlCprloSgdZwUPHkRO?si=8I7vOfObQqGVR_QQCeN4Ow&pi=MZQO6Hm_SdaHj
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mdwordp – Welcome to the comments! It certainly had been long enough for a new album to finally manifest! I would have expected this to have happened shortly after the orchestral project with the original band in tow but I guess that was a one-off period. I’ve not heard much of the group past their first album period, apart from many plays of the video for “Wishing.” Paul Reynolds’ solo in that one surely made the grade! I can’t believe that he wasn’t poached for other bands after leaving the group.
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I’m a bit late to the party here, but the 2014 Mike Score solo album, Zeebratta (download only as far as I know) is worth a listen.
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