The
band is the brainchild of Mark Manning, a former
graphic artist and art editor of the now-defunct
Flexipop! magazine. The magazine folded in 1982, but the hedonistic lifestyle of the rock and pop stars who frequented the magazine's offices fuelled his desire to experience the debauchery of life as a decadent rock star. He joined another music publication called
Metal Fury as a graphic designer, but assumed the alter ego 'Zodiac Mindwarp' at night. 'Zodiac Mindwarp' was the namesake of a series of underground comics written and illustrated by
Spain Rodriguez. Zodiac soon left
Metal Fury and formed the Love Reaction in 1985 with
Jimmy Cauty (who later formed
the Orb,
the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and
the KLF) on guitar;
Kid Chaos (Stephen Harris) on bass; and Boom Boom Kaboomski on drums. The band were signed to the Food label of
Phonogram Records, who soon issued their first recording, "Wild Child", with just Zodiac playing guitar and on vocals, Kid Chaos on bass and Jake Le Mesurier on drums. A demo version of "High Priest of Love" was included on the
Melody Maker Vinyl Conflict 2 free EP in September 1986. By the end of the year the line-up had changed again to accommodate the still-present figure of Cobalt Stargazer (Geoff Bird) and new drummer Slam Thunderhide (Stephen Landrum). That line-up contributed the studio track "Drug Shoes" to the FOOD
Imminent 2 compilation. At various times, the band have also featured Evil Bastard (Robert Munro, who co-penned and sang on two
B-sides: "Hangover from Hell" and "Lager Woman from Hell"), Heavy Metal Bear (Alex Bradly), Trash D Garbage (Paul Bailey), Flash Bastard (Jan Cyrka), Suzi X (Richard Levy), Tex Diablo (Christopher Renshaw), and Robbie Vom (Rob Morris). Zodiac Mindwarp progressed rapidly from their first gig at
Dingwalls in November 1985 to playing in front of a packed
Reading Festival in 1986, but this was followed by the departure of Kid Chaos, who joined
the Cult. Zodiac regrouped by assigning Trash D Garbage on bass and Flash Bastard (Jan Cyrka) on rhythm guitar. The expanded five-member outfit went on to record Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction's debut album in 1988, entitled
Tattooed Beat Messiah. Other band members playing bass included: Suzi X, Tex Diablo and Kev Reverb; previous drummers included Robbie Vom and The Apocalypse. The act produced a
UK Singles Chart Top 20 hit with their breakthrough record, "Prime Mover". Half of the band's 1989 follow-on tour for the album was cancelled after Manning was run over outside
The Leadmill venue in
Sheffield. Manning established himself as an author, penning
A Bible of Dreams (1994) and
Bad Wisdom (1996; both with
Bill Drummond); plus
Crucify Me Again (2000),
Get Your Cock Out (2000),
Fucked by Rock (2001),
Collateral Damage, and
The Wild Highway (2005; again with Drummond). Manning is also a regular contributor to
The Idler magazine. The band's name was taken from the
Bruce Springsteen song "
Dancing in the Dark", from the lyrics: "I'm sick of sitting around here trying to write this book I need a
love reaction Come on now, baby, give me just one look." ==Discography==