Fantastic interview. I was there in the 80s and believe me, the hype for this band was on another level. They looked dangerous, sounded futuristic and made fantastic music. Flaunt It Box Set is great, would’ve loved to have seen some Sci-Fi Sex Stars tracks remastered there , Razz Crazy, Youth Juice.. Hopefully we’ll get an ultimate box set on day.
The first record I have bought in my life was “Flaunt it”. I only knew Love Missile F1-11 and the amazing cover of the record with that Transformer robot. I thought: “This album has to be good!”. And I was damn right!☺️
Brilliant. I'll watch this tomorrow. Saved to SSS playlist and watch later. Rediscovered the band this year since the 80's. Bought all their CDs. Got both Versions of Piratespace and Black Elvis. And Ultra Real. Watched their comeback gigs on UA-cam and they were great. I regret that I never got to see them live. It's time Tony should write an autobiography.
Very entertaining interview. I could listen to Tony talk about the minutiae of Sputnik for hours! The mention of their live shows under the name The Hot Dogs was tantalising ... if only there was a recording of one of those gigs where they played nothing but rock 'n' roll covers.
@@BunkerWorldFilms I've been fascinated by Sputnik's pre-history. I know they played as The Hot Dogs in 1983 and 1984 appearing with New Model Army and Mercenary Skank. And there's a great live review of them from a Cambridge gig in September 1983. But a recording ... wow!
Thanks for this. Tony getting more and more excited talking about the band. It's a shame Martin wasn't involved with the reissue of Flaunt It though, but really enjoyed the interview 👍
Martin rerecord Flaunt it with his new band. I don't know why he tampered with such a classic. It could never be bettered. Neal X' guitar playing on that album has some of the best riffs and lead playing in the history of rock'n'roll.
@@twistedspanner Yes, indeed. People really did not get what was going on with that big ol' ES135 screaming out like a demon from the country boy. Three/four chord rock with all the blast of Eddie. New line-up is just as good. Maybe better...
@@markjohnson1224 the new line up is better than the original. I doubt it but I'd appreciate it if you could please send me good link for me to watch to see for myself. 👍
Great insights into the roles of stardom and style in the post-punk years. After the focus on the lengthy and conceptual process of finding the other band members I wish Tony could have covered some detail of the recruitment of the drummers. And Ray's emergence as principal nutter, too... But a terrific interview none the less.
I was amazed to hear Tony say that Generation Sex was actually gonna tour. It was all set before Covid and they'd to managed persuade Steve Jones to get on a plane. These guys are great together. I'm gonna watch that one off gig they did. I was amazed to see it on UA-cam after they actually talked about getting it together on jonseys jukebox. I never thought they'd really do it. It's never to late to be late. ;-)
Beautifully outrageous! Fabulous band in every respect, with the most sexy-cool bass line in music history. If only all 6 of them could take even just a month out of their schedules to give us fans one final tour, and have it recorded for DVD release. Perfect.
Would be lovely to imagine them actually having a schedule to have time off from. Love SSS but don’t think Martin and Tony get on now after the second split.
Best band ever in the 80's blew my mind, got my PVC pants painted with all their logos, and unfortunately started a riot in The Tache Blackpool whilst dancing to Love Missile F1-11 totally accidental
Tony is such a nice guy. I have SO much respect for him. I remember the day he took me inside his flat in Pindock Mews and showed me the original demo video that they got signed from. And to Martin & Yana's flat in Harrow Road to watch the band play in the rehearsal room. Magical. Even after Martin walked out, I went to see Neal fronting the band in Edinburgh, and Tony took time-out to talk with me before the gig. (I was completely inebriated and 'intoxicated' that night, but hey!) He basically shaped my future, by inspiring me to get into music production. If I hadn't met Tony, I don't think I would have ever touched a synthesizer or sang a note. Anyway, Tony, he's an absolute legend, a gentleman and absolute musical intelligentsia. 👾🥂🛰
Around 2004 I met this guy in a bar in Chiang Mai who knew Martin. He was involved in music. God knows how we got talking about SSS but I must have told him I loved the band. He told a funny story about how they went to watch pretty boy band Bros. Sitting down amongst all these teeney bopper crowd watching Bros Martin casually took off one of his trainers and casually made a line on it and snorted it with all these kids around him. Imagine this cyberpunk who must have stood out amongst the crowd doing that. Hahahaha 🤣
It’s interesting to think, if he had held out for a few more years he could have done the whole thing without a band, just done it on his own and generated the whole thing digitally. Look at the Gorrilaz, he literally could have created his perfect band - and with the hologram technology out now he could do live shows too! It’s also interesting to think now that bands aren’t as reliant on the press for PR and with social media have direct access to fans - the press can’t just make up stuff would it still have been so hyped. I guess doing it now wouldn’t have been so crazy, it wouldn’t have made such a stir it’s quite hard to be provocative these days. Mind you, being actual people in a real band made it cool
In sweden we didnt see the tabloids or the controversy, I just loved the music and became a manic collector of sSs stuff. I was even "avatar 006" when sputnikworld got started on the internet.
This was a great interview John. I was at the Generation Sex gig in Hollywood in October/2018 which was fantastic! I was out front of the venue after the gig and Tony James was waiting on a lift back to a hotel I am assuming anyway I interviewed Tony for my fanzine after SSS reformed in 97 so I walked to him told him who I was and the fanzine I used to do he blanked me and was an arrogant tosser! I should have have pulled the hair piece of his head!
I got the same at the Marquee residency after show 1978 in the bar. Pomposity. It is still evident in him here too. Just call me Mimi... Actually arrogant tosser does it!
Interesting that his previous band was called Generation X and the Sputnik concept epitomizes gen x with the rabid consumption of media - and consumption by media.
📡 🛰 Honest fun interview about Rock 'n Roll, Cafés, reading lists, notebooks and inventing Yourself and absurdity of media ... Nice to meet a genuine mastermind 👽 🛸 pulling strange strings behind the musicworld theatre we lived in... A crash lecture about the music industry..🎉 for believers in romance...😅
Great interview. And too right, 'shorts on the beach, what the fuck was I thinking?' 🤣🤣🤣 They should've stuck to the original programme, those singles were edgy as fk, exciting, original, dangerous, and they watered it down and sold it out to pop nonsense. But for a brief moment in time there though, it was fkin beautiful!
Funny but SSS was the first thing I thought about after hearing that Putin was to allow for a Rock Concert to be staged at the Russian occupied Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine!
Melody Maker, NME, Sounds and the Evening Standard all hated this Band and I always wondered why. "Now Grandad?" I was asked by my Grandchildren after recently showing them the Video! "No darlings this was over thirty years ago", I replied. "stop lying Granddad!". Way ahead of the time they were!
Saying it's a "concept band" is a polite way of saying it's just another manufactured band. People saw through it straight away in the 1980s. If you're only going to go by a concept without any substance, then it was doomed to fail. All hype. They quickly fell off after second single, that only go to number 20.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
if there was ever a band that needed to have a reunion SSS forever !!!!
Brilliant interview, a fantastic insight of a group I loved then and still love to this day. I’d love to see them reform.
Fantastic interview! I saw SSS in 1986, 17 years old and were so exciting they blew me away!
We need a SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK biopic now!
What a great interview! Thanks Tony and all for making SSS happen. SImply visionary.
Fantastic interview.
I was there in the 80s and believe me, the hype for this band was on another level.
They looked dangerous, sounded futuristic and made fantastic music.
Flaunt It Box Set is great, would’ve loved to have seen some Sci-Fi Sex Stars tracks remastered there , Razz Crazy, Youth Juice..
Hopefully we’ll get an ultimate box set on day.
Tony James. One of the best. Legend.
The first record I have bought in my life was “Flaunt it”. I only knew Love Missile F1-11 and the amazing cover of the record with that Transformer robot. I thought: “This album has to be good!”. And I was damn right!☺️
Brilliant. I'll watch this tomorrow. Saved to SSS playlist and watch later. Rediscovered the band this year since the 80's. Bought all their CDs. Got both Versions of Piratespace and Black Elvis. And Ultra Real. Watched their comeback gigs on UA-cam and they were great. I regret that I never got to see them live. It's time Tony should write an autobiography.
I bought my first bass the dae after I saw Sigue Sigue Sputnik in Caerdydd sometime back in the 1890s.
Yeah, the 1890’s were great weren’t they?
Damn, you're old.
THANXXX!!! As an artist I really praise this. Love from PV,Mex
Very entertaining interview. I could listen to Tony talk about the minutiae of Sputnik for hours! The mention of their live shows under the name The Hot Dogs was tantalising ... if only there was a recording of one of those gigs where they played nothing but rock 'n' roll covers.
There is a recording....
@@BunkerWorldFilms Wonderful! Is there any way to hear it?
@@BunkerWorldFilms I've been fascinated by Sputnik's pre-history. I know they played as The Hot Dogs in 1983 and 1984 appearing with New Model Army and Mercenary Skank. And there's a great live review of them from a Cambridge gig in September 1983. But a recording ... wow!
@@BunkerWorldFilms Tell me more Georgie Boy, Tell me more!!!
@robinebay Ditto, I could hear Tont talk SSS minutiae ad infinitum.
Thanks for this.
Tony getting more and more excited talking about the band.
It's a shame Martin wasn't involved with the reissue of Flaunt It though, but really enjoyed the interview 👍
Martin rerecord Flaunt it with his new band. I don't know why he tampered with such a classic. It could never be bettered. Neal X' guitar playing on that album has some of the best riffs and lead playing in the history of rock'n'roll.
@@twistedspanner Yes, indeed. People really did not get what was going on with that big ol' ES135 screaming out like a demon from the country boy. Three/four chord rock with all the blast of Eddie. New line-up is just as good. Maybe better...
@@markjohnson1224 the new line up is better than the original. I doubt it but I'd appreciate it if you could please send me good link for me to watch to see for myself. 👍
The future that they dreamt was waaaay better than the future we are living now....
My favorite sample is: "Let Me Tell You About My Mother" from Blade Runner.
Great.
Great insights into the roles of stardom and style in the post-punk years. After the focus on the lengthy and conceptual process of finding the other band members I wish Tony could have covered some detail of the recruitment of the drummers. And Ray's emergence as principal nutter, too... But a terrific interview none the less.
Fantastic interview ! Thx
What a fantastic interview
I was amazed to hear Tony say that Generation Sex was actually gonna tour. It was all set before Covid and they'd to managed persuade Steve Jones to get on a plane. These guys are great together. I'm gonna watch that one off gig they did. I was amazed to see it on UA-cam after they actually talked about getting it together on jonseys jukebox. I never thought they'd really do it. It's never to late to be late. ;-)
Beautifully outrageous! Fabulous band in every respect, with the most sexy-cool bass line in music history. If only all 6 of them could take even just a month out of their schedules to give us fans one final tour, and have it recorded for DVD release. Perfect.
Would be lovely to imagine them actually having a schedule to have time off from. Love SSS but don’t think Martin and Tony get on now after the second split.
Best band ever in the 80's blew my mind, got my PVC pants painted with all their logos, and unfortunately started a riot in The Tache Blackpool whilst dancing to Love Missile F1-11 totally accidental
Thanks for the upload! Sputnik r our biggest influence. :)
I love Tony so much. Great interview!
Tony is such a nice guy. I have SO much respect for him. I remember the day he took me inside his flat in Pindock Mews and showed me the original demo video that they got signed from. And to Martin & Yana's flat in Harrow Road to watch the band play in the rehearsal room. Magical. Even after Martin walked out, I went to see Neal fronting the band in Edinburgh, and Tony took time-out to talk with me before the gig. (I was completely inebriated and 'intoxicated' that night, but hey!) He basically shaped my future, by inspiring me to get into music production. If I hadn't met Tony, I don't think I would have ever touched a synthesizer or sang a note. Anyway, Tony, he's an absolute legend, a gentleman and absolute musical intelligentsia. 👾🥂🛰
I remember Martin D. from years ago - top bloke!
Around 2004 I met this guy in a bar in Chiang Mai who knew Martin. He was involved in music. God knows how we got talking about SSS but I must have told him I loved the band. He told a funny story about how they went to watch pretty boy band Bros. Sitting down amongst all these teeney bopper crowd watching Bros Martin casually took off one of his trainers and casually made a line on it and snorted it with all these kids around him. Imagine this cyberpunk who must have stood out amongst the crowd doing that. Hahahaha 🤣
It’s interesting to think, if he had held out for a few more years he could have done the whole thing without a band, just done it on his own and generated the whole thing digitally. Look at the Gorrilaz, he literally could have created his perfect band - and with the hologram technology out now he could do live shows too! It’s also interesting to think now that bands aren’t as reliant on the press for PR and with social media have direct access to fans - the press can’t just make up stuff would it still have been so hyped. I guess doing it now wouldn’t have been so crazy, it wouldn’t have made such a stir it’s quite hard to be provocative these days. Mind you, being actual people in a real band made it cool
Savannah Nix was the young girl in the film - I played in a band called the same...
In sweden we didnt see the tabloids or the controversy, I just loved the music and became a manic collector of sSs stuff. I was even "avatar 006" when sputnikworld got started on the internet.
a true musical visionary...
This was a great interview John. I was at the Generation Sex gig in Hollywood in October/2018 which was fantastic! I was out front of the venue after the gig and Tony James was waiting on a lift back to a hotel I am assuming anyway I interviewed Tony for my fanzine after SSS reformed in 97 so I walked to him told him who I was and the fanzine I used to do he blanked me and was an arrogant tosser! I should have have pulled the hair piece of his head!
I got the same at the Marquee residency after show 1978 in the bar. Pomposity. It is still evident in him here too. Just call me Mimi... Actually arrogant tosser does it!
Excellent interview.
(-:
Great nice to see you doin what you like
SSS know that the music biz is supposed to be fun!
That's so great that he met Prince!
:-)
Cool dude old tony😉
and i was there witnessing the sss from 1985-2003,history did prove us fans right xsputnikfredx
Cmon tony…let the London SS Demo tape see the light of day and realise it to all the punk fans.Great interview 👍
Love SSS , just last week had Atari baby blasting in car. 💥🏆👍😀
"renowned journalist John Robb" - lol, never heard of him till this interview and only because I was searching for Sigue Sigue Sputnik...
Interesting that his previous band was called Generation X and the Sputnik concept epitomizes gen x with the rabid consumption of media - and consumption by media.
📡 🛰 Honest fun interview about Rock 'n Roll, Cafés, reading lists, notebooks and inventing Yourself and absurdity of media ... Nice to meet a genuine mastermind 👽 🛸 pulling strange strings
behind the musicworld theatre we lived in...
A crash lecture about the music industry..🎉 for believers in romance...😅
Great interview. And too right, 'shorts on the beach, what the fuck was I thinking?' 🤣🤣🤣 They should've stuck to the original programme, those singles were edgy as fk, exciting, original, dangerous, and they watered it down and sold it out to pop nonsense. But for a brief moment in time there though, it was fkin beautiful!
🌹🍃🥀🍃🌹
I've had to defend SSS forever and that's a sign that they did something right
Martin Degville is still twenty-five...
Would James do a CGI mo cap thing like ABBA have just done
Llegan a brazil...y casi no logran contrato con daniel grinback para traerlo a ARGENTINA
Funny but SSS was the first thing I thought about after hearing that Putin was to allow for a Rock Concert to be staged at the Russian occupied Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine!
Tony James if you are listening....do it again, your still alive, we're still alive, no one is afraid, were all waiting.
Embryo, UFO, Freako, Psycho, Horrorshow
Classic Poetry.
Melody Maker, NME, Sounds and the Evening Standard all hated this Band and I always wondered why.
"Now Grandad?" I was asked by my Grandchildren after recently showing them the Video!
"No darlings this was over thirty years ago", I replied.
"stop lying Granddad!".
Way ahead of the time they were!
Tony might be in denial about the cause of the backlash.
BAD, ripped them off.
They were crap at the time & no amount of revisionist bullshit will make me change my mind.
What in 2021 is better or more creative?
@@marleypumpkin4917 COC LOL
They were a one-hit wonder. 'Love Missile F1-11' was a great track and video but the albums were a huge disappointment. Don't blame it on the press.
They are crap 🤣
Saying it's a "concept band" is a polite way of saying it's just another manufactured band. People saw through it straight away in the 1980s. If you're only going to go by a concept without any substance, then it was doomed to fail. All hype. They quickly fell off after second single, that only go to number 20.
Tony James is bloody awesome