By John Wisniewski for MK ULTRA Magazine with intro from www.melodic.net
When Sexagisma broke up, unremarked and barely recorded, in the mid-1980s, even the band’s own members doubted we’d ever hear their name again.
Formed in 1981 as a glam rock party piece, but swiftly developing into one of the most entertaining, not to mention visual, bands on the UK club circuit, Sexagisma made their vinyl debut on that year’s Sing As We Go various artists collection.
A scrapbook’s worth of press mentions and gig flyers followed, as Sexagisma wowed audiences opening for everyone from torch song diva Mari Wilson to goth pioneers Specimen, from the then newly-emerged The Alarm to revitalized glam hit makers The Glitter Band. Twice in three months they stunned The Batcave’s traditionally dour and darkest denizens; they gave the London Marquee its most glittering evening in years… they were, insisted prestigious UK weekly Melody Maker, “ratty and tatty and oozing subterranean sleazeball brilliance.”
But it was also the mid-1980s, and potential pop stardom was built around some very narrowly defined musical templates. And a band that Melody Maker, again, described as “trash rockers… who make The Sweet look like vicars” was never going to break that glass ceiling.
So the band split, the members dispersed, and a fistful of cassettes, a smattering of demos and a few concert recordings were quietly archived. Life went on… a full 40 years worth.
But some fans never forgot. A dedicated Facebook page attracted almost 700 followers based upon fond memories alone; a retrospective article in Goldmine magazine teased American audiences with a resounding “what if?”; and now, with their long, long, loooong delayed debut album poised for release, frontman and songwriter Vaughan Funnell admits, “I’m shocked.” For so many years, “Sexagisma was a bit of a joke about something I did in my 20s. And now, immortalized in plastic. Pink plastic!!!!”
Available also on CD and digital, From The Batcave 1981-1985 comprises 13 Funnell originals, plus a slew of CD bonus tracks drawn from the band’s glam-spanning repertoire of covers – David Bowie, Alice Cooper and The Sweet among them. All have been remastered from the original recordings; all recapture the sheer mayhem and magnificence of Sexagisma in full flight.
First, however, the band’s traditional set opener “Monster Fun” va-va-vooms out of the vault, a high octane “Batcave Deadly Mix” vivaciously remodeled by Die Krupps frontman Jurgen Engler – no stranger himself, of course, to the scene and sounds that nurtured Sexagisma in the first place… and revisiting it, too, with Die Krupps currently on tour with Ministry.
John Wisniewski: How did Sexagisma form, Vaughn, in the early 80s?
Vaughn Funnell: Twas in the evil autumn of 1981 after the final break up of my previous band the beloved Screaming Midgets featuring Tom Lee on vocals, me on guitar, Jeff Lee on bass, and Steve Wren on drums. I’d bought my first 12 string guitar and wanted to form a new band where I could step up to be the “front man” and have a go at singing, recruiting the eccentric Richard Cooper as keyboard player and sax.
I set to writing new material, after several changes in lineup and a complete break down when we split up in 82, and I had to start again, this time I was lucky enough to find Mark Carter as the new drummer (one of the greatest humans to walk the earth) Jem Soar on bass, talented artist and taller than the Eiffel Tower,,,and Jerry Moore on guitar,,,we were back playing venues and colleges in south-east London.
After a few months, both Moore and Cooper decided to leave and were replaced by the wonderful Vince Carter on guitar, and Mick Cronin on keys,,,classic SEXAGISMA was born but lacking a final something. This happened to be Andy Brooker -after a chance meeting he became our dancer, art slut, sex object and total fucking mystery. There was nothing he wouldn’t do on stage, no matter how taboo, offensive, or debauched, it was great. There were no barriers. What started as something that was more “self indulgence gone out of control” had now mutated into a sexual cosmic assault squad.
We always said that we were “the original unoriginal band”, the Sweet Pistols from Mars, and the ministers of the second coming. The music scene, as interesting as it was in them days, lacked a bit of raw energy, and I thought that a glam retro freak show would go perfectly against the grain.
JW: Who did the band open for in the early days?
VF: In the early days there had was a bit of a spike in the local band scene (local being south east London) and we played clubs and colleges, including the infamous Wandsworth college gig which ended in a mini riot. We opened for a number of established bands including Icicle Works, the Glitter Band, The Alarm, and Mari Wilson (who flashed her undercrackers at us when she came off stage). It was all good fun being the little band sneaking into the big bands’ room and stealing their booze – it was the nearest thing to getting paid.
JW: What did audiences think of the live shows?
VF: Fuck me! What did audiences think of us? What bit? The nudity? The on stage beatings? The crucifixtions? Or the run of the mill debauchery? Well, one thing I know, you wasn’t bound by law to like us, but there was no way on earth we could slip by unnoticed.
Funny story – one of our very early gigs, we were booked to play a restaurant in Kensington. Restaurant!? It was a bit like a branch of Pizza Hut, with romantic couples, and people on the way home from work getting a bite to eat… they were expecting a jazz band, then we came hobbling out with silver boots. Then we started, so LOUD! We nearly blew the windows out, plates were vibrating on the tables,,,,,but best of all, we got paid. All this aside, I can’t ever remember a time we went down badly, our energy was too positive and it was infectious, we put in a show.
JW: What was the idea for the band? Did you want to combine pop and Goth?
VF: The idea for the band. Well, I wanted to write songs from a genre I was comfortable with… my roots were firmly glam era and punk, so the fusion was natural and inevitable really.
When we started playing the Batcave was when the goth element started to creep in; maybe not obvious but there just the same, although overall the original idea was to write your material and if you thought it worked, use it regardless. SEXAGISMA was bit of it’s own entity wherein its main strength also turned to be a bit of a weakness, because some people couldn’t decide whether we were art trash, glam pop,comedy, or just perverse. It was a bit ambiguous
JW: Why didn’t Sexagisma release an album? Yet interest in the band continued after through the years?
VF: Why we never released an album? That really is a mystery to me, that I can only answer as mismanagement. So many promises, all the stars had aligned for us, we had toured with the wonderful, magical, and beautiful Specimen, we had recently played the famous Marquee club in London, and everything was looking good. Then we were pressured by management into changing, as if it would supposedly lead to better things. All it achieved was to split us up before we could really make our mark.
However, there is a rare compilation album we appeared on in 1982 titled “sing as we go.” It’s very scarce so good luck finding one if you should want one.
JW: What was the experience like playing at the Batcave and other clubs?
VF: What was it like to play the Batcave? Well, we owe all this to Jim Fanning, who later became a well valued assistant manager figure, he took one of our Demos to give to Olli (Wisdom) and Jon (Klein) … they liked it so we got the gig.
For us, it was great being the biggest microscopic fish in the world’s tiniest sub microscopic pond, but this was a bit of a test – it was the sort of place we should always have played.
One of my great memories of that first gig was I announced our song “betcha can’t dance to this one baby”, and a guy standing at the front screamed out “BET I FUCKING CAN!!!”, then a tiny bit of tasteful chaos erupted resulting in him hurtling across the stage and nearly landing head first into Jem’s bass amp. That night will remain with me forever as one of my favourite, if not THE favourite night, of SEXAGISMA’s existence.
We went on to play there several times – each time was special and we met some wonderful people who were to become lifelong friends, Jon Klein, Olli, Jonny Slut, Tim Huther, Sophie, and Hamish, truly great people who took us under their wing. Specimen took us on tour with them, also giving us a slot on their Christmas 1984 gig at the Klub Foot Hammersmith with them and Dogs D’amour,,,this is the gig where we left a full size crucifix in the men’s toilet,,,,,well, it WAS Christmas after all.
JW: Are there any new releases coming soon from Sexagisma?
VF: Yeah, this album being released is a bit of a mix of very early material – some of it being “reimagined “, and some pretty close to the original versions – with some of the covers we used to do.
Hopefully it will give a picture of the glam spectrum we tried to cover. In the time we were together, we wrote a lot of songs but only a few ever got recorded, so now is probably a good time to dig up the corpses of the unloved, and bring em back to life, along with new material. The future looks very busy and hopefully a second album some time in the future… making up for lost time.
JW: Who keeps the band’s name going for the group?
VF: SEXAGISMA, it sort of kept itself going, as it was a sort of undeniable energy that couldn’t quite die.
I had more or less confined it to memory at one time, but it was a bit of a unique thing and I would often get asked about it, “are you ever gonna gig again,” all that type of thing. But with social media being what it is, the past has been brought back to the present – yeah, there’s many little reasons the band has carried on in a sort of cult legend way, but now it’s back, and let’s see if there’s a glittery future after all!