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Braka View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Sparks - This is the Rennaisance
    Posted: November 24 2017 at 20:17
'Hippopotamus' peaked at #7 in the UK album charts; their best performance since 'Kimono My House'.

Is 43 years between UK top 10 albums some sort of record?


Edited by Braka - November 24 2017 at 20:18
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 03:23
Rare, but not exclusive. The Beatles managed this over the years with many forms of reissues and songs of new recordings like "Free As A Bird."

Edited by SteveG - November 25 2017 at 03:24
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:02
OK,  let's restrict it to new albums by bands who were still together when the albums were released.


Edited by Braka - November 25 2017 at 04:06
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:05
Sparks deserve the accolade.   I believe Hippopotamus is easily Sparks' best album to date.   "Kimono my House" and "Propaganda" are great however both albums have several songs I skip over.  Not so with Hippopotamus.   Every song is gold.   The Mael brothers are 72 and 68 years old!   

  


Edited by omphaloskepsis - November 25 2017 at 05:04
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:36
Originally posted by Braka Braka wrote:

OK,  let's restrict it to new albums by bands who were still together when the albums were released.
Very well. The Rolling Stones eponymous release in 1964 and last year's (2016) album Blue and Lonesome, which was #1 on the the UK charts. 53 years in total.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:39
I did think of that, but 'Blue and Lonesome' is a covers album.  I don't suppose that matters, though, technically.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:40
^Correct.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:47
Oh - also, my original question was about the longest gap between top 10 albums, which was intended to mean between one top 10 album and the next one. So the Stones would top Sparks' record if their previous top 10 album was before 1973.

I'm not trying to rig this; I'm just curious.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 04:55
^I see your point. The Stone's Tattoo You was on top of the charts in 1981, so your claim about the Sparks seems correct, unless there's another artist that I don't know of.

Edited by SteveG - November 25 2017 at 04:55
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 25 2017 at 05:11
Good news ! I love the Mael brothers. Just made a short listen, but the new album sounds great.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2017 at 09:29
Does anyone remember Sparks performing (lip syncing) Big Boy in the 1977 movie Rollercoaster? Classic stuff for a somewhat classic film.
"It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2017 at 10:19
There are a couple of good concerts on YouTube of Sparks....  The duo, works well together Big smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2017 at 10:48
Sparks did a bunch of stuff in the dance, techno, electronica genres for a  while. Is this new one like that? They had some songs(but maybe not albums)that were in the top forty.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2017 at 12:58
I think it's just intelligent arty pop/rock music with a twist. Not particularly dance/techno/electronica but surely of commercial appeal. It sounds very fresh (big surprise at their age) and I like it, it has a few very addictive songs and some good ideas, my favourite Sparks album actually, but it would be a stretch to call it progressive.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 30 2017 at 14:29
Originally posted by noni noni wrote:

There are a couple of good concerts on YouTube of Sparks....  The duo, works well together Big smile
But of course! They are the Mael Brothers!
"It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 17 2017 at 14:37
Originally posted by Rednight Rednight wrote:

Does anyone remember Sparks performing (lip syncing) Big Boy in the 1977 movie Rollercoaster? Classic stuff for a somewhat classic film.

I remember it fondly!
The movie was cheesy, but I was already a huge Sparks fan, starting with Propaganda in the summer of 75.

BTW, I think the FFS collaboration with Frank Ferdinand is great.
I am looking forward to hearing this new one!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2017 at 03:06
Originally posted by Rednight Rednight wrote:

Does anyone remember Sparks performing (lip syncing) Big Boy in the 1977 movie Rollercoaster? Classic stuff for a somewhat classic film.


Yep. I saw it at the drive-in (not sure how, as I was underage, and I don't remember anyone else with me, but perhaps that's selective memory). I had no idea Sparks were in it, and was gobsmacked when they turned up (twice, from memory).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 22 2017 at 12:47
Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

Sparks did a bunch of stuff in the dance, techno, electronica genres for a  while. Is this new one like that? They had some songs(but maybe not albums)that were in the top forty.


No, God no. They had a brief though influential thing with electro-euro-disney-whatever in 79-80, and their mid to late 80's stuff was vaguely dancey I suppose, but they came back in 2002 with 'Lil' Beethoven', which I've read compared with Sgt Pepper's, and everything since then has been more or less a development from that.

I can't seem to manage to post clips here, so look up these song titles on youtube if you're curious.


Lighten up Morrissey
The Rhythm Thief
Dick Around
The Missionary Position (from the new one)
My Baby's Taking me Home (this is pretty high level of difficulty)


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