Mike Score
As the frontman of A Flock of Seagulls, his gravity-defying haircut and synth-driven hits became the defining image of 80s new wave.
Born 1957 (age 69)·English singer-songwriter·Birthday: November 5·Baby Boomers
Biography
Mike Score didn't just make music in the 1980s; he became a visual and auditory symbol of the era. As the lead singer and keyboardist of A Flock of Seagulls, his extraordinary, cascading haircut was as famous as the band's music, encapsulating new wave's embrace of the futuristic and the flamboyant. Behind the look was a knack for catchy, synth-laden songcraft. Hits like 'I Ran (So Far Away)' and 'Space Age Love Song' combined romantic yearning with cold, electronic textures, capturing the imagination of MTV's early audience. The band's rapid rise and subsequent commercial fade belied the enduring resonance of those signature songs. Score has kept the band's name alive for decades, touring and reintroducing the music to new generations, forever synonymous with a specific, vibrant moment in pop culture history.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Mike was born in 1957, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Mike Was Born
The biggest hits of 1957
#1 Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Mike's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1957Born
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962Started school
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1970Became a teenager
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Could drive
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1975Could vote
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Turned 21
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1987Turned 30
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 40
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 50
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 60
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 69 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won a Grammy Award in 1983 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the song 'D.N.A.' with A Flock of Seagulls.
- The music video for 'I Ran (So Far Away)' became one of the most iconic and heavily rotated clips in the early days of MTV.
- Released a solo album, 'Zeebratta,' in 2014, exploring more personal songwriting beyond the band's signature sound.
Did You Know?
His famous haircut was originally created by his brother, who was a hairdresser.
Before music, he worked as a hairdresser himself in Liverpool.
The band's name was inspired by lyrics from the Stranglers song 'Toiler on the Sea.'
“We were just trying to create something that sounded like the future felt.”
