Sparks: classic or dud?

And this post will fade out, yes this post will fade out, and this post will fade out....

I PREDICT!

No it won't. Revive! Sparks thoughts here! Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman, anyone? I hadn't even heard of it until today.

Still haven't heard that one! How is it?

I thought you of all people would know! The snippets I've heard are very intriguing.

One of the problems with Big Beat is that it followed such an incredible run of albums. It's very forgettable and probably my least favourite after Pulling Rabbits, Terminal Jive and maybe Whomp That Sucker.

― Kitchen Person, Thursday, March 10, 2011 9:13 PM (19 minutes ago)

Yeah, I think I was predisposed to give Big Beat more credit than it deserves, because I loved Indiscreet SO MUCH I really wanted to love the next one equally. I also thought the stripped-down sound was in keeping with what was happening in music at the time with Ramones, Talking Heads et al. I played it to death at the time, but now very rarely.

I actually think Big Beat is better than Indiscreet, mostly because it was more solid track-by-track and had a real agreeable and punchy style of songwriting

Indiscreet is a desert island disc of mine, a completely one-of-a-kind, over-the-top treasure trove, so preferring Big Beat is pretty interesting, but hey, that's what discussion boards are for! I still like it better than most of their 80s records.

well I'll have to give it another listen, but if I remember only four songs really stuck with me - "Hospitality on Parade", "In the Future", "Get in the Swing", and "Happy Hunting Ground"

i thought this was a sparks song for the longest time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh_PXrN1hNk

you know, way back when. dug out the espionage lp from a box this morning and i gotta keep it for that song. always loved it.

I thought this was, at first, back in the day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uia4dek9gfk

^^^ love this song SO much, and yeah Sparks definitely had to be an influence. I've had this LP for so long, and I can't remember how or why I acquired it.

DigalongaMacs?

(correct title, "Macs By Graves", but they bottled out of it)

I was recording it onto my laptop for playing later, but the turntable died, never to go again, during the track above.

The "mind/Body" single got a lot of play on Radio Luxembourg back in the day, presumably was a bit too "explicit" for Radio1

I think I read about "Digalongamacs" in the old Jem Records import catalog, and then bought it in a sale bin w/o ever having heard it.

Could be fun!

--

Sparks to perform at the Los Angeles Film Festival
Posted On: May 3rd 2011

We are delighted to announce that Sparks will be performing The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

The performance will take place on June 25th at the Ford Amphitheatre.

Originally commissioned by Swedish National Radio in 2009, this groundbreaking musical will be presented for the first time in a live setting in what might best be described as a "film-to-be" form. Acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, who will direct the final feature film, will be onstage giving stage and cinematic directions throughout the performance, as the cast — including famed Finnish actor Peter Franzen as Ingmar Bergman, Ann Magnuson as Greta Garbo, and of course Russell and Ron Mael — performs the musical in its entirety. Projections have been created by production designer Galen Johnson to foreshadow the mood and atmosphere of the final film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A2Q_1oWWPc

Also: saw this on PBS in high school in the eighties, my introduction to Sparks, other than seeing their goofy album covers in record stores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfwnl58sL-E

Bump, for the goofiest video on earth.

Always a winner.

i am a total fool. how had i not heard the entirety of no. 1 song in heaven until yesterday? i picked up a nice copy for $5, and although i was familiar with the title track and "beat the clock", it's the song sandwiched between the two on the second side - "my other voice" - that's flooring me. it emerges as a cross-fade with the ending of "beat the clock", gets into la dusseldorf territory of blissful strange celestial cloudwalking in giant baggy white trousers. in comes a chorus that is poppy as hell, but not earth pop. it fades out with moroder's processed backward cymbals and hi-hat stomps, before appropriately leading into the no. 1 song in heaven. i really, really have to check out terminal jive.

Don't get your hopes up re: Terminal Jive, is all I'm sayin'.

Honestly TJ is a comparative fall from the heights but very glad you got No. 1 in full -- the whole album is indeed that spectacular.

Anyway by all accounts Portland was a blast while tonight Seattle might well explode, given the huge concentration of fans there waiting for four decades...

I think Tryouts For The Human Race was the first single I ever bought.

As for Terminal Jive, When I'm With You is wonderful: "it's that break in the song when I should say something special/But the pressure is on and I can't make up nothing special/Not when I'm with you"

enjoying ned's post about no. 1 here: http://nedraggett.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/sparks-and-the-number-one-album-in-heaven/

i basically don't know any of their post 70s stuff at all! (except for lil' beethoven, which, i suspect unusually, was my intro to sparks. it came in as a cd promo when i was working in a store for a few years) it seems like kimono and no. 1 in heaven are the consensus faves for people getting into sparks, and often the listening journey ends there.

Yeah, I've learned to love "When I'm With You" on it's own terms; it's a great Sparks single.

It is, no question. I love that it was a huge hit in France.

Terminal Jive is underrated!

I gotta stand by this take

http://nedraggett.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/getting-terminal-with-sparks/

(xpost) I'd be interested in hearing why you think TJ is underrated. Compared to other albums by my longtime heroes that came out in 1980 (Bowie's Scary Monsters and Roxy Music's Flesh and Blood, for two, it just seems so flat and lifeless to me, songwriting, performance and production alike. And because I didn't buy it until several years after its release, so much great new synth-based music had come out of new wave in the meantime that it just felt turgid. The guitar in particular has a certain bad, processed early 80s rock sound to it that really grates on me. (xpost)

When I'm With You is a great single but I really do not like much else on there.

Meantime

http://t.co/rFT4B3ShaQ

prior to this thread I had no idea Terminal Jive was considered some kind of failure. I don't like it as much as No. 1 Song in Heaven but its a perfectly acceptable sequel to my ears. they def head weaker albums still to come.

It just sounds unfinished; the ideas seem incomplete. Rock 'n' Roll People in a Disco World is a favourite of mine though.

i am a total fool. how had i not heard the entirety of no. 1 song in heaven until yesterday? i picked up a nice copy for $5, and although i was familiar with the title track and "beat the clock", it's the song sandwiched between the two on the second side - "my other voice" - that's flooring me. it emerges as a cross-fade with the ending of "beat the clock", gets into la dusseldorf territory of blissful strange celestial cloudwalking in giant baggy white trousers. in comes a chorus that is poppy as hell, but not earth pop. it fades out with moroder's processed backward cymbals and hi-hat stomps, before appropriately leading into the no. 1 song in heaven. i really, really have to check out terminal jive.

― your holiness, we have an official energy drink (Z S), Monday, 22 April 2013 13:49 (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This post goes for me too! Almost in its entirety!

What I did was to take my cheaply bought LP and the two 12" singles for "Tryouts" and "beat the clock" for the extra tracks (in short, two Peter Cook ads and a long remix of "Beat the clock") and make a mini-cd with sleeve..

Yeah, "My Other Voice", was playing in my brane for the past week! Also, something was bugging me for a while: "What does it remind me of?" .. At first the Super Furry Animals' "Juxtaposed" because of the Vocoder, but no its "Dazzle Ships" OMD, innit?

"Terminal Jive" was where Giorgio palmed them off to his assistant, Harold Faltermeyer, wasn't it?

I've been relistening to No. 1 a lot this year and I think it may be a top 3 album for them, next to Kimono and Hello Young Lovers. So much unbridled joy in these songs and doggdamn do I love that little descending bass synth part in the chorus of "La Dolce Vita"

Anyway, me on the band from last week in the Quietus

http://thequietus.com/articles/12088-sparks-masonic-hall-hollywood-forever-cemetery

At long last!

http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/exclusives/sparks-new-music-for-amnesiacs-the-ultimate-collection-box-set/invt/5037300783451

Disc 1

01. Wonder Girl
02. Roger
03. High C
04. Girl From Germany
05. Batteries Not Included
06. Whippings and Apologies
07. This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us
08. Amateur Hour
09. Equator
10. Talent Is An Asset
11. Barbecutie
12. Propaganda
13. At Home At Work At Play
14. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
15. Something For The Girl With Everything
16. Alabamy Right
17. Hospitality On Parade
18. Happy Hunting Ground
19. Looks, Looks, Looks
20. Get In The Swing
21. Miss the Start, Miss the End
22. Big Boy
23. Nothing To Do
24. Looks Aren't Everything
25. Tearing The Place Apart

Disc 2

01. Goofing Off
02. Over The Summer
03. The Number One Song In Heaven
04. Beat The Clock
04. Tryouts For The Human Race (Unreleased Version)
05. When I'm With You (LP Single Version)
06. Young Girls (LP Single Version)
07. Tips For Teens
08. Funny Face
09. I Married A Martian
10. Angst In My Pants
11. I Predict
12. Mickey Mouse
13. Eaten By The Monster Of Love
14. Cool Places
15. Popularity
16. I Wish I Looked A Little Better
17. Pretending to Be Drunk
18. A Song That Sings Itself

Disc 3

01. Music That You Can Dance To
02. Change
03. Let's Get Funky
04. Singing in The Shower (with Les Rita Mitsouko)
05. So Important
06. A Walk Down Memory Lane
07. Madonna
08. National Crime Awareness Week (Psycho Cut)
09. Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins
10. When Do I Get To Sing "My Way"
11. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing (Radio Edit)
12. Tsui Hark (Feat. Tsui Hark & Bill Kong)
13. Let's Go Surfing
14. Propaganda
15. Pulling Rabbits Out of A Hat
16. This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both Of Us (with Faith No More)
17. Bullet Train
18. It's A Knockoff
19. Calm Before The Storm

Disc 4

01. Concerto In Koch Minor (Wunderbar)
02. The Rhythm Thief
03. How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall?
04. My Baby's Taking Me Home
05. Suburban Homeboy
06. I Married Myself
07. Dick Around
08. Perfume
09. The Very Next Fight
10. Metaphor
11. As I Sit Down To Play The Organ At The Notre Dame Cathedral
12. Good Morning
13. Lighten Up, Morrissey
14. Strange Animal
15. Photoshop
16. I've Never Been High
17. I Am A Bookworm

Bonus CD:

Islington N1
Two Hands One Mouth

12. Tsui Hark (Feat. Tsui Hark & Bill Kong)

an odd inclusion

Really wish they'd included "The Japanese Have Come and They've Bought My Number One" instead

still, lots of stuff I haven't heard yet here

They could just as easily do a full 4 CD set like this of rarities. There is something to be said for having some kind of a proper honest to god career overview, though.

yeah, and unlike many box sets the fourth disc is just as strong as the first.

Amen, sleeping signal. That's a rarity in itself!

Meantime, something interesting to note...

REVENGE TOUR UPDATE: Completely new show with 15 SONGS not previously played!!

Whoa, that's right--- if you saw the Two Hands One Mouth tour, you ain't seen the Revenge of Two Hands One Mouth. Ron and Russell have announced that they have been rehearsing 'approximately 15 new songs taken from their 23 albums that were not played on the previous tour.' The new songs have been given the special Revenge of Two Hands One Mouth touch.

So grab your tickets now and see what's new in Two Hands land. Below are the tour dates thus far.
A few more shows are planned.

NORTH AMERICA 2013

OCTOBER
23 Atlanta, GA (Variety Playhouse)
25 Asheville, NC (Mountain Oasis Festival)
27 Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
28 New York, NY (Webster Hall)
30 Boston, MA (Brighton Music Hall)

NOVEMBER
01 Montreal, QC (Le National)
02 Toronto, ON (Lee's Palace)
03 Hamilton, ON (This Ain't Hollywood)
04 Detroit/Pontiac, MI (Crofoot Ballroom)
06 Chicago, IL (Lincoln Hall)
07 Chicago, IL (Lincoln Hall)
09 Austin, TX (Fun Fun Fun Fest)
11 Los Angeles, CA (Fonda Theatre)

EUROPE 2013

NOVEMBER
24 London, UK (Union Chapel)
25 Glasgow, UK (Arches)
27 Bristol, UK (Bristol Academy)

DECEMBER
01 London, UK (Union Chapel)
02 London, UK (Union Chapel)
04 Paris, France (Alhambra)
06 Barcelona, Spain (Sala Copernico)
07 Madrid, Spain (Sala Razzmatazz)

Would love to catch the LA show but I am previously booked.

h8 myself for not listening to these guys before now

Later is better than never.

Except Never isn't hosted by Jools Holland.

http://www.nme.com/news/franz-ferdinand/75354#9

Franz Ferdinand and Sparks working on joint album

Great news, this. Like I've muttered elsewhere, it's very unsurprising; they've had a huge mutual admiration society going for years now, and it's just another great 'who knew?' twist in Maeldom, beyond the occasional collaborations they've done with others. A tour would be interesting after the Two Hands/One Mouth setup.

Anyway, here's the Stuart Maconie radio special on the band from earlier today:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/r4choice/r4choice_20140311-1134a.mp3