Flowered Up

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The perfect representation of the baggy movement’s pills ‘n’ thrills hedonism, within a few years Flowered Up went from working-class kids to one of Britain’s most hyped groups to drug-induced flameout. Seen as London’s answer to Madchester groups like the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, Flowered Up formed in 1989 in a Camden housing estate and featured vocalist Liam Maher, keyboardist Tim Dorney, guitarist Joe Maher, bassist Andy Jackson, drummer John Tovey, Des Penney as manager and occasional lyric writer, and Barry Mooncult, who wasn’t officially a member of the band but danced on-stage with a giant flower around his neck. Although they started out playing at acid house parties, Flowered Up were very much a rock band. From their first gig at the end of 1989, the group’s unpredictable but enthusiastic live shows earned Flowered Up an equal amount of fans, detractors, and hype. Indeed, the band appeared on the covers of both NME and Melody Maker before they released any music. It’s easy to fixate on how the Flowered Up story ends. Dangerous drugs, bad living and all the attendant chaos that brought. The inevitable dissolution that followed. Would it not be better to dwell on the positives? How about focusing on the fact that they were the living embodiment of the myth of the last gang in town - less London’s answer to Manchester and more a guttural fuck you to anyone that tried to pigeonhole them.