If you ask a random group of Gen Xers what comes to mind when they hear the phrase, "’80s Music,” the odds are pretty good that at least one of them will bring up A Flock Of Seagulls.

And to an extent, it’s certainly fair to tag A Flock Of Seagulls with the identifier “’80s band” attached to their name, simply because one of their biggest hit songs essentially defined an era. When the band released “I Ran (So Far Away)” in 1982, they were part of a wave of pop artists who began using synthesizers extensively.

Groups like the Human League and OMD and Depeche Mode got their start in roughly the same time period, and all of them eschewed the traditional guitar-bass-drums band lineup for danceable electronic beats and ice washes of synthesizer.

“I Ran (So Far Away)” became a top ten hit for A Flock Of Seagulls in 1982, peaking at #9. But thanks to the song’s catchiness and a very popular, endearingly low-budget video featuring singer/keyboard player Mike Score and his piled high waterfall of hair, the song moved beyond being a mere hit into something more emblematic, both of the band and the period itself.

But time has an odd way of changing people’s perceptions. To this day, there are people who think of A Flock Of Seagulls as a one-hit wonder, when that’s simply not the case.

When the band performs at the Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College on May 3, you’re sure to hear “I Ran (So Far Away),” but you’ll also hear songs like “Wishing (I Had A Photograph Of You),” “The More You Live, The More You Love” and “Telecommunication,” all of which were hits in their own right.

It's also worth noting that A Flock Of Seagulls and many of their brethren from what was called the “New Romantic” movement in pop music, have become quite influential over today’s music. Bands like ABC, Duran Duran, Soft Cell and more have moved from the “nostalgia” file into the weightier “influencer” category, now that icy synth sounds and programmed dance beats are back in vogue among groups like Chvrches and artists like Taylor Swift.

Mike Score, who co-wrote “I Ran (So Far Away)” and is the only original member of the band remaining in the lineup, has expressed ambivalence about his band’s biggest hit over the years, but the fact is that it didn’t really sound like anything else on the radio back in ’82, and it still doesn’t today. Perhaps that’s the explanation for the song’s immortality, not a cheesy video: Good music lasts, especially when it’s chosen as a cultural touchstone. Long live the ‘80s!