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The Lightning Seeds
Background information
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Britpop Synth Pop Rock
Years active	1989–present
Label(s)	Epic Sony BMG EMI Atlantic
Website	lightning-seeds.co.uk
Members
Ian Broudie – guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Simon Rogers – keyboardist/programmer Ali Kane – keyboards Martyn Campbell – bassist
Former members
Zak Starkey – drums Chris Sharrock – drums Paul Hemmings - guitar Angie Pollack - keyboards

The Lightning Seeds are an alternative pop/rock band, largely the brainchild of writer, singer and guitarist Ian Broudie (born August 4, 1958, Liverpool, England). Previous to the Lightning Seeds, Broudie was involved with other bands: firstly Big in Japan, followed by Original Mirrors and then Care. Big in Japan was effectively a supergroup in reverse, including as it did future members of The KLF, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Frankie Goes to Hollywood among others.

Ian Broudie and Simon Rogers formed the act as the "perfect pop project," and The Lightning Seeds broke through in 1989 with the shimmery, psychedelic synth pop hit, "Pure" (from the album Cloudcuckooland, which made the UK Top 20. It was followed by "The Life Of Riley", which was written about Broudie's nerves during the birth of his son. The song was famously adopted by the BBC's Match Of The Day programme for use as the theme for the "Goal of the Month" competition.

In the 1990s The Lightning Seeds would become one of the most popular and enterprising bands of the Britpop era. The 1994 album Jollification was a critical success, spawning several hit singles, including "Lucky You," "Change," "Marvellous," and "Perfect." Its cover was also memorable: it was dominated by an enormous strawberry with people's faces as its seeds. The sleeve for "Change" was a strawberry wearing a Groucho Marx nose, glasses and moustache set.

In 1996, the Lightning Seeds provided the music and production for the official England anthem for the Euro '96 football tournament. The lyric was written and sung by comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, and the song, "Three Lions", went straight in at Number 1 in the UK singles chart.

The Lightning Seeds maintained their popularity, enjoying three more UK Top 20 hits, including a cover version of The Turtles "You Showed Me," which became the act's biggest non-football hit. In 1998, though the Football Association decided not to re-endorse it, a second version; "Three Lions 98" was cut for the World Cup in France, featuring a re-written lyric; again, it went to Number 1, comprehensively demolishing the Spice Girls' official England anthem of that tournament. It became the first song ever to top the charts on two separate occasions with different sets of lyrics.

The band line-up has changed on numerous occasions, notably when Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr joined in 1997 when Chris Sharrock left to join Robbie Williams' touring line-up. Starkey has since gone on to drum with The Who, and also joined Oasis for their most recent album and tour.

Since the end of the 1990s, the act has taken a back seat as Broudie concentrated on producing the works of other bands, most notablty The Coral. In 2004, Broudie released his first proper solo album, Tales Told. It was his first release since the Lightning Seeds' more dance-focused Tilt of 1999, although it sadly failed to set the charts alight.

The band released their second greatest hits album, The Very Best of the Lightning Seeds on June 20th to coincide with the England World Cup campaign. Summer 2006 saw Broudie forming a new Lightning Seeds line-up for a number of gigs and festival appearances.