2026 marks the anniversary of the record that redefined electronic rock! This being the debut studio album by the British new wave band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. The record in question was ‘Flaunt It’ which was released on 28th July 1986 by Parlophone, and was unique in that the band sold spots between songs for advertisements, these included L’Oréal and i-D magazine. The first 20,000 copies of ‘Flaunt It’ were released in a special edition box, based on Japanese toy robot packaging, and came with a 12-page booklet.
The album featured remixes of their hit singles ‘Love Missile F1-11’ (No.3) and ‘21st Century Boy’ (No.20) and peaked at No.10 on the UK Albums Chart.
‘Love Missile F1-11’ was used in the American teen comedy film ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986) and the video game ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ (2002) and the song also featured on the trailer for the American crime comedy film ‘Stretch’ (2014). Pop Will Eat Itself released a cover version of ‘Love Missile F1-11’ as a single in May 1987 and David Bowie released it as a B-side for his ‘New Killer Star’ single.
There really was no-one else out there like Sigue Sigue Sputnik, with their iconic ‘Bladerunner’ meets ‘A Clockwork Orange’ image, it was sci-fi glam all the way, especially from frontman ‘peacock’ Martin Degville. The band were designed with success in mind, and took all the best bits of Ramones and rock’n’roll repetitive beats and gave them a refreshing new 21st century synth slant with the cutting digital edge at the time. They even managed to get Giorgio Moroder on board as he produced ‘Flaunt It’, and he brought us Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’.
Sputnik ran through to the end of the 80’s, but by 1990 the members had sadly called it a day. There were a number of reunions and get-togethers after this, but by 2004 that was their lot.
Once in a blue moon, there are the occasional special events! One of these happened back in 2019 when Martin Degville brought his new band of chums together under the banner of Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic and made their way to The Prince Albert in Brighton for an exciting night of Sputnik sounds – Review HERE.
Now as a special celebration for the 40th Anniversary of ‘Flaunt It’, Degville is back in Brighton! This time around the venue of choice is the charismatic Green Door Store. The date in question is Saturday 20th June. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased from HERE and HERE. Support will come from Sonny E.
I wanted this to be good. I honestly did but it was a lame spectacle. One musician and some sort of backing track. Low energy nonsense. I remember the glory days. This is not even close to it.