The Soup Dragons | |
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 The Soup Dragons | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Bellshill,North Lanarkshire, Scotland |
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The Soup Dragons are a Scottishalternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television seriesClangers, the group is best known for its cover ofthe Rolling Stones' song "I'm Free", which was a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom in 1990; and "Divine Thing", a top 40 hit in the United States in 1992.
The Soup Dragons formed in Bellshill, a town near Motherwell, in 1985.[1] The line up was Sean Dickson (vocals, lead guitar, keyboards) (born 1966), Jim McCulloch (guitar, second voice) who replaced Ian Whitehall, and Sushil K. Dade (bass) (born Sushil Kumar Dade, 1966, Glasgow). The original drummerRoss A. Sinclair (born 1966, Bearsden, Glasgow) left the group after the first albumThis Is Our Art to pursue a career in art, and he was replaced by Paul Quinn (born 9 August 1963). Most of their songs were written by Sean Dickson.
The Soup Dragons recorded their first demo tapeYou Have Some Too after playing a few local gigs, and this was followed by aflexi disc single "If You Were the Only Girl in the World".[1] They signed toThe Subway Organization in early 1986, and their first EPThe Sun in the Sky wasBuzzcocks-inspiredpop punk. The band's breakthrough came with their second single for Subway, "Whole Wide World",[2] which reached No. 2 on theUK Independent Chart in 1986.[3] Dickson and McCulloch also played in BMX Bandits at this time.[1] The band were signed by formerWham! co-managerJazz Summers' label Raw TV with further indie hits (and minor UK Singles Chart hits) following during 1987 and 1988.[3][4] Over the course of sixsingles (the first three collected in 1986 on a US-only compilation,Hang Ten), they gradually developed a complexrock guitar sound, which culminated in their first albumThis Is Our Art, now signed to major labelSire Records.[5] After one single from the album - "Kingdom Chairs" - was released, they then returned to original label Raw TV and Big Life Records.
In the year afterThis Is Our Art, The Soup Dragons' sound underwent a change from anindie rock sound, to the rock-dance crossover sound; this was mainly due to being without a drummer and buying a sampler and drum machine and experimenting with sound with the release of the albumLovegod. This change can be attributed to the rise of theecstasy-fueledacid houserave scene in the UK. In 1990, they released "I'm Free", their most successful hit single in the UK and an up-tempo cover of aRolling Stones song with an addedtoasting overdub by reggae starJunior Reid, which reached No. 5.[4] The single later appeared on the soundtrack for the filmThe World's End (2013).
Subsequent albums continued in the band's own style and in 1992, they enjoyed their biggest US hit with "Divine Thing", which reached No. 26 on theBillboard Hot 100.[4] It also hit No. 3 on theModern Rock chart and its video was nominated by MTV as one of the year's best,[6] though beaten byNirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[7]
The Soup Dragons disbanded in 1995.[8] Paul Quinn joinedTeenage Fanclub. Sushil K. Dade formed the experimentalpost rock groupFuture Pilot A.K.A. Sean Dickson formedThe High Fidelity and has released many records and albums with other artists like Bootsy Collins, Yoko Ono, Crystal Waters and David McAlmont.[9] Jim McCulloch joinedSuperstar, wrote and recorded music withIsobel Campbell, and formed the folk groupSnowgoose.Ross A. Sinclair had a successful career in art, winning a number of international awards and becoming a Research Fellow at Glasgow School of Art,[10] and still makes music to this day.[11]
The story of the Soup Dragons is traced as part of the 2017 documentaryTeenage Superstars.[12]
The group announced on 27 March 2023 that the original line-up will play six reunion shows in the UK in October and November 2023. Support acts will bethe Vaselines,BMX Bandits and a DJ set fromthe Pastels.[13][14]
The band features in the bookPostcards from Scotland detailing the 1980s and 1990s independent music scene in Scotland.[15]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [16] | AUS [17][18] | NZ [19] | US [20] | |||||||||||
| This Is Our Art |
| 60 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| Lovegod |
| 7 | 54 | 27 | 88 | |||||||||
| Hotwired |
| 74 | 177 | — | 97 | |||||||||
| Hydrophonic |
| — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [16] | UK Indie | AUS [21][18] | AUT [21] | BEL (FL) [21] | FRA [21] | IRE [22] | NLD [21] | NZ [23] | US [24] | |||||
| "Whole Wide World" | 1986 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hang-Ten! | ||
| "Hang-Ten" | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Head Gone Astray" | 1987 | 82 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Can't Take No More"[25] | 65 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | This Is Our Art | |||
| "Soft as Your Face" | 66 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "The Majestic Head" | 1988 | 77 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Kingdom Chairs" | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Backwards Dog"[26] | 1989 | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Lovegod | ||
| "Crotch Deep Trash" | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Mother Universe" | 1990 | 94 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "I'm Free" | 5 | 2 | 9 | 26 | 38 | 33 | 15 | 52 | 6 | 79 | ||||
| "Mother Universe" (remixed version) | 26 | — | 67 | — | — | — | — | — | 45 | — | ||||
| "Electric Blues"[27] | 1991 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| "Divine Thing" | 1992 | 53 | — | 133 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35 | Hotwired | ||
| "Pleasure"[28] | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 69 | ||||
| "One Way Street" | 1994 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hydrophonic | ||
| "Janice Long Session 01.09.86" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||
| "John Peel Session 06.02.87" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Janice Long Session 30.08.87" | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "John Peel Session 24.02.86" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Love Is Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
The band split in 1995.
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