by Andy Kellman 　　Children of anti-rockist post-punk bands like the Pop Group, Josef K, and Gang of Four, Manchester, Englands bIG fLAME was a self-proclaimed tense and quirky three-piece pop group, combining the restless talents of bassist/vocalist Alan Brown, guitarist Greg OKeefe, and drummer David Dil Green (the one who looked like Harry Connick Jr. with a squirrel on his head). Bizarrely enough, Green and Brown cut their teeth as members of Wham!s backing band. The image-conscious group was advised to dump them due to their apparent lack of cuteness, so George Michael proceeded to give the rhythm section the boot. The duo headed home and decided to become a proper group by adding guitarist OKeefe to the lineup. As bIG fLAME, they carried the traditions set by the U.K.s vibrant post-punk scene of 1978-1981. They favored three-song 7 singles over 12 releases and LPs; their encore-free gigs lasted less than half an hour; the longest song they recorded is well under three minutes; there werent any songs with baby in the title; there werent any guitar solos, just lots of atonal screeching, off-kilter rhythms, and vocals that werent so much sung as they were yelped. During their four-year existence, they issued six singles and appeared on a handful of compilations, including the famed C86 cassette released by the NME. After they broke up, Brown joined the Great Leap Forward. In 1996, Dan Koretzkys Drag City label issued Rigour 1983-1986, which compiled the trios entire recorded output.