this is a new age of television

Popcult anomalies fascinate me. For example, there's the small cluster of visually flamboyant pop bands that made a brief splash in the mid-1980's. New Wave (meaning the loose conglomeration of dozens of wildy different musical styles that emerged in the wake of the initial punk rock explosion) had pretty much subsided by 1985, and the surviving bands once associated with it had either mutated into standard Top 40 pop acts (Duran Duran, Human League), moved onto the "college radio" circuit (Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees), or simply up and vanished. (Or became Adam Ant, who should have vanished gracefully after 1983, the poor bastard.)

The music video outlets that had given New Wave acts a leg up over less savvy (and less visually attractive) performers in the early eighties became colonized by a new breed of telegenic superstars, as the record labels caught on to the power of the format in making or breaking popstar careers. The early Video Age, where the scarcity of content worked to shape tastes, was over. In this new age Jacko, Prince, Madonna, and Springsteen, backed by massive PR combines, reigned supreme.

So how and why did a handful of colorful pop acts, throwbacks all to the visual novelty of early eighties New Wave bands, suddenly crop up in the period from 1985 to 1986? Very different from each other musically, these bands did not comprise a "movement" in any shape or form. Apart from the striking visual components, the other thing these groups had in common was disdain from the music press which panned what they saw as more instances of style over substance.

The gist of this all is that I'm going to feature some of these acts over the next few days. Today let's take a look at Sigue Sigue Sputnik.

Founded by Tony James (ex-Generation X), working some Malcolm McLarenesque huckster mojo to create the worlds first "cyberpunk" band. And it worked, if only for a short while. Sigue Sigue's first album, Flaunt It (1986), is an entertaining post-modern concept album. Japanese and Soviet imagery is mixed and matched with sampled dialogue and sci-fi themed lyrics, all set against the backdrop of canned (and heavily recycled) synth lines and drumbeats. In an odd but fitting touch, ads for Loreal, iD Magazine, and the Sputnik Corporation fill in the spaces between tracks.

Yes, it's a "love it or hate it" kind of record. I think it's swell, if repetitive.

Here's the video for "21st Century Boy", a nod to Marc Bolan: