Sigue Sigue Sputnik

Sigue Sigue Sputnik are a British Cyberpunk band who achieved moderate fame in early 1986 with the song Love Missile F1-11, which appeared in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. They created a unique style of new wave music filled with sound effects and with futuristic lyrical themes of war, sex, and dehumanisation that rarely seem to make obvious sense — but the music was much less important than the hard-sold image.

Related Topics:
Sputnik - Cyberpunk - 1986 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Led by former Generation X bassist Tony James, the original line-up also featured Martin Degville, Neal X (Whitmore), Chris Kavanagh, and Ray Mayhew. While searching for members, in 1983 Tony James invited Andrew Eldritch from The Sisters of Mercy, and tried out Annie Lennox, not yet famous, and suggested by Mick Jones. "She had a brilliant voice but I didn't want a girl singer. One of the songs we jammed together surfaced years later as a huge hit for the Eurythmics", remembers Tony James.

Related Topics:
Generation X - Tony James - Martin Degville - Neal X - Chris Kavanagh - Ray Mayhew - Andrew Eldritch - The Sisters of Mercy - Annie Lennox - Mick Jones - Eurythmics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is said that the band took its name from a Moscow street gang called Sigue Sigue Sputnik, meaning "Burn, burn, Sputnik".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band was heavily influenced by the New York electronica duo Suicide made up of Alan Vega and Martin Rev, and by Marc Bolan's T-Rex. Eddie Cochran also and many others; Sigue Sigue Sputnik were described by Tony James himself as "The bastard sons of Ziggy".

Related Topics:
Suicide - Marc Bolan - T-Rex - Eddie Cochran

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The film A Clockwork Orange was also a major influence on the band's music and visual outlook. Furthermore, such films as Blade Runner and the Mad Max trilogy inspired Sigue Sigue Sputnik.

Related Topics:
A Clockwork Orange - Blade Runner - Mad Max

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band was known for their outlandish appearance, which included towering, multicoloured mohawk hairstyles, and multiple piercings, as well as gender-bending clothing made of plastic, rubber, fishnet, chains and other materials. (This was carefully considered well before the band ever performed in public.) The band were nicknamed "Sick Sick".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In a flurry of publicity, Sigue Sigue released their first single, the classic 'Love Missile F1-11'. It climbed to number 3 in the British charts. 'Love Missile F1-11' was number one in 15 countries for at least one week. The single, as well as the album that followed, was produced by Giorgio Moroder.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The band famously auctioned advertising spaces between the tracks on their first album 'Flaunt It' (released in 1986). Advertisements that did sell (including spots for iD Magazine and Studio Line from L'Oreal) were complemented by spoof ads including an advert for the Sputnik corporation itself claiming that "Pleasure is our Business".

Related Topics:
ID Magazine - L'Oreal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The group split soon after the release of their second album, Dress for Excess. "We couldn't sustain this pretend bastardized version of Sputnik", explains Tony James who also blamed the media for the band's fall from grace.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tony James went on to become a member of The Sisters of Mercy in 1989-1991. Chris Kavanagh went on to Big Audio Dynamite II to join Mick Jones, one of Tony James's closest friends and a great benefactor to Sputnik, in fact buying the Roland G-707 synth guitar for Tony James's birthday in 1983.

Related Topics:
The Sisters of Mercy - Big Audio Dynamite II - Mick Jones - Tony James

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tony James reformed the band twice, albeit without all the original members: once in the 1990s (featuring Hotei on guitar and Christopher Novak singing) releasing 'Sputnik: Next Generation' and once again in 2001 with Martin Degville and Neal X releasing Piratespace. They continue to play live, and have also produced a number of remixes of other artists' work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tony James has teamed up with Mick Jones to form Carbon/Silicon, now playing guitar. Find out more at www.carbonsiliconinc.com

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~