Soup Dragons

The Soup Dragons were a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television show Clangers, the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song "I'm Free". The Soup Dragons formed in Bellshill, a town near Glasgow, in 1985. The line up was Sean Dickson (vocals, lead guitar), Jim McCulloch (guitar, second voice) who replaced Ian Whitehall and Sushil K. Dade (bass). The original drummer, Ross A. Sinclair, left the group after the first proper album, This Is Our Art, to pursue a career in art, and was replaced by Paul Quinn. Most of their songs were written by Dickson, while some were co-written with McCulloch. The band recorded their first demo tape, You Have Some Too, after playing a few local gigs, and this was followed by a flexi disc single "If You Were the Only Girl in the World". Originally inspired by Buzzcocks and lumped in with the C86 movement, along with fellow members of the Bellshill Sound, such as the BMX Bandits and Teenage Fanclub, they went through a number of stylistic changes in their career. including the indie-dance crossover sounds in the 90's, where they had their biggest hit I'm Free, entering the UK Top Ten Singles Chart in 1990. Subsequent albums continued the indie-dance crossover sound. In 1992 they enjoyed their biggest U.S. hit with "Divine Thing" which reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Soup Dragons disbanded in 1995. Paul Quinn joined Teenage Fanclub and Sushil K. Dade formed the experimental post rock group Future Pilot A.K.A. Sean Dickson formed The High Fidelity and currently deejays as HiFi Sean. Jim McCulloch joined Superstar, wrote and recorded music with Isobel Campbell, and formed the folk group Snowgoose.

Links To Peel
Peel discovered the band through the Pure Popcorn magazine in 1985, who had a flexi disc of the band's single "If You Were The Only Girl In The World". As admirers of their Buzzcock sounds, he invited the band for a couple of sessions, which they recorded in early and late 1986. When the baggy scene became popular with the indie-dance crossover sounds in the late 80's and early 90's, Peel was disappointed with the band's sudden swing to that sound and felt their material was not worth playing. Only after the band split up in 1995 with Sean Dickson forming The High Fidelity and Sushil K.Dade forming Future Pilot AKA, did Peel start playing their new found music, which he found more exciting than their Soup Dragon's 90's material. Peel also visited Sean Dickson and met his father in Scotland during the filming of the TV documentary Sounds Of The Suburbs: Lanarkshire, where on the programme, Peel was seen discussing with Sean on his upbringing and Peel's envy of his BBC Radio One colleague Richard Skinner going out with Sheena Easton, who he fancied very much.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1986 Festive Fifty: Whole Wide World #25
 * 1986 Festive Fifty: Hang Ten! #17

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1986-02-16. Broadcast: 24 February 1986. Repeated: 18 March 1986, 30 December 1986 2. Recorded: 1986-12-07. Broadcast: 06 January 1987. Repeated: 21 April 1987*Our Lips Are Sealed / The Kids Are Alright / Purple Haze / Listen To This
 * Just Mind Your Step, Girl / Learning To Fall / Too Shy To Say / Whole Wide World

Other Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1985 1986 1987 1997 1999 2000 Others
 * 20 November 1985: If You Were The Only Girl In The World Would You Take Me (flexidisc) Pure Popcorn Magazine
 * Peel 030 (BFBS): 'Swirling Round The Garden With You (7"-The Sun Is In The Sky)' (Subway Organization) (JP: 'A pretty clear Buzzcocks influence in that, as I'm sure you'll have noticed.')
 * 05 March 1986: Quiet Content (EP - The Sun Is In The Sky) Subway Organization
 * Peel 034 (BFBS): 'Whole Wide World (7")' (Subway Organization)
 * Peel 042 (BFBS): 'Hang-Ten! (12")' (Raw TV Products)
 * 24 December 1986: 'Whole Wide World (7")' (Subway Organization) FF #25
 * 29 December 1986: 'Hang Ten! (7")' (Raw TV Products) FF #17
 * Peel 051 (BFBS): 'Head Gone Astray (7")' (Raw TV Products)
 * August 1987 (BBC World Service): Soft As Your Face (single) Raw TV Products
 * 17 August 1987: 'Soft As Your Face (12")' (Raw TV Products)
 * 06 January 1997: Purple Haze (Peel Session)
 * 31 August 1999: Purple Haze (Peel Session)
 * 05 April 2000: The Majestic Head? (LP - This Is Our Art) Sire
 * Peel Snubbed 1990: Mother Universe (12") Big Life SOUP PROMO 10 Billy Sloan Show