The eighties heralded the advent of new technological features which had a major influence on musicians who wanted to impress the audiences and make an impact
The end of the 70s had already highlighted transitions in making music and especially in classic Rock’n’Roll with a weighty presence of Punk Rock and new related genres which in reality will come out in the eighties. These new genres was mostly represented in the form of New wave, the British and American Pop rock (however the punk aspect was present in lesser or greater amount)
The new Techno-digital features appeared on the scene in the eighties and started to be utilised in the late seventies characterising eighties Music much more. Anyway the most innovative and effective feature initially visible to the audience was (thanks to creative engineers and marketing music staffs) the Video-Making (of main Band’s tunes that really captivated the entire music audience). However for people who loved Rock and Roll, in my humble opinion, they took into account two basic patterns of Classic Rock which were : the rhythmic session and the riffs. Adding to that the audio digital effects by instrumentations capable of producing voice, guitar, bass-guitar echoes, reverberation, distortions, delays, and having also pioneered keyboards with synthesizers and electronic drums. The best band capable of using extensively these effects and putting the seal on themselves as the newest and most original Rock and Roll Band were Sigue Sigue Sputnik, whose name was taken from a Russian street gang.
They had a lot in common with the classic rock of the sixties that you could see in band like the Faces and in 70s glam-rock band.
The leader and founder of Sigue Sigue Sputnik , Tony James stated, moderately that if Elvis Presley formed a band in the 1990 the Sigue Sugue Sputnik would be the band. He was highly creative and mulled over the idea of forming a band with members who hadn’t really played Rock’n’Roll, charismatic personalities quite good for music but perfect for TV and movie. He found the rest of the band members (Martine Degville, Neal X, Kris Kavanagh, Ray Mayew, Yana Ya Ya) just in coffee bars and streets after long time and thanks to his Math degree, marketing experience and high level of education he created the band which became an intriguing and captivating Brand.
Tony James asserted in an interview on West5th TV : I don’t know why can’t be stars without a record”. He created what he had already in mind when he began auditions for his dream band. Getting around London he met Neil who was soon hired on account of his unusual and terrific look, unable to play really well the guitar. Proceeding on Tony found Martin who was working in a shop, looking as terrific as Neil or even more and poor at singing, but what James was looking for was the attitude of these guys for the innovative Rock’n’Roll band he had imagined clearly and one that would be sure of success.
He wanted to create a myth, with fantasy so that the audience could be taken out from reality, he did it creating a highly impactful video of the “Love missle F – 11” containing a mix of images and sounds wholly new and captivating that pointed out the successful idea. Tony James’ s concept idea about selling naïve attitudes worked.( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfHxsjH0bUI )
He also cared about the image design of the LP “Flaunt It” thinking of it as something as futuristic.
At launching his whole idea and realising a music record Tony James had to deal with EMI business staff, the negotiation was hard but his clever and intelligent personality allowed him to achieve a successful result. The British press was on the air and booted the Sigue Sigue Sputnik onto the music scene who started to be instantly famous.
