At long last, Sigue Sigue Sputnik are getting some post-factus press recognition. Helped no end by a relatively deluxe reissue of debut album Flaunt It, which is available now via HD Streaming (and also available on compact disc).
All of this is great news for us because, while we stream Flaunt It anew, we can dive back into the cast of characters, set pieces, images, backstories, and dialogue that forms the very cinematic vinyl universe of Sigue Sigue Sputnik. And, top of the pile, are these ten absolute gems:
1. Love Missile F1-11 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The second 12″ edition of Love Missile but the one that visually captures everything Tony James envisaged for the band.
2. Success! (Acid Mixes)
Recent interviews have seen Neal X and Tony James wanting to airbrush the S/A/W experiment out of Sputnik history. But if they did, we’d lose the classic Acid Mixes of Success!
3. Rio Rocks! The Samba Remixes
Rio Rocks is one of the most overlooked classics of the SSS canon, and this 12″ takes it ten stages further than the more familiar album version.
4. 21st Century Boy 7″ poster
Every Sputnik vinyl should have come with a poster as standard. Shame that so few of them did…
5. Sex Bomb Boogie 12″
It was a perfect move to release a VHS single but it’s well worth picking up the spin-off record from the campaign, too.
6. Flaunt It Box Set
This wasn’t the first (thank you, Foetus) largely empty box set we’d bought, and wasn’t the last (thank, Frazier Chorus) but they were all vital purchases…
7. Dancerama – “A Picture Disc”
The No. 1 Ballad that never was and, for us, the artwork for the second album period was actually even better than the first.
8. Albinoni Vs Star Wars
The A-side label sums it all up perfectly: “He who plunders the past, exploits the future!”
9. Hey Jane Mansfield Superstar!
The record that bridged the first coming with the second coming… A-side at 33rpm, B-side at 45rpm, and exclusive to Brazil.
10. The HMV 12″
The thing about the infamous Flaunt It LP box set was that there was nothing actually inside it, apart from the album. That is, unless you bought your box from HMV and got this free promo 12″.
Shop Sigue Sigue Sputnik on Amazon
Read more of Long Live Vinyl’s Essential Lists