Martin Degville - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Martin Degville was the lead singer and co-songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

of the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

-cyberpunk

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...

band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

, Sigue Sigue Sputnik

Sigue Sigue Sputnik

Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band created in 1982 by the former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band had three UK Top 40 hit singles, including the song "Love Missile F1-11".-Early years:...

- which had a worldwide hit single

Hit single

A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...

in 1986 with "Love Missile F-1-11" - and six other EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

releases. Sputnik was formed with ex-Generation X

Generation X (band)

Generation X was a British punk rock band, formed on 21 November 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and John Towe.-History:...

bassist Tony James

Tony James

Tony James is a British musician, best known as a bassist of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik.- Career :He was originally a member of the punk band London SS, along with Brian James, , and Mick Jones plus Terry Chimes .Later, James joined the early punk band Chelsea...

Biography

Degville hails from Walsall

Walsall

Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...

and was a familiar face on the Birmingham club scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s - at clubs such as The Rum Runner and The Hostaria (Wine Bar). Before Sigue Sigue Sputnik he had worked selling clothes, and he was spotted by Tony James and Neal X while dancing in his Yaya boutique. Degville's former flat-mate is Boy George

Boy George

Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

, and George worked in Degville's shop (Degville's Dispensary) during the time that he lived in Walsall. Degville was also a fashion designer who styled Sigue Sigue Sputnik's original image, and musical style.

Further Sigue Sigue Sputnik hits include "21st Century Boy", "Sex Bomb Boogie", "Success", "Dancerama", "Albinoni vs Star Wars" and "Rio Rocks". Tony James

Tony James

reformed the band in 2001 with Degville and Neal X

Neal X

Neal X was the guitarist with the British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They had a #3 UK hit single with "Love Missile F1-11" in 1986. He has also worked as a sideman for Adam Ant and Marc Almond...

and released the album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

Piratespace. In 2000. A tribute to Elvis Presley, "Blak Elvis" was released shortly afterwards and then "Ultra Real". Degville then left the band to pursue a solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

career with Sputnik2. He released an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Smart1 which featured UK House vocalist Simon Green on backing vocals, and has since worked with UK record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

s DiscoKingz on tracks including "Planit Bi", "Don't Dabble With The Devil", "The Man Who Fell 2 Earth", "Fascination" and "Experimental 2 + 3" remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

albums. His debut solo album, World War Four, was released in 1991.

In 2007 Degville recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

his first album since World War Four, entitled Prophet of Freak.

In 2008, while working on Prophet Of Freak, Degville released an album G.O.D., Guns, Oil, Drugs.

Mid way through 2009 Martin started to play live as Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic (SSSE). This new incarnation of Sputnik aimed to take the original songs and present them in a new electro style. Martin is now in the process of re-recording the first two Sigue Sigue Sputnik albums with producer Lloyd Price. Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic have been approached by numeorus bands for remixes. To date SSSE have remixed one track, "CONsume" by South African Goth/Metal band Terminatryx.

As Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic

Sputnik vs Bowie - An EP of classic David Bowie tracks in an Electro style.

Tracklisting:

"Drive in Saturday"
"Gene Genie"
"Life on Mars"
"Rebel Rebel"
"SSSpace Oddity"
"Suffragette City"

Futuatronik - an EP of re-recorded, extended SSS tracks.

Tracklisting:

"Is This the Future?"
"Dancerama"
"Bye Bye USA"
"Atari Baby"

"Flaunt It" - this is a complete rerecording of the first Sputnik album, done completely in the SSS Electronic style. No guitars.

Tracklisting:

"Intro"
"Rockit Miss USA"
"Sex Bomb Boogie"
"Massive Retaliation"
"21st Century Boy"
"Atari Baby"
"Teenage Thunder"
"She's My Man"
"Love Missile F1-11"

The album features additional tracks that were not on the original release...

"SciFi Lover"
"Ultraviolence"

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.