Sigue Sigue Sputnik - C/D

Well, Tony James was in Generation X, right? And at least one of the other members was a former pop critic. Martin Degville, I think. I think Boy George talked about these guys in his book, where apparently Martin, in his critic days, called Boy a pop tart... though SSS would eventually "the biggest pop tarts of them all. Shoot it up, indeed." to paraphrase Boy George.

http://www.ilxor.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009NxJ

They've reformed under the slogan 'history will prove us right' and play gigs in Japan. sputnikworld.com

I must retrieve my "Burning Lorries At 4 AM On The M1 - 1986" home- made compilation from the garage but they are definitely on it, as are Janet Jackson, Test Dept, Last Exit, Diamanda Galas, Tackhead, Mantronix, Schoolly D, Swans and other some such.

I never heard much SSS but my basic reaction on hearing F1-11 again a couple of years after it was released, was that they had a great image / ideas. But their beats were out of keeping with the times.

This was a time of hip-hop beats, with house and techno on the way. But all the SSS beats sounded like speeded up rock'n'roll / rockabilly. I wonder what would have happened if they'd got some seriously credible dance remixes in their first couple of years.

Maybe they could have been contenders for rock/dance crossover success ... an earlier Carter USM? ;-)

They did advertise The Sun, though, I know that.

so, not just me then ..

http://www.djfood.org/djfood/the-second-coming-of-sigue-sigue-sputnik

So Martin Degville's solo debut from 1991, World War Four, is on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvetzn7vBjI&list=PLCZYiblW9sNW33xwqPpMJRb-_vI8oHgf-

I remember read an MM review by the Stud Brothers that demolished this thing. Sample song titles: "Nuclear Powered Sex Machine," "Sexy Robot," "Transformer Transex," "Space Rider" and "Judge Dread on a BSA."

Martin Degville Motorcycle Hero

Soft spot for them over here. They would have popped my gig cherry but the tour was cancelled, allegedly due to poor ticket sales. I got a refund. Then, a few weeks later, a parcel arrived in the post containing two SSS t-shirts (including the Tony James 'Rambo Child' one), two promo cassettes and a compliment slip (which I still have) saying "From Sputniks with love". Which, to a 14yr old in 1986 seemed like Christmas had come early.

Saw them on their spring 1986 tour, just as Love Missile F1-11 hit the charts. Was a lot of fun - they had a motorbike onstage, two completely redundant drummers, tons of dry ice and all that stuff. Dangerous 80s-style aggro punk crowd though - Degville made his entrance to the stage and was immediately hit on the head with a flying whisky bottle. Lots of gobbing and beer getting chucked about. A friend of mine lost a shoe.

https://d1u0jj264nnfvz.cloudfront.net/thumbnails/6de6d110-cee4-0131-be31-5218f8c8e058-medium

being pressured into going to the pub wearing that tomorrow ..

f*ck .. crappy url ..

tomorrow could be the day i actually wear this t-shirt ..

i stress the word, could.

This was a time of hip-hop beats, with house and techno on the way. But all the SSS beats sounded like speeded up rock'n'roll / rockabilly. I wonder what would have happened if they'd got some seriously credible dance remixes in their first couple of years.
Maybe they could have been contenders for rock/dance crossover success ... an earlier Carter USM?

i think the fact that they never went for timestamped remixes of the day was a great decision.
they had their sound, and they never deviated from it.
the 12" remixes were just longer versions with more guitars and movie samples, and i am very happy about that.

oh, and i still have not worn the t-shirt.

The SSS NME cover, with Paul Morley article, had as by-line something like ...Would you pay 1 million pounds for this sh*t?

― stevo, Wednesday, June 19, 2002 2:00 AM (eighteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

£4 million, if I remember correctly. This was the very first NME I bought.

and it was absolute bollocks of course.
the band got nothing like that.
but hey, made for headlines and a good story.

http://www.sputnikworld.com/The_Sputnik_Story_7_2.html

flaunt it is their first and their best and the rest i can do without!