Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction
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Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction are a British hard rock group.
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[edit] Overview
The band is the brainchild of Mark Manning, a graphic artist and editor of London's "Flexipop" magazine. Deciding to experience the debauchery of life as a decadent rock star, he assumed the alter ego, Zodiac Mindwarp, and formed the Love Reaction in the mid 1980s together with guitarist Cobalt Stargazer, who curiously enough once also played for Wham!. Other band members who came and went over the years include Kid Chaos, Slam Thunderhide, Evil Bastard, Trash D Garbage, Flash Bastard, Suzy X, Tex Diablo, and Robbie Vom.
Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction play an ultra-sleazy style of commercial hard rock featuring big riffs and choruses, as was the trend in the band’s heyday of the mid-to-late 80s and early 90s. The outrageously camp lyrics are intended as self-parody, and can be seen as either humorous by those who "get the joke", or offensive by those who take them at face value, for their often lascivious and misogynist tone. Song titles like "Back Seat Education", "Feed My Frankenstein", "High Heeled Heaven", and "Trash Madonna" illustrate Mindwarp's tongue-in-cheek approach. Lyrical content also exhibits a send up of cult worship, often of Zodiac Mindwarp's self-proclaimed raging libido, with the frontman claiming the titles, sex fuhrer, love dictator, and high priest of love. Songs such as "Holy Gasoline", "President of the United States of Love", "Messianic Reprise", and "Elvis Died for You" are similarly inclined.
The act produced a UK Singles Chart Top 20 hit with the breakthrough record "Prime Mover", a song that was inspired musically by Hawkwind's 1977 track "Quark, Strangeness and Charm", itself heavily inspired by the German Group NEU!
Occasionally referred to as "biker rock", the band's style of hard rock is reflected in their outlandish attire, which tends to parody the post-apocalyptic Mad Max biker look. However, they have adopted a more common "street look" recently.
In recent years Mark Manning has established himself as author penning Bad Wisdom (1996, with Bill Drummond), Crucify Me Again (2000), Get Your Cock Out (2000), Fucked By Rock (2001), Collateral Damage, The Wild Highway (2005, again with Bill Drummond).
He is also a regular contributor to The Idler magazine.
[edit] Notable collaborations
- Mindwarp co-wrote the track "There's a Barbarian in the Back of My Car" on the Voice Of The Beehive album Let It Bee.
- He also co-wrote the track "Feed My Frankenstein" which appeared on the Alice Cooper album Hey Stoopid. Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction recorded their own version of the song which appeared on the album Hoodlum Thunder.
- In 1992 Mindwarp appeared on the album 456 by The Grid. He sang the lead vocals on the track "Fire Engine Red" which was the last song on the album. Love Reaction guitarist Cobalt Stargazer also appeared on the same album, performing on the tracks "Face The Sun" and "Leave Your Body".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles and EPs:
| Year | Title | UK Indie Chart Position | UK Chart Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 1986 | "Wild Child EP" | #9 | – |
| Aug | 1986 | "High Priest of Love EP" | #1 | – |
| May | 1987 | "Prime Mover" | #18 | |
| Nov | 1987 | "Back Seat Education" | #49 | |
| Apr | 1988 | "Planet Girl" | #63 | |
| 1993 | "My Life Story EP" | – |
[edit] Albums:
- Tattooed Beat Messiah (Mar 1988) – UK #20
- Hoodlum Thunder (1991)
- Live At Reading (1993)
- One More Knife (1994)
- I Am Rock (2002)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction (live album) 2004
- Rock Savage (2005)
- Pandora's Grisly Handbag (1986 live album and DVD) 2006
