Customer Reviews

Flaunt It

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the weirdest and most exciting novelty albums I ever encountered came out in 1986 in Britain and didn't make its way to the states till the following year. Looking at it, I see that it was way ahead of its time in its techno-punk hybrid, random sampling, and a product of the computer and technology-obsessed 1980's.

"Love Missile F1-11" opens with Martin Degville crying out "I Wanna Be A Star" before the signature Sputnik sound, a backbeat of quick-paced Generation X-ish technodisco punctuated by an electropump bass, combined with sliding punk guitar, computerizing samples of Beethoven's 9th, the William Tell overture, Japanese vocals, Ms. Pacman dying, distorted effects. This song featured in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. A few lines condemn a vision of Reagan's America: "U.S. bombs floating overhead." and "multi-millions still unfed.

"Atari Baby" would be Sputnik's equivalent of Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face", a quiet song with a running percussive beat and the usual effects, with some female vocalists going "d-d-d-d..aah aah".

"Sex Bomb Boogie" is as crazy as "Love Missile", opening with that piercing space guitar and the pounding technodisco. There are a few weird effects but not as much as its cousin. It ends with a girl going, "Mmm, that was fantastic!" Which it was.

"Rockit Miss USA" has imitated effects of Dirty Harry, "Go ahead, make my day", someone saying "Get away from the gun!" and a black guy asking subway shooter Bernard Goetz for $5.00. There's a constant anti-gun theme going on here and a Cold War one as well. On one occasion one hears "Reagan rocks my baby" another time, "Moscow rocks my baby."

"21st Century Boy" opens with Bach's Fugue before a computerized voice announces: "From the 21st century, we present the next generation of rock and roll, starring... [the names of the band members]" and a technobeat rivalling "Love Missile". Much of the lyrics are a description what would be seen in the future, "satellite TV, laser beams, Chinese-speaking split-TVs,..etc." The term "Elvis 1990" accurately describes the sound. "I am the ultimate product" is what Sputnik would be for the music of their world.

"Massive Retaliation" samples a bit from Beethoven's Fifth." the repeated refrain "Shut up" a booming drum beat, and words that don't add up to any kind of theme: "Stimulation, baby/inspiration, baby" finishing up with "Moscow hit back" or "Bangkok hit back." Nothing about nuclear war here.

By the last two songs, the same crazy sound is there, which is fine, except that there's nothing unique to pick out.

Oh, inbetween each song are paid commercials for certain products, such as Tempo Magazine, Network 21, Studio Line of Loreal, the Sputnik Corporation. They're brief snippets, but add to the feeling of music and technology for the 21st century.

I envision a metropolis embodying concepts from Blade-Runner or William Gibson with this kind of music. 17 years after its release, it still rocks out.

This is a synth fest set to driving and bubbling beats celebrating technology, computer games and power politics, executed with plenty of gusto and energy. Love Missile is thunderous and energetic with lots of echo, unexpected samples and galloping synths, while Atari Baby is slower and atmospheric, reminding me of Alan Vega's psychobilly excursions. Rockit Miss USA is catchy power pop, Massive Retaliation is a charming mix of beats and samples and Teenage Thunder sounds like Suicide at its most hypnotic and is full of quotes like "money makes the world go round." She's My Man starts with a cheeky quote from the advertising copy for a certain hair gel. In its innovative use of synthesizer Flaunt It is on a par with Sparks' great masterpiece No. 1 In Heaven or Alan Vega's Collision Drive. Giorgo Moroder's talent was here applied to create a stirring, over-the-top post-modern rock statement. I still love it after all these years.

You gotta like this album. Futuristic samples and whiz guitar work by Tony James (Generation X w/Billy Idol) is incredible. Still have the LP and posters from the concert. Pick it up before it's gone.

It's been over a decade since I last owned this album, but it had the same impact now as it did then.
Each song has that unique electronica 'zap' from one track to the next. The bridges between the songs are pretty humourous as well.
From the first track ("Love Missile F-111") to the last ("She's My Man"), Sigue Sigue Sputnik serves up a dish that any fan of Cyberpunk, Anime, comic-book superheroes, and over-sexed media can enjoy over and over.
I give it four stars, especially for the tracks "Teenage Thunder", "Sex-Bomb-Boogie", "21st Century Boy", and "Massive Retaliation".
It's an ultra-chic thrill ride.

If cyberpunk was a term that could describe a band then Sigue sigue sputnik would be just that, They where a piece of the puzzle that made electronica, industrial, and I don't think Marilyn Manson would of had a clue if it was for these pre-Armageddon Atari babies, I have been with these guys since the original release, and that may say something about my age but hey, At least I had a chance to live there spectacle, and go crazy in my youth with this fluid computer generated rock and roll. Nothing come close to even competing with there greatness, and originality. but there is still time for the youth to hear real technical wizardry in this age of Corporate generated junk. Just buy the album... buy the albummmmmmmm.

Thanks for sending me my CD in mint condition. I had some very fond memories of this specific album. You simply can't go wrong with this compilation if you want to relive the vibes of SSS. I will rate this album 10 out of 10.

An excellent band showcasing the excesses of pop in the 80's. I rellay like it, baby. Buy it if you know you like it or you never heard of 'em, but love the samples.

I'm sure most music fans would hate me for the title of my review, but I think open minded listeners could be convinced if they gave this obscure gem a chance!

Indeed, "Sgt Pepper's Loney Hearts Club Band" was a gift to the 1960s and I believe "Flaunt It" was robbed of the appreciation it deserved in the 1980s -- the original decade of excess! I think both of theses great albums capture the electricity of their times.

First and foremost, "Flaunt It" is not to be taken that seriously as this is art for art sake, but with a healthy dose of sense of humor thrown in the mix. Before you criticize it, remember that The Beatles also wrote plenty of weird and silly songs too.

This disc is a totally engrossing experience as your ears are thrown in the midst of the sound waves of the fictional Sputnik Corporation and its band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Bizarre tunes about a cyberpunk 1986 are glued together by equally strange commercials. I know of no other record like this one!!!

As John Lennon once pointed out, only three tracks on "Sgt Pepper" were really connected with the whole concept album. True, it had brilliant songs throughout, but allot of those other songs could've fitted on any other Beatles album.

Refreshingly, "Flaunt It" never feels like just a collection of songs, but an alternate reality of the Cold War -- with perhaps a less optimistic conclusion unfolding and the final bard of mankind is ironically a futuristic punk band singing about love and war and even cashing in with a few sponsors.

This is one of those once in a lifetime records. It's strange, but commercial ...frozen in time, but points to a future ... full of punk attitude, but without the cliché bitter anger.

The band clearly had a blast writing and recording "Flaunt It" and it truly captures the essence of the mid 80s perfectly -- a time of new technology and an increasingly high stakes game of chess being played by Reagan and Gorbachev.


Do your ears a favor and "Flaunt It."

You gotta like this album. Futuristic samples and whiz guitar work by Tony James (Generation X w/Billy Idol) is incredible. Still have the LP and posters from the concert. Pick it up before it's gone.

I was ten when this came out, so I briefly caught the hype that surrounded the band at the time (they took great delight in being image-led, although they seem to regret that nowadays). It took me until recently to buy the actual album itself, and it's pretty much as I expected - ZZ Top with lots of samples, but not nearly as good. The novelty carries it along for a while, and the whole thing is so ludicrously dated as to be charming, but it's not the kind of thing I imagine myself listening to a lot.

The main problem is that all the songs are more or less the same - a weedy electronic rock'n'roll bassline with echoey, Presley-style vocals, except for 'Atari Baby' which is a ballad and consists of the lead singer singing 'Atari Baby' repeatedly over some chords - but it's not loud enough or fast enough to make it work as it did for, say, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Whether it's the band or the production, it sounds very weak and thin.

The production itself is a snapshot of what was trendy in 1986, and it's full of pitch-shifted vocals, gated reverb, stuttery samples, bits that go backwards, and snippets from films and stuff. This gets annoying, and gets in the way of the songs which, if played 'straight', might actually have been quite good.