The Lightning Seeds

A misheard Prince lyric gave Ian Broudie the name for what began in 1989 as a one-man studio project in Liverpool. By then he was better known as a producer, having worked with Echo & the Bunnymen, Wall of Voodoo and the Fall, after earlier stints in Big in Japan, Original Mirrors and Care. As the Lightning Seeds he sang and played everything on debut album Cloudcuckooland, and its psychedelic single "Pure" reached the UK top 20 and the US Billboard Hot 100 top 40.

Sense (1992) produced "The Life of Riley", written for Broudie's son, whose instrumental version later became the BBC's Goal of the Month theme. Jollification (1994) featured Terry Hall, Alison Moyet and Ian McNabb, and "Change", which reached No. 13 and appeared in Clueless, sent Broudie out on tour with a shifting line-up. In 1996 "Three Lions", written with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner for Euro '96, reached No. 1. A 1998 rework did so again, and the original topped the chart once more in 2018. The band also headlined the Hillsborough Justice Concert at Anfield in 1997, and their cover of "You Showed Me" peaked at No. 8.