Flys evolved from a band from
Coventry, England named Midnight Circus. Midnight Circus was composed of
Dave Freeman (
guitar,
vocals),
Joe Hughes (
bass), Neil O'Connor (vocals, guitar,
keyboard), and "a string of unnamed drummers". In 1976 their manager's brother,
Pete King, joined in on
drums and Flys were born. who signed them to a deal. "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" garnered some positive reviews, "the first undisputed classic
45 of 1978". It contained a rerecording of "Fun City", the future single "Beverley", the
Pretenders, and
Black Slate. In April EMI released a
compilation of early punk 45s called
The Rare Stuff that contained the three tracks from the EP
Love and a Molotov Cocktail. Their second LP,
Own, was released on 11 October 1979 and contained 14 new tracks The band moved to
Parlophone Records and released an EP,
Four from the Square which included two songs from the last album, and a final single, "What Will Mother Say?", before disbanding. In 2001
Waikiki Beach Refugees was reissued with eight bonus tracks covering their brief history. Also in 1991, "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" was covered by the German band
Die Toten Hosen on their album
Learning English, Lesson One. Joe Hughes and David Freeman later worked together again in the short-lived 1980s
new wave band The Lover Speaks. ==Influences and musical style==