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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 series Clangers, the group is best known for its cover of the 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
The Soup Dragons
Background information
Origin	Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Genres	Indie pop, alternative rock, alternative dance, baggy
Years active	1985–1995
Labels	The Subway Organization, Raw TV, Sire, Big Life, Mercury
Past members	Sean Dickson Jim McCulloch Ian Whitehall Sushil K. Dade Ross A. Sinclair Paul Quinn

History

The Soup Dragons formed in Bellshill, a town near Motherwell, in 1985.[1] 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 Sean Dickson.

The Soup Dragons 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".[1] They signed to The Subway Organization in early 1986 and their first proper single (The Sun in the Sky EP) was Buzzcocks-inspired pop punk. The band's big breakthrough came with their second single for Subway, "Whole Wide World",[2] which reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1986.[3] Dickson and McCulloch also moonlighted in BMX Bandits at this time.[1] The band were signed by former Wham! co-manager Jazz 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 six singles (the first three collected in 1986 on a US-only compilation, Hang Ten), they gradually developed a more complex rock guitar sound, which culminated in their first proper album This Is Our Art, now signed to major label Sire 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 following This Is Our Art, The Soup Dragons' sound underwent a change from an indie 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 album Lovegod. This change can be attributed to the rise of the ecstasy-fueled acid house rave scene in the UK. In 1990, they released their most successful hit single in the UK, "I'm Free", an up-tempo cover of a Rolling Stones song with an added toasting overdub by reggae star Junior Reid, which reached No. 5.[4] The single later appeared on the soundtrack to British science fiction comedy film The 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 the Billboard Hot 100.[4] It also hit No. 3 on the Modern Rock chart and its video was nominated by MTV as one of the year's best,[6] though beaten by Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[7]

The Soup Dragons disbanded in 1995.[8] Paul Quinn joined Teenage Fanclub. Sushil K. Dade formed the experimental post rock group Future Pilot A.K.A. and is now a producer for BBC Radio 3.[9] Sean Dickson formed The High Fidelity, came out as gay, had a breakdown, then met his husband and established a successful career Djing as HiFi Sean.[10] Jim McCulloch joined Superstar, wrote and recorded music with Isobel Campbell, and formed the folk group Snowgoose. 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,[11] and still makes music to this day.[12]

The story of The Soup Dragons is traced as part of the 2017 documentary Teenage Superstars.[13]

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		UK [14]	AUS [15]	NZ [16]	US [17]
This Is Our Art	Released: 1988 Format: LP, CD, cassette Label: Sire	60	—	—	—
Lovegod	Released: 1990 Format: LP, CD, cassette Label: Big Life	7	54	27	88
Hotwired	Released: 1992 Format: LP, CD, cassette Label: Sire	74	—	—	97
Hydrophonic	Released: 1994 Format: 2×LP, CD, cassette Label: Sire	—	—	—	—

Compilations

• Hang Ten! (1987), Sire – compiles the tracks from the singles "Hang-Ten!", "Whole Wide World" and "Head Gone Astray"
• 20 Golden Greats (compilation, 2012)

Extended plays

• Hang Ten! (1986)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions										Album
		UK [14]	UK Indie	AUS [18]	AUT [18]	BEL (FL) [18]	FRA [18]	IRE [19]	NLD [18]	NZ [20]	US [21]
1986	The Sun Is in the Sky EP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	EP only
	"Whole Wide World"	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Hang-Ten!
	"Hang-Ten"	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1987	"Head Gone Astray"	82	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Can't Take No More"[22]	65	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	This Is Our Art
	"Soft as Your Face"	66	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988	"The Majestic Head"	77	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Kingdom Chairs"	82	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1989	"Backwards Dog"[23]	—	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Lovegod
	"Crotch Deep Trash"	—	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1990	"Mother Universe"	94	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"I'm Free"	5	2	9	26	38	33	15	52	6	79
	"Mother Universe" (remixed version)	26	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	45	—
1991	"Electric Blues"[24]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	single only
1992	"Divine Thing"	53	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	35	Hotwired
	"Pleasure"[25]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	69
1994	"One Way Street"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Hydrophonic
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

References

External links

• The Soup Dragons at the BBC
• Soup Dragons interview on set of Mother Universe video, Oct 1990 by Chris Hunt
• trouserpress entry
• HiFi Sean Page

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