NOBODY expected a bunch of Camden tearaways to make one of the defining cultural artefacts of the early 1990s. Yet somehow Flowered Up pulled it off with “Weekender”, an epic 12-minute stew of rock, dub and techno, book-ended with samples from Quadrophenia. As a song, “Weekender” was way out there, but with its accompanying video it became something else entirely, a brilliantly conceived celebration and critique of acid house, capturing the scene just as it imploded. This was a musical vision that epitomised Flowered Up’s rule-breaking approach to life.
The five-piece – plus the band’s charismatic manager Des Penney and flower-headed mascot Barry Mooncult – had emerged from a north London estate, hyped as the capital’s answer to the Happy Mondays. After a couple of singles with Heavenly, they signed to London Records, but their debut album A Life With Brian failed to cut through. They bounced back with “Weekender”, but even with Clive Langer’s production skills, the track was too much, too wild, for a major label. Re-signing to Heavenly, label owner Jeff Barrett decided to pair the song with a promotional film. Taking a lead from Quadrophenia, director Andrew “Wiz” Whiston – another mainstay of the club scene – combined social realism with music video surrealism to document the weekend of a clubber, played by actor Lee Whitlock, then best known for the primetime ITV drama series Shine On Harvey Moon.
Banned by the BBC, “Weekender” became a cult classic. The band celebrated with a typically debauched party organised by Mooncult in a squatted mansion. But for some members of Flowered Up – most notably lead singer Liam
