Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction are a British hard rock group.
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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 (real name Geoff Bird). At various times, the band has also featured Kid Chaos (real name Stephen Harris), Slam Thunderhide (real name Stephen Landrum), Evil Bastard (real name Robert Munro who co-penned and sang on three notable B-sides: Hangover from Hell, Holiday in Hell and Lager Woman from Hell), Trash D Garbage (real name Paul Bailey), Flash Bastard (real name Jan Cyrka), Suzy X, Tex Diablo (real name Christopher Renshaw), and Robbie Vom (real name Rob Morris).
Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction play a 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 highly 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 Mindwarp 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. Although often overlooked, Mindwarp has written songs such as "Hoodlum Thunder", from the album of the same name, that offer a scathing take on the then-current political actions of western powers, particularly commenting on war and imperialism.
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!
They toured the US supporting Alice Cooper and Guns N' Roses on dozens of dates in 1988. After a few gigs, they were moved up to the middle of the bill between Cooper and Guns N' Roses. Stargazer, Thunderhide and Bastard were also featured in the film "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II" performing with Slash and Axl Rose (from Guns N' Roses) and Cooper, in an encore from this tour featuring Cooper's hit "Under My Wheels". The Love Reaction's début album Tattooed Beat Messiah failed to sell well, resulting in them being dropped by their record label with outstanding debts, according to Zodiac himself.
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, circa their comeback, around 1999.
In recent years, Manning has established himself as an 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 Drummond). Manning is also a regular contributor to The Idler magazine.
| Year | Title | UK Indie Chart Position[1] | UK Chart Position[2][3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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" | – |