A Flock Of Seagulls "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)"

1982 was a banner year for synthesizer acts and New Wave bands on the US pop charts. Acts like Human League, Men At Work, and The Go-Gos led the way of newcomers, but one band owed their place in pop culture history, in part, due to the lead singer's unusual hair style. That would be the Liverpool quartet A Flock Of Seagulls and the waterfall coiff of singer Mike Score.

Having earned attention in US clubs in 1981 with singles like "Telecommunication," A Flock Of Seagulls scored a pair of US Top 40 hits - "A Space Age Love Song" and the Top Ten "I Ran (So Far Away)" - from their self-titled debut in late 1982. They quickly re-entered the studio and had their sophomore album, Listen, ready for an early summer release in 1983. Chosen as the lead single was "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)."

Where earlier singles from A Flock Of Seagulls were hyperkinetic and featured a guitar-based sounded augmented by synthesizers, "Wishing" opted for a more electronic feel. Its swirling, mid-tempo melody was dense with layers of sound, most of it synthesized. In June, "Wishing" became the band's third US Top 40 hit in less than a year, climbing the chart quickly but stalling at #26, where it peaked in July. It would be their final single to crack the Top 40 (although they would score one more minor hit with "The More You Live, The More You Love" in 1984) and, oddly enough, would be a far bigger hit on album rock radio where it hit #3.

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