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cushlinkes View Drop Down
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Points: 11 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Sparks
    Posted: December 06 2008 at 20:09
Sparks is one of my fav bands... anyone else fans of this band?

Their old stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_DQu4qE-o

Their newer stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGa8NuGYlY
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avestin View Drop Down
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Points: 12625 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 06 2008 at 20:21
Yeah, neat band. I have their 3 albums, like a lot their sound.

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Points: 11 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 06 2008 at 21:43
Which 3 albums do you have?  They have 21 albums out.  
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Points: 9669 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 06 2008 at 22:06
Big smile Yeah Cushlinkes, I'm a major-league Sparks fan!
 
I first got into them via a Circus magazine review of the then-new Propaganda, back in what, 1974?
The review made them sound like good fun, and they sure were! Falsetto vocals, very funny, clever lyrics, and they RAWKED! From there, I went back to their classic (and perhaps best) Kimono My House, then got Indiscreet and Big Beat as they came out. I got all of my friends into them -- my buddy even saw them live in London during the Propaganda tour.
 
I lost touch with the band during their disco/dance era (I always liked their rocking guitar and Rickenbacker bass sound), and these days I only have Propaganda and Kimono My House on CD. I'd like to get the ultra-loopy Indiscreet as well, and I understand the recent Hello Young Lovers was a really good return to form for the "Brothers Mael," though I haven't heard it yet.
 
I just watched your video link for the 70s-era "This Town" Clapand that led me to watching another one of them doing the same hit in 2008. Boy, they've still got it, haven't they? Ron looks much the same (a stiff unsmiling Hitler-meets-Chaplin at the keys), and while Russel may have lost the mane of curls, the voice is still very much there! Complex lyrics to remember, as well -- very impressive!
 
They spoke of an even newer album -- obviously, I need to check in with Sparks again! Big smile
 
Thanks for sharing, and for the wonderful memories! SmileSparks sure were/are unique! I can't see a new band like them getting a contract (let alone filling concert halls) today! Ermm
 
Welcome to the forum, BTW (though I see you joined some time ago) -- any Sparks fan around these parts should consider himself a friend of mine!Smile


Edited by Peter - December 06 2008 at 22:10
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
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Points: 17493 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 06 2008 at 22:20
Jordin?
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Points: 933 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 02:42
Love the Sparks, whenever I feel the need for some sugary sweet pop goodness I turn to the Sparks, I have at least 10 or so of their albums, who knows if I'll ever get them all, love the new stuff too, I was obsessed with the video for Dick Around, I think I watched it about 100 or more times, I show everyone I can the greatness of that video...its so awesome, I think their latest album, Exotic Creatures of the Deep, as a whole is stronger than Hello Young Lovers, but doesn't contain a song as monumental as Dick Around, 
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 05:38
As far as I am concerned Ron & Russ are musical geniuses – from the moment This Town… hit the UK charts, even without seeing them you could tell this band were different, but it wasn’t until a friend of mine lent me their first two Todd Rundgren produced Bearsville albums Sparks and A Woofer In Tweeters Clothing that I realised how different they were. For me they are the epitome of pop-oriented Art Rock. It is the perfect combination of clever, inventive and eclectic music to smart, intelligent and perversely seditious lyrics all contained in short snappy songs that never outstay their welcome. Yet these are not disposable 3-minute pop-tunes, they are mini-epics that draw inspiration from every corner of the musical spectrum, from Classical to Big Band to Grunge, with a smattering of synth-driven Elecrtro-Pop and all out Rock. From the outset they clearly stated that “Nothing Is Sacred Anymore” (from A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing) andthey kept that promise, because aside from the obvious humour in the songs, there is a cruel and venomous streak running through them as they mercilessly parody and lampoon any subject that takes their fancy - – not in an indirect ironic or sarcastic way, but head-on and bluntly, when they say “Thank God It’s Not Christmas” on Kimono My House or ask “What Are All These Bands So Angry About?" on Lil’ Beethoven they mean it. Even when they embraced the disco world of Giorgio Moroder and Harold Faltermeyer they did so knowingly and with a touch of cynicism (“Rock And Roll People In A Disco World”).
 
Their 21-ablum career has been a roller-coaster ride of classic highs (Sparks, A Woofer In Tweeters Clothing, Kimono My House, Propaganda, No1 Song In Heaven, Sparks In Outer Space)  and occasional lows (Interior Design, Balls), and their last three CDs are a superb return to the form, with Lil’ Beethoven being my personal favourite.
What?
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Points: 933 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 11:48
/\ damn, that sums up the Sparks perfectly,

mini-epics is indeed a perfect term to describe their songs
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Points: 2614 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 18:25
They are awesome.  I have 5 of their albums and enjoy them all a lot.  
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Points: 11 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 19:10
Originally posted by The T The T wrote:

Jordin?


Ha ha!  Nah not Jordin Sparks. 


Anyway,
Found another good live vid... it's from Hello Young Lovers.  Rock, Rock, Rock.  I've been looking around for some good footage from Exotic Creatures... haven't found much yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkjAGexG0jg


Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

I understand the recent Hello Young Lovers was a really good return to form for the "Brothers Mael," though I haven't heard it yet.


You definitely gotta listen to Hello Young Lovers, along with Lil' Beethoven and Exotic Creatures of the Deep.



Edited by cushlinkes - December 07 2008 at 19:15
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Points: 2204 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 22:04
I've got "Hello Young Lovers" and it's pretty fun. I haven't listened to it in awhile, maybe I'll give it a listen soon. 


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Points: 2720 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 08 2008 at 04:02
I always considered Sparks and early Roxy Music very similar in sound and approach.
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Points: 14693 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 08 2008 at 06:23
Film trivia - on the back of their 'Big Beat' album, they appeared in supremely rocking form for a cameo appearance in the appalling 1976 'disaster' movie "Rollercoaster":



They're far from a spent force too - how many other bands could do as they did early this summer - played (and sold out) a 21 night residency in London, playing each of their albums in sequence.

Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Points: 9669 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 08 2008 at 10:04
^ LOL I saw that disaster of a movie, Jim. It was in "Sensurround" (Remember that? The "technology" used really big sub woofers to shake you in your theatre seat. I think a movie named "Earthquake" used it too. LOL), and I can confirm that Sparks' performance (they did "Big Boy," if memory serves) was the best part of that otherwise eminently forgettable flic.
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
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Points: 1127 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 09 2008 at 19:47
Saw the movie.Yikes.
Lucky enoughto see them at their Kimono and Propaganda tour.
Only have their Kimono,Propaganda ,Indiscreet and Balls cd's.
Fine and unique band.
If they were ever in my neighbourhood again,I would not hesitate to go and see them.
Hear very good things about their last 2 or 3 albums.
Long may they carry on.
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Points: 228 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 06 2009 at 18:38
Okay there have been three or four threads started for Sparks. Have they been looked at? Confirmed or Denied?

Thanks for any info.
https://dawnapproach.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/dawn-approach
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Points: 785 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 06 2009 at 21:36
I've got Hello Young Lovers on vinyl... and it's pink! I ordered the CD version online and was sent the LP instead!  Glad I kept it because the design and the pink record looks sweet.

One of my fave Sparks album is Whomp That Sucker. I love almost every song on that album, especially "Tips for Teens", "Where's My Girl", and "Don't Shoot Me".
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Points: 1594 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 07 2009 at 14:01
They made quite an impression on me when I first saw them on Top of the Pops!
 
I have Kimono My House and Propaganda, both great albums.
"The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar.... Now, that's my idea of a good time."
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Points: 617 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 07 2009 at 14:08
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Points: 8138 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 07 2009 at 16:08
Russell Maël is one of the rare vocalists who could easily compete wih Freddie Mercury. 'Kimono my house' is a true masterpiece. I think they had a huge influence on the swedish progmetal band ACT.
 
 
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
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