Prior to the forming his own project, Ian Broudie had been a member of the 1970's post-punk band Big in Japan and the new wave bands Original Mirrors and Care. By the late 1980's, Broudie was better known as a producer than as a musician, and had produced albums for new wave and alternative rock artists such as Echo & the Bunnymen, Wall Of Voodoo and The Fall, but by 1989, he'd begun recording alone under the name 'Lightning Seeds'. Broudie performed all the vocals and instruments on the "band"'s 1989 debut album, 'Cloudcuckooland', which he also produced, while their first single, the psychedelic 'Pure', reached the top 20 in the UK, and the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. After the success of the first Lightning Seeds album, Broudie resumed his production career, but he returned to songwriting in 1991, and moved labels from Rough Trade to Virgin. Drafting in Simon Rogers as his studio partner in production, arrangements, and instrumentation, Broudie resurrected The Lightning Seeds, and Rogers would continue as Broudie's in-studio partner throughout the rest of the band's career. Their second album 'Sense' was released in 1992, and featured the song 'The Life Of Riley', which Broudie had written for his son, and which reached No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. An instrumental version of the song later became better known as the BBC TV theme for the 'Goal of the Month' competition. In 1993 Broudie left Virgin and signed to Epic Records, who released the 'Jollification' album in 1994, which included contributions from Terry Hall, Alison Moyet and Ian McNabb.
In August 1994 the band embarked on a promotional tour for 'Jollification', with a consistently changing line up, of which Broudie was the only constant. The tour benefited from the success of the second single from the album, with 'Change' reaching No. 13 in the UK Singles Charts, becoming the band's second UK top 20 hit, and it was also featured on the soundtrack of the hit movie 'Clueless'. 'Jollification' was a critical and commercial success, and the three singles taken from it were some of Broudie's very best work, with 'Lucky You', 'Marvellous' and 'Perfect' all making a noticeable impact on the charts. During this period the band recorded a number of songs at a private river barge studio located at Pete Townshend's Eel Pie Studios, with the intention of including them on a fourth studio album, with 'Dizzy Heights' being released in 1996. The same year The Football Association commissioned Broudie to write a song for England's appearance at the upcoming Euro '96 football tournament, and he agreed on the condition that comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, presenters of the late-night TV show Fantasy Football League, participated. The resulting song, 'Three Lions', became a No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and was adopted as a football chant, not only in the UK but also in countries such as Germany, where the single and accompanying video reached No. 16 in their charts. In 1997 The Lightning Seeds headlined the Hillsborough Justice Concert, which was held at the Liverpool Anfield stadium to raise fund for the families in their struggle for justice following the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. More hit singles followed during 1996 and 1997, with one of their biggest hits being a cover of The Turtles' 'You Showed Me', which was also included on the 'Austin Powers' soundtrack.
The time was ripe in 1997 for a 'best of' collection, and 'Like You Do...' was a superb overview of the band's career to date, and was followed by a UK promotional tour. In 1998, Broudie reworked and recorded an updated version of their hit football anthem for the FIFA World Cup in France, and 'Three Lions '98' reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first song to top the charts on two occasions with different sets of lyrics. Their 1999 album 'Tilt' was something of a departure from their pure pop, and was more dance-oriented, and it also featured collaborations with Stephen Jones. The single 'Life's Too Short' was heralded by BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles as "one of the band's strongest singles to date", and rose to No. 27 in the UK Singles Chart. Going out on a high, The Lightning Seeds as a band went on a ten year hiatus, returning in 2009 with their sixth studio album 'Four Winds', which they followed with a tour in April 2010. The band are still around, with their latest album 'See You In The Stars' appearing just last October, after a thirteen year gap. Broudie has a gift as a songwriter of being able to conjure catchy melodies seemingly from thin air, and so the non-album tracks that they but on the b-sides of their singles are worth hearing just as much as the hits, so here are nearly two dozen of them, plus some intriguing covers from artists as diverse as Tim Hardin, The Pretty Things, Pink Floyd, The Only Ones, Wreckless Eric, Fred Neil, and the theme tune to 'The Likely Lads'.
Disc I - 1989-1995
01 Fools (b-side of 'Pure' 1989)
02 Frenzy (b-side of 'Joy' 1989)
03 Persuasion (b-side of 'All I Want' 1990)
04 Hang On To A Dream (b-side of 'Sweet Dreams' promo 1990)
05 Something In The Air (b-side of 'The Life Of Riley' 1992)
06 Flaming Sword (b-side of 'Sense' 1992)
07 Say You Will (b-side of 'Change' 1995)
08 Dust (b-side of 'Change' 1995)
09 Open Your Eyes (b-side of 'Lucky You' 1995)
10 The Likely Lads (b-side of 'Lucky You' 1995)
11 Lucifer Sam (b-side of 'Marvellous' 1995)
12 I Met You (b-side of 'Marvellous' 1995)
13 Howl (b-side of 'Perfect' 1995)
Disc II - 1996-2000
01 Never (b-side of 'What If' 1996)
02 The Crunch (b-side of 'What If' 1996)
03 Another Girl Another Planet (b-side of 'Ready Or Not' 1996)
04 Whole Wide World (b-side of 'Ready Or Not' 1996)
05 Here Today (b-side of 'What If' 7" 1996)
06 This Power (b-side of 'Sugar Coated Iceberg' 1997)
07 S.F. Sorrow Is Born (b-side of 'Sugar Coated Iceberg' 1997)
08 Porpoise Song (b-side of 'Sugar Coated Iceberg' 1997)
09 What You Say (single 1997)
10 Weirdaway (b-side of 'What You Say' 1997)
11 Blue (b-side of 'What You Say' 1997)
12 Be My Baby (b-side of 'What You Say' 1997)
13 Everyday And Everynight (b-side of 'Life's Too Short' 1999)
14 Swoosh (b-side of 'Sweetest Soul Sensations' 2000)
The cover uses a photo by Elena Jo Melanson
