SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK - FLAUNT IT

Sigue Sigue Sputnik emerged from the London punk scene as the New Wave Romantic movement was gaining speed and Punk was on the decline. In a way, the Sputniks were a power group, culled from some of punk rock's biggest name bands and coming together to create experimental music. The Sputniks embraced everything about the 80's. From punk hairstyles, strange clothes and material excess, this band championed Western Free Market system. They viewed social politics and the world markets and created a product to reflect the environment they found themselves in.

Punk is similar to Grunge in many ways. Both sprung up from the struggles of an underclass trying to find a voice and a face. Both created a movement of sorts among young people. But the 80s were a different time. There seemed to be more emphasis on getting famous and shopping. Materialism ran rampant. In many ways, the Sputniks were the ultimate example of materialistic self promotion. Even the band's videos showed them behaving excessively. Limousines, women, helicopters and military arms...

To take it even further, the band actually sold advertisement space between the songs. The forerunner to the modern day "Segue". Different companies purchased short commercials that were then transformed by the Sputniks into musical bleep transition pieces. An ingenious, albeit before its time notion...

Sadly, the press and music reviewers didn't get the joke. The group was taken way too seriously and were hounded by bad press and terrible reviews. They were doomed to failure.

I, however, quite liked the disc. I thought the synthesizer and sampling use was original and progressive. Other groups were doing similar things, but the Sputniks were really out there on the forefront of electronic technology. I thought they were amazing. The look was punk/glam... One Marilyn Manson would later pick up for his 'Mechanical Animals' album and various other groups followed course. They were the Bowie's of the punk/new wave world and it's a shame they never took off.

My advice is to give the Sputniks a try. They were extremely shocking back in the day. Today, not so much. But they were the grandfathers of the "Go-Go Metal" movement. The theatricality and over the top production of glam metalheads today can thank Sigue Sigue Sputnik for opening the doors of acceptability for strangeness. The Sputnik corporation should be alive and kicking today. It was on target back then. Even dated, it's still a fun listen. My final word: SPUTNIK-A-RIFIC!

SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK - FLAUNT IT
01. Love Missile F1-11
02. Atari Baby
03. Sex Bomb Boogie
04. Rockit Miss USA
05. 21st Century Boy
06. Massive Retaliation
07. Teenage Thunder
08. She's My Man