"That'll be £13.50"
I said, "And would you like a bag with that? Remember no returns on the knickers"
Oh yes, the life of an
M&S lingerie worker was all glam... A
pair of stretchy grandma pants here, some tan popsocks here... Oh yes, pure glam....
I rested my head in my
hands... you know I was
going to be a rock star, a rich a famous rock star… or at least married to a
rock star... Any one of Sigue Sigue Sputnik would be fine... Oh yes, those boys
could dress and make music like no one else... With hits like Love Missile F1 -11, 20th Century Boy
and Sex
Bomb Boogie, they were my idols and I had everything they had ever done.
I was busily day dreaming
about singing on stage with back-combed, outrageously coloured hair, belting out new wave hits to a full
stadium... All eyes on me... All the while doodling Mrs M Degville on my receipt roll, I
couldn't bare the thought of measuring up
any more miserable old ladies for a girdle
today... Honestly, I would have stayed in college if I knew it was this bad.
If just one exciting thing could
happen today then it would make all this worth it... But what did happen next
is beyond anything I could have hoped
for...
I sighed as I saw a pair of fishnet stockings being push toward me on my counter... That was a little more like it... Without looking up I asked "Lovely choice, would you like a suspender belt to go with this madam?"
I heard a laugh... What was so funny?..I looked up... Oh my god, now I realised what was so funny... These tights weren't meant to be worn on the legs and this was certainly no madam!Buying the stockings was none other than the lead singer of Sigue Sigue Sputnik Martin Degville...
"Um... I...I..." I stuttered.
I nervously took the cash for the stockings and placed them in a bag... Handing Martin his receipt I heard yet another snicker... OH MY GOD!... I'd given him the receipt that I had doodled on... I blushed even more and smiled... Then I started garbling... "Oh Martin, I'm sorry I am a huge fan... a huge, huge fan... I've followed you forever..." I realised it was now or never... I had given up college... I had given up my driving lessons... But I wasn't going to give up on this one, I asked "Could I just ask you a few questions? My break is starting right now... We could go to the coffee shop... I promise it won't be long..."
And to my utter surprise he said yes.
We made our way to the lift, the coffee shop was on the top floor, but I couldn't wait...
When you first formed the band did you feel at the
time it was something special and 'soon the whole world will know my name'?
"YES, I WAS BORN TO BE GLAMOROUS- I ALWAYZ KNEW
SOMETHING SPECIAL WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO ME AND FORMING THE BAND WAS A DREAM COME
TRUE- IT WAS A DESIRE TO CREATE SOMETHING COOL AND WILD AND TOTALLY OUT THERE
BUT I WOULD SAY BE CAREFUL FOR WHAT YOU WISH FOR AS IT NEVER TURNS OUT THE WAY
YOU WANT"
I looked at my uniform... He'd got that right! I thought... I pressed the lift button, it made the familiar whirring sound of the life descending to meet us.
I looked at my uniform... He'd got that right! I thought... I pressed the lift button, it made the familiar whirring sound of the life descending to meet us.
You were probably the first band to ever sample films and classical music, at what point did you realise you were pioneering something that would change music for ever?
"WELL THE MUSIC WAS INFLUENCED BY MANY FILMS, MY
FAVE BEING BLADE RUNNER AND MAD MAX BUT MOST OF ALL CLOCKWORK ORANGE. MOS
INFLUENTIAL WERE THE ADDS IN-BETWEEN EACH TRACK FROM THE ALBUM FLAUNT IT. THAT
WAS QUITE REVOLUTIONARY"
You introduced a generation to blade runner, a clockwork orange, terminator and made rocky 4 cooler than it should have been... Any films that didn't make the cut?
"YES -SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER"
The fashion was there even before the music, did
that evolve or was it first on Tonys 'things to do list'?
"NO MYSELF AND YANA YA YA STYLED AND CREATED THE
IMAGE FOR THE BAND BUT IT ALSO BECOME A PERSONAL LOOK FOR EACH MEMBER TO
DEVELOP THIS INTO THIER OWN UNIQUE STYLE- IT WAS COPIED BY MANY PEOPLE- ITS
IMPORTANT TO REMAIN INDIVIDUAL"
Isn't it just I thought as two women dressed identically to me got in the lift with us... Oh why wasn't I dressed cool?... Mind you, that inspired my next question...
Isn't it just I thought as two women dressed identically to me got in the lift with us... Oh why wasn't I dressed cool?... Mind you, that inspired my next question...
What do you think of Lady Gaga... Do you think "Been there, done that"?
"SHE'S SHOCKING BUT NOT AS MUCH AS I WAS WAY BACK THEN- I COULDN'T EVEN WALK DOWN THE STREET WITHOUT BEING SPAT ON OR ATTACKED- THINGS ARE VERY DIFFERENT NOW WITH SOICIAL MEDIA AND THE FACT THAT TO BE OUTRAGEOUS IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE"
Now you've used some very innovative marketing in your time, which was
your favourite?"I THINK THE 21ST CENTURY BOY VIDEO SHOOT WITH THE UPSIDE DOWN CROSS WITH ME NAILED TO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST SHOCKING AND SUBVERSIVE BUT THE CAMPAIGN WAS SCRAPPED BY EMI DUE TO ITS OFFENDING NATURE- THE SOUND AND IMAGE WAS ENOUGH TO MARKET A VERY NEW BAND USING COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS TO CREATE A NEW ROCK N ROLL SOUND GEARED TO THE FUTURE"
Was the 'bottle throwing' incident the beginning of the end or did it help your image?
"THAT WAS A DISASTER ITSELF AND SO THE SPUTNIK
ENIGMA STARTED TO FALL TO EARTH- I HATE VIOLENCE OF ANY KIND AND THE PRESS RAN
WILD WITH THE STORY WHICH WAS MOSTLY UNTRUE OF THE EVENT THAT HAPPENED"
The lift stopped and we all shuffled out... Oh crap, I thought... there was my boss... I hid my face and hoped that hse had missed me... Actually...
The lift stopped and we all shuffled out... Oh crap, I thought... there was my boss... I hid my face and hoped that hse had missed me... Actually...
Did Tony [James] run the show? Or just do the talking? With
him and Janet street porter around it must have been hard to get a word in!?
We got to the cafe and ordered our coffees at the self service desk, the place was pleasingly quiet... we paid, collected our coffee and sat at a table by the window.
Love missile f1-11 is the best video ever made,
that's a fact not a question! - Sorry How long did it take to make?
"LOVE MISSILE TOOK 4 DAYS TO FILM AT A VERY HIGH COST AT THAT TIME-WE WANTED IT TO LOOK LIKE A TRAILER FROM A SCI - FI MOVIE NOT JUST A BAND ON STAGE"
"LOVE MISSILE TOOK 4 DAYS TO FILM AT A VERY HIGH COST AT THAT TIME-WE WANTED IT TO LOOK LIKE A TRAILER FROM A SCI - FI MOVIE NOT JUST A BAND ON STAGE"
when you closed the fan club, you refunded
everyone's money, plus the interest, and sent them an exclusive 12" vinyl
record..that's very generous for a band that used slogans such as 'ultra
violence' and 'fleece the world'
"WELL THAT SHOWS THAT WE CARED ABOUT OUR FANS- THE SLOGANS WERE ABOUT OTHER ISSUES THAT WERE REFLECTED IN OUR SONGS"
"WELL THAT SHOWS THAT WE CARED ABOUT OUR FANS- THE SLOGANS WERE ABOUT OTHER ISSUES THAT WERE REFLECTED IN OUR SONGS"
how did the all female roadies come about?
"I CHOSE THEM
FOR THEIR LOOKS AND ATTITUDE AND LOYALTY- THERE WAS NEVER A FEMALE ROAD CREW
THAT LOOKED LIKE MOVIE STARS UNTIL WE CREATED THEM"
"LOL SOS BUT DONT HAVE ANY ARCHIVE TEES LEFT- I DONT
HAVE ONE MYSELF"
Whose idea was the frightmask? It's still a very
original image even 28 years later!
"YES I HAD A BAD HAIR DAY AND PULLED A FISHNET OVER
MY HEAD AND PULLED ALL MY HAIR THRU COS I WAS BORED WITH IT- I THEN APPLIED
EXTENSIONS AND HEY PRESTO THE LOOK WAS CREATED- ITS STILL A SECRET HOW ITS
FINNISHED LOL"
So, it's not all your own hair?
"NO I USE GOAT HAIR FOR MY EXTENSIONS"
I wondered what that would look like....
I wondered what that would look like....
And whose idea was the 'star whores' t shirt?
"THAT WAS TONY- TAKEN FROM THE STAR WARS LOGO- WE
ALWAYS PLAGIARISED FROM EVERYONE- JUST LIKE MALCOM MC LAREN DID"
"FOR ME IT WAS HAVING SUCH A GREAT TIME RECORDING/
TOURING/ WORKING WITH GEORGIO MORODER AND PLAYING AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL- THE
LOW POINT WAS THE SPLIT WITH BAND MEMBERS / THE DEMISE OF THE BAND AND NO
RECOGNITION OF WHAT WE TRIED TO CREATE IN A NEW BRAVE WORLD OF MUSIC"
Sputnik has continued in one form or another after
all these years, do you still stand fo the same things or has your direction
changed?- after all, you 'invented the future' and lived through it.
"I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED ELECTRONIC MUSIC WITH THE
COMBINATION OF EDDIE CHOCHRAN GUITAR TRASHED IN AND DUB VOCALS ADDED- I ALSO
LIKE THE BIG BEAT THAT FLOWED WITH IT- YES I STILL DO THE SAME KINDA THING BUT
WITH BETTER SOUNDS AND GROOVES- I LIKE TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY WITH MY MUSIC"
Who are your influences? Both fashion and music?
"BOWIE/MARC BOLAN/ ELVIS/FRANK SINATRA/ROCKABILLY/SOUL/50'S GIRL BANDS/
ANYTHING REALLY THAT CATCHES MY ATTENTION"
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"YES I WOULD HAVE USED DAVID BOWIE TO PRODUCE OUR ALBUMS"
We sipped our coffee cups, it had been a fabulous chat, I could stay here all day I thought... What was next? Oh yes... A question that I had always longed to ask...
We sipped our coffee cups, it had been a fabulous chat, I could stay here all day I thought... What was next? Oh yes... A question that I had always longed to ask...
So, Martin, did you ever wear your 'costumes' just down to the shops?
"ALWAYS! WHY GO OUT AND LOOK DRAB?
LIFE IS BAD ENUFF AS IT IS LOL"
"It wasn't your break was it?" Martin guessed...
Oh well, I thought, now I would have all the time in the world... Maybe I'll even try being that rock star?
or visit their website at http://www.sputnikworld.com/
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