Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction

Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction

Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction are a British hard rock group from the United Kingdom, active from 1986 to the present. The project is led by Mark Manning, a graphic artist and former editor of London’s Flexipop magazine, who adopts the stage name Zodiac Mindwarp. He forms the band in the early 1980s with guitarist Cobalt Stargazer.

Line-up and personnel

Over the years, the group includes a changing cast of musicians. Named members and contributors include Kid Chaos, Slam Thunderhide, Evil Bastard, Trash D Garbage, Flash Bastard, Suzy X, Tex Diablo, Robbie Vom, Jake Le Mesurier and Jan Cyrka. The group’s membership shifts frequently rather than remaining fixed.

Style and image

The band plays a sleazy form of commercial hard rock built around heavy riffs and large choruses. Its best-known period is the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, when this kind of sound is especially common in rock and metal. The lyrics are openly camp and work as self-parody, although they can also be heard as offensive because of their sexual and misogynist tone.

The group’s songs often use exaggerated titles and themes, including Back Seat Education, Feed My Frankenstein, High Heeled Heaven, Trash Madonna, Holy Gasoline, President of the United States of Love, Messianic Reprise, Planet Girl and Elvis Died for You. Zodiac Mindwarp also presents himself with mock-heroic titles such as “sex führer,” “love dictator” and “high priest of love.”

The band is sometimes described as “biker rock.” Its visual style parodies the post-apocalyptic look associated with Mad Max, although it later adopts a more ordinary street appearance. The video for Prime Mover is directed by Adrian Edmonson and features explosions, scantily dressed women and the band as alien invaders.

Related recordings and collaborations

Zodiac co-writes There's a Barbarian in the Back of My Car for Voice of the Beehive’s album Let It Bee. He also co-writes Feed My Frankenstein, which appears on Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid; the Love Reaction records its own version of the song on Hoodlum Thunder. In 1992, Zodiac appears on The Grid’s album 456, where he sings lead vocals on the closing track Fire Engine Red. Cobalt Stargazer also appears on the same album, playing on Face The Sun and Leave Your Body.

Mark Manning’s writing

In addition to music, Mark Manning writes books including Bad Wisdom with Bill Drummond, Crucify Me Again, Get Your Cock Out, Fucked By Rock, Collateral Damage and The Wild Highway with Bill Drummond.