[citation needed] Inspired by punk bands such as The Clash, The Damned and the Dead Boys, lead vocalist and frontman Mike Pougounas formed The Gift along with guitarist Costas Venos and bassist Tasos Dimitriadis in February 1981 in Athens.
The Flowers of Romance quickly gained a cult status throughout the underground Greek rock scene by setting themselves apart with a unique punk sound that incorporated dozens of musical styles and English-language lyrics.
[1] The Dorian Grey LP also began to showcase an evolution in The Flowers of Romance's sound, as they incorporated elements from other musical styles.
During the recording of the Love Means Death EP, the band's lineup again changed as guitarist Dimitris Beis replaced Plato Papadimitriou and Achileas Geromoshos.
Whereas the Greek release of The Pleasure and the Pain LP was vinyl, the German edition was in CD form and featured four bonus tracks, including "Island on the Moon".
Mike Pougounas and The Mission frontman Wayne Hussey met in 1995, and by this time The Flowers of Romance were already amidst the pre-production of their next album, Brilliant Mistakes.
In addition to producing the album and allowing the band to record in The Mission's Bristol studio, Wayne Hussey collaborated on several songs and was able to introduce The Flowers of Romance to a broader media market.
Brilliant Mistakes was released in late 1996 and became The Flowers of Romance's greatest success, with the tracks "Channel Z" and "In a Vacant Place" reaching No.