The Soup Dragons were a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series Clangers, the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song "I'm Free", which was a Top 5 hit in the United Kingdom in 1990; and "Divine Thing", a Top 40 hit in the United States in 1992. History The Soup Dragons formed in Bellshill, a town near Motherwell, in 1985. The line up was Sean Dickson (vocals, lead guitar), Jim McCulloch (guitar, second voice) who replaced Ian Whitehall, and Sushil K. Dade (bass). The original drummer Ross A. Sinclair left the group after the first album This Is Our Art to pursue a career in art, and he was replaced by Paul Quinn. Most of their songs were written by Sean Dickson. The Soup Dragons recorded their first demo tape You Have Some Too after playing a few local gigs, and this was followed by a flexi disc single "If You Were the Only Girl in the World". They signed to The Subway Organization in early 1986, and their first EP (The Sun in the Sky was Buzzcocks-inspired pop punk. The band's breakthrough came with their second single for Subway, "Whole Wide World", which reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1986. Dickson and McCulloch also played in BMX Bandits at this time. The band were signed by former Wham! co-manager Jazz Summers' label Raw TV with further indie hits (and minor UK Singles Chart hits) following during 1987 and 1988. Over the course of six singles (the first three collected in 1986 on a US-only compilation, Hang Ten), they gradually developed a complex rock guitar sound, which culminated in their first album This Is Our Art, now signed to major label Sire Records. After one single from the album - "Kingdom Chairs" - was released, they then returned to original label Raw TV and Big Life Records. In the year after This Is Our Art, The Soup Dragons' sound underwent a change from an indie rock sound, to the rock-dance crossover sound; this was mainly due to being without a drummer and buying a sampler and drum machine and experimenting with sound with the release of the album Lovegod. This change can be attributed to the rise of the ecstasy-fueled acid house rave scene in the UK.