ZODIAC
MINDWARP
& THE LOVE REACTION
Interview by Mike Gitter
H
o's the Dionysius of rock 'n' roll, the
self-proclaimed sex fuhrer, the
leather-clad, astral pirate, tattooed
beat messiah, storming the gates of
heaven on wheels made in hell. The
man known as Zodiac Mindwarp has made
quite a stir since he released the UK single
"Wild Child" in 1985. An other worldly
psychotronic love commando, he claims to
have come to lead like a grinning, musta-
chioed pied piper speaking the Earth tongue
of rock 'n' roll.
Mark Steven Manning, on the other hand,
is a darn clever chap. At 29 he's come up
through art school circles to take on the Mind-
warp monicker and ride high on an image
of wildman's sensuality. Raping and pillag-
ing are probably out of the question for the
recently married Mr. Mindwarp, who remains
true to pop art by expressing his opinions on
the role of art in culture through wild, arena
rock exaltations.
Zodiac first materialized in 1985 with a
backing band that included future Cult bassist
Kid Chaos as well as the current guitarist
Cobalt Stargazer and drummer Slam
Thunderhide. The legend began to spread
with the release of the band's single and con-
stant UK gigging which included a tour with
Doctor and the Medics in February 1986. In
late 1986 they released a six-track mini-
album entitled "High Priest of Love" under
the monicker of Zodiac Mindwarp and the
Love Reaction and then supported Motor-
head on their lengthy 1986 tour of the UK.
In 1987 Chaos departed to join the Cult
due to personality clashes with Zody. After
replacing Choos with Trash D. Garbage and
second guitarist Flash Bastard, the band.
began work on "Tattooed Beat Messiah," an
Lp that included their chart-topping UK single
Prime Mover" The "Prime Mover" video
has stirred a lot of controversy because of its
depiction of the band detonating the heads.
of nuns. It was directed by Adrian Edmond-
son, also known as Vivian in the TV show
The Young Ones."
Photos by Bryce Kanights
Mark Steven Manning, aka Zodiac Mindwarp. comic book illustrator turned rock god.
What is never clear about Mr. Manning is
his identity as either an American or
Englishman. Readily switching accents to fit
the circumstance, the rock 'n' roll chameleon.
obviously possesses a keen business sense.
He also perpetuates a rumor concerning his
shady past as an American ad man who went
abroad to seek fame and fortune. While
Polygram, the band's U.S. label, supports the
rumor, physical evidence suggests a British
birth and upbringing. A great hoaxter and
charlatan? Perhaps. The fact remains that
there's more to the Zodiac Mindwarp game
than one might suppose. In fact, Zodiac & the
Love Reaction are some of the most cerebral
chord bashers to come down the pike in years.
Gitter: What is rock and roll to Zodiac
Mindwarp?
Zodiac: It's primarily about grown men ex-
pressing the impotent rage of grown
teenagers. Rock 'n' roll is about the rage of
hating your parents and school, having sex.
and talking about all the things that grown
men should have grown out of by the time
they reach 29 like myself. Some of us lucky
retards never grow up. There's an inherent
stupidity to the rock genre which isn't
necessarily a bad thing. You should embrace
that stupidity and celebrate it without mock-
ing it or becoming a parody. A lot of people
thought we were a parody since they couldn't
grasp the fact that I had an IQ in double
figures even though I wasn't exactly wear-
ing it on my sleeve like Sting. I'm content to
celebrate dumbness with a certain panache.
What do you find about rock that's dumb
or offensive?
I don't find any of it offensive. I like the dumb-
ness and the whole suspension of reality. It's
like a comic book and you don't have to think
about the reality of Mark Manning thrusting
his genitalia at a crowd of people who may
not be particularly interested in reality. The
audience plays the role of the screaming fans
and we play the role of screaming idiot
rockers. It's all a big game, and if you take
it in the way it's intended, you're sure to have
fun, which is what it's all about. I'm theoriz-
ing here, a contrast to what I do, which is
epitomized by sheer feel. A lot of rock can't
completely divorce itself from reality. I guess
some people feel a little self- conscious in
their silver lame get-ups, just a tingy, wingy
bit, but I think that we leave reality in the
dressing room and get down with what we're
doing. Rock 'n' roll has become very diver.
sified. What I term rock 'n' roll a lot of people
would disagree with. They think that Sting
or Dire Straits is rock and I think stuff like that
has replaced jazz as the parent's music. 1
guess that's fine for the oldies.
I would say you don't play it safe.
It's not my nature to play it safe. If I wanted
to do that, I would have never chosen the
name or come out with the way I chose to
do the whole thing. That's not very safe or
very applicable to radio play. It ain't Madon-
no, that's for sure.
Who are your villains?
Who do I dislike? I dislike pretension and
pomposity. I don't like to see people call their
albums "The Dream of the Blue Turtles."