Sparks Entertainment and Art 18: TOSH BERMAN on the Sparks Spectacular - and his book SPARKSTASTIC! 

Yes ! although I did not attend the 21 shows. I had been away from Sparks for a good while. This past year has been a wonderful rediscovery for me of things I might not of paid attention to..

Excellent interview! I remember watching the live 2008 shows on my computer and the video was pretty crappy but at least I got to hear some of the performances. It was an amazing time to be a Sparks fan for sure.

Brilliant guest Monte, ordered the 21 nights book, how have I missed it so far ? Tosh expresses his adoration for the band in a vivid way. Really hope this show gets the views it so deserves. I did the first and last nights of 21 x 21, wish I'd had Tosh's determination !

Fantastic show Monte, really interesting guest , it's great listening to Sparks fanatics like me.

What? Still only 158 subs? That's not right, it should be much higher! I'll be mentioning you're channel the next time I make a Sparks video, you are a big part of my week!

What a good episode! Tosh is a great interview, and hearing him talk about Sparks reminded me of my own in-person interview with him a few years ago. He is also an excellent writer, and I have his Sparks books as well as his poetry book and his autobiography. I really appreciate his rigor and his dedication, as well as his sense of humor. Thank you Monte for having him on your show.

LOL I did not even get Weldin or town reference when mentioning Sparks. Still do not where I live.

Another great interview ! I too look forward to these ! I relate to the first time I "latched" on to Sparks. Bragin bin. Only mine was Propaganda. Picked up the album Loved the cover. First listen yep Love at first listen. No getting used to it. Wow a regret..not seeing all 21 shows Impressive !

This episode was very enjoyable indeed! I was fascinated to hear it all. I'll be getting the book in the future at some point, I'm sure!

I am one of the East Coast (US) unfortunates of Tosh's generation who had never heard of Sparks until I saw the promo for The Sparks Brothers on Netflix and thought, "Hmm, that looks interesting." From the first moment, I was hooked, but more and more tiny tentacles kept grabbing me: the David Watts video with no mention to the audience that it was the Kinks - and not showing Ray Davies at all; mentioning the Move - no one ever mentions the Move!; hearing Russell say about his mom, "Now that's a mom" because I was that mom; Ron's clear dislike for bands that I HATE; and on an on. By the time the film got to the 21x21 concerts, I was a hopeless case. When Tosh said, "...God came to me and said, 'Tosh, you must see every show' ", I thought, "there is someone who understands my idiotic passion for music." My husband said, "He's insane." I said, "He's me!" Within three days, I bought a fortuitous, lonely, first row (which turned into the 3rd row - Grrr) ticket for the Boston show, even though I didn't own any records and really didn't know much of anything ( I don't have a streaming service). Then I started watching all the RU-vid videos of the 21 shows while acquiring Sparks CDs one after another. But it was the Islington shows on RU-vid that gave me the first impression of the songs. I became a Big Beat apologist before knowing that that album wasn't considered cool. It was the 21 shows that made Sparks more than something special. By the time I viewed this episode of Sparks Entertainment and Art, 2.5 years later, I owned all the CDs, I had all the vinyl, I'd gotten lots of stuff I shouldn't have, I went to see Sparks in three different time zones, I played Sparks Heardle religiously until it disappeared (sob), I stood in line for my first Record Store Day to get the No 1 Song/Nöel bundle...yet I didn't have Tosh's book. After seeing this, I asked myself what took so long, and I ordered it. It arrived yesterday, my birthday. I started reading it last night. Thank you, Tosh, for helping me to experience what I never will. And thank you, Monte, for this "super special" RU-vid series.