“Shoot it up.”
So we all agree 10-inch records were annoying (from last week’s post – keep up.) Yes? Now look at this: The debut album from Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Housed in a flimsy cardboard box. (Or ‘A 21st Century Toy’ as the Sputnik Corporation would have you believe.) Who needed this in their life? Well, apart from me, obviously.
Everyone loved to hate Sputnik in the mid-80s. With their mega-bucks record contract, Blade Runner posturings and one-note multi-format releases. I thought they were genius. And to my school friend Nick they were gods. Nick was one of those friends you had in the year above who got expelled from school for something that was never clearly defined (generally a combination of alcohol, knives and arson), but still hung round the gates at lunch-time.
Nick should have been in Sputnik. He had the look, the attitude, and the ability to play two notes on a keyboard. He looked like he’d seen and lived things well beyond his sixteen years (when he wasn’t hanging out at the park or the chippy with us younger kids). If you wanted your ears pierced or head shaved, he was your go-to guy. He wouldn’t do either of these things particularly well, but there was a definite kudos in saying it was Nick who had made your ears go green and puffy.
Nick was also one of those friends who quickly passes through your life – he was there one day (I only ever knew him after he’d been expelled, through my friend Stephen) and then he was gone only a few months later. Pretty much like this album. It was fun for a few listens that year. I probably remember the adverts between the tracks (yep, that’s right kids, it was the first album to feature ad breaks from L’Oréal, i-D, etc. – how very Sputnik) as much as the songs themselves. Sadly the ads haven’t made it on to Spotify, but let’s go ride the Love Missile one more time ...
Spotify linky:
Sigue Sigue Sputnik – Love Missile F1-11
So we all agree 10-inch records were annoying (from last week’s post – keep up.) Yes? Now look at this: The debut album from Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Housed in a flimsy cardboard box. (Or ‘A 21st Century Toy’ as the Sputnik Corporation would have you believe.) Who needed this in their life? Well, apart from me, obviously.
Everyone loved to hate Sputnik in the mid-80s. With their mega-bucks record contract, Blade Runner posturings and one-note multi-format releases. I thought they were genius. And to my school friend Nick they were gods. Nick was one of those friends you had in the year above who got expelled from school for something that was never clearly defined (generally a combination of alcohol, knives and arson), but still hung round the gates at lunch-time.
Nick should have been in Sputnik. He had the look, the attitude, and the ability to play two notes on a keyboard. He looked like he’d seen and lived things well beyond his sixteen years (when he wasn’t hanging out at the park or the chippy with us younger kids). If you wanted your ears pierced or head shaved, he was your go-to guy. He wouldn’t do either of these things particularly well, but there was a definite kudos in saying it was Nick who had made your ears go green and puffy.
Nick was also one of those friends who quickly passes through your life – he was there one day (I only ever knew him after he’d been expelled, through my friend Stephen) and then he was gone only a few months later. Pretty much like this album. It was fun for a few listens that year. I probably remember the adverts between the tracks (yep, that’s right kids, it was the first album to feature ad breaks from L’Oréal, i-D, etc. – how very Sputnik) as much as the songs themselves. Sadly the ads haven’t made it on to Spotify, but let’s go ride the Love Missile one more time ...
Spotify linky:
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