sorting through the vinyl#8 sigue sigue sputnik flaunt it

Before I start this the above isn't an audio rip of the album I'm discussing but rather early takes and demos from that album that eventually saw release in 1990...and to be honest these alternate takes aren't really that much different..truth is with Sputnik it was always style over substance anyhow ..but at least they were in on the joke.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik seemed to have been masterminded by ex Generation ex Bass Player Tony James..I say seen to be as I suspect other members of the band would maybe see their elements as being equally valid..tagging themselves as the fifth generation of rock and roll Sputnik took the hype delivered by ZTT and Frankie Goes to Hollywood and took it a few steps further.

Seemingly barely able to play and allegedly signed to EMI for 4 million pounds(a since disputed figure and in truth not as impressive sounding today) Sputnik knew how generate column inches and did so from the very start, Taking the Glam template and interspersing it with a dose of Cyberpunk and referencing movies such as a Clockwork Orange,Scarface and Blade Runner Sputnik tried to create something new from the wreckage of both the past and present.

Produced by Giorgo Mioroder of 'I feel love' fame Flaunt It still sounds pretty slick although it does still sound now as it did then somewhat samey with a pretty much identical keyboard riff forming the backbone of each track..the idea of selling advertising space between tracks was a further nod to the Sputnik embracing of Capitalism which seemed to be a coat Sputnik wore that was at odds with the political music scene of the time.

That's not to say Sputnik were 'Thatcherites' I think they used yuppie imagery(Oversized mobile phones for one) to create part of the Mythos surrounding them..in fact some of the personnel who worked with them creating the hype seemed somewhat more left leaning.

Tony James relationship with then channel 4 youth editor Janet Street Porter and involvement from Network 7's Magenta Devine must have helped the publicity machine a lot.

Sputnik came and went the second LP for EMI dress for excess did very little despite musically being a lot more adventurous, Martin Degville had a short solo career which provided a half decent debut album,Tony James would briefly join the Sisters of Mercy, Neal X would co-write bits with Marc Almond and that should have been that.....

However with the rise of the internet Sputnik returned with Pirate Space incorporating those futuristic elements with a musical maturity and creating a cottage industry of Sputnik stuff online..a few albums followed before another retirement of the b(r)and with James teaming up with Mick Jones(Whose B.A.D. where surely a grown up Sputnik) to form Carbon/Silicon and Neal X again working with Almond as well as appearing on some Dead or Alive product.

I think Martin Degville keeps a version of Sputnik afloat and there were some gigs were Tony James and Neal X played as Sputnik with X handling vocals and guitar, alongside the studio bits it's worth remembering Sputnik have been a live draw and the Cyber Goth sub culture certainly fed into this.

All in all Flaunt it is a bit limp but it was a sign of it's time and 'Love Missile F1-11' and the follow up '21st Century Boy' where good fun...as such I have no regrets owning this.