Awwww, that's so sweet! Was that in Sydney or Melbourne? I was right up the front row at the Corner Hotel gig and Russ grabbed my hand and shook it during one of the songs. Got to chat with him and Ron afterwards, they were both very cute and polite.
I had my wisdom teeth pulled listening to the boys. I would go through it again just to see them. I wouldn’t mind being deaf just to see them! I can hear them in my head, so no loss.
Self named 'Halfnelson', 1971, reissued 'Sparks', 1972? Or their third album, but first in England, their great breakthrough 'Kimono My House'? The first album they released on Island Records, where they NOW are back after 47 years*! Their new 'The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte' is to be released May 26! *'Kimono My House' and 'Propaganda' were released 1974 ('Propaganda' out in February '75 in the USA) 'Indescreet' came out 1975 1976 they were back home in America again and presented a new sound on 'Big Beat'. Those four were on Island. The two first, in America, were on Bearsville. (In 1972 they released 'A Woofer In a Tweeter's Clothing', the second album of theirs.)
@@almac-pj3oc 'Kimono My House' has a green sleeve with two geishas on. No text. Really cool!. Kidnapped and duct taped, that's 'Propaganda'. The first I heard, immediate love!💖 Kimono was released in May 1974, Propaganda came out in the UK in November the same year, in the USA and I guess the rest of Europe in January 1975. They are alike in style, but Propaganda isn't a copy, it has a different tone, somehow. 'At Home, At Work, At Play' and 'Something For The Girl With Everything', two songs you can't mix up with anything else! If you only heard them a few times, maybe one of them with the other 😅. Fast, jumping between high and low, stops and begins, fast and extremely fast. Awaken the question: HOW can Russell sing that many words in so little time?! The last song on the album is the opposite, like a ballad, the beautiful 'Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth'. I think the second covered Sparks song, after 'This Town'. Late Billie Mackenzie is one of them, he made a great version.
The first they recorded: In January 1967, Ron and Russell and friends Fred and Ronna Frank recorded four songs at a "rent-by-hour" studio. One of them is actually released nowadays. 'COMPUTER GIRL'. 2006 it was in addition to a book or booklet (I don't remember which) in Japan. So it has been out on YT for quite some time. However, on the compilation album 'The Best Of Sparks - Past Tense', 2019, they let 'Computer Girl' be the first song. In the song list, after the song it says: "Yes, it has crackles on it. Thank you." It's Ron's and Russell's own old copy that they fixed up as much as possible, but there are limits to what's possible 😅. Anyway, the psychedelic song is definitely worth a listen. The lyrics are "Sparks", weird or funny, depending on which you like. In JANUARY 7 1967 these guys wrote about a COMPUTER girl. Not robot, that had been perfectly up to date, at that time. Robots were seen in TV comedy shows, in science programs and of course in sci-fi. 1967 the first message was sent from one computer to another. And the Mael brothers write about a computer GIRL. That "has no limbs", the lyrics reveal. Ahead of time? Definitely 😂
Just wonderful, loved them so much in the 70's, was mocked by friends for liking these "Pop" artists until they actually listened to them, they are highly talented and the words they write are quite brilliant!
they are a very under-rated band! Lyrics to kimono my house and propaganda are clever. remember them from those albums and they were really, really popular in the U.K. there were billboards promoting propaganda everywhere in glasgow, scotland.
In a way it is but not in the way you expect...like a lot of clever Sparks songs they seem like they mean one thing when they mean quite another. They are saying never “turn your back” not because for a peace and love kind of way, but because nature is a cruel and cut-throat place that will always triumph in the end. We can be romantic about a pretty blue sky (“gaze at clouds that come down crashing”) that can quickly turn grey and into a storm that can blow us away in seconds. Polluting CEOs can make millions fracking but it is their mansions being burned up and washed away by mudslides in Malibu. We can take advantage of Mother Nature all we want but she was here before us and will definitely be the lone survivor in the end.
Nearly fifty years later still relevant. You can't put Sparks into any category, they just do what pleases them. True artists in every way. Still on my bucket list of acts to see live. This would make a great world national anthem. ,
I saw them a few years ago at Primavera festival in Barcelona on a sunny afternoon. "This town isn't big enough" hearing live was always on my bucket list so I went crazy. Russel was smiling at me the whole time. I have very fond memories and I am a bigger fan since.
I saw them in Bristol in the 70's, as a young girl I hitch hiked there on my own (so dangerous) but somehow got there and back safely and it was worth it, I was sure Ron was looking at me which I still like to believe to this day! It was a wonderful concert.
Immer wenn ich das höre, bin ich geflasht. Ich war 14, zur Schule in die nächste Stadt, es gab das Café "Sorger", eine Musikbox, ein Schilling. Mit "Love hurts" und "Never turn your back to mother earth" war musikalisch alles gesagt, damals...
I had the most unbelievable experience of going on the Kimono My House tour 1974, with this amazing band, Sparks...after meeting Adrian Fisher at the Leeds Uni. venue, memories which will never fade.....nor my beloved Adrian, who I tended to 'look after' more than anything on that tour, so sadly missed.....and also so saddened by the death of 'Dinky' over some noisy neighbours.
Love the Sparks. All their songs have a magic about them. Hard to say which is my favourite except they all are ! I remember seeing Russ running around all over the stage in concert when I was a young lad in '75. What energy and still sang brilliantly !
fantastic band the sparks..i'm afraid to be old enough to have loved them in the right years...my 70's sparks,roxy music,mott the hoople,bowie, lou reed,n.y. dolls,brian eno,todd rundgren etc :)
thanks for the reply from PUMPKINGILMOUR,I bought this way back in 1974.I am now 53,this song never ages it just gets more pop perfect every listen.Perfect for WORLD EARTH DAY.
I couldn't!! I hated Russell's eyes, but loved his voice. I have changed my mind about his eyes nowadays, they are 😍🤩. So are his vocal cords! 🥰 The longest crush I've ever had, probably life long... 😉 😇😂😂😂😂 I know, I'm... hm... A little crazy
Russell claims he isn't schooled. He hasn't enough power to hold a note especially long or has that "push" as a trained singer. I can imagen he has had some help in older days, though. Before Halfnelson and later Sparks he sung some swing/jazz and other different things from rock/pop. If you haven't heard the wonderful little piece "Tearing the place apart", please do!
In 1977 I saw them at a little club in Southern Ohio. I had a camera and asked if I could come backstage and take pictures of the band and they said YES. Of course when I finally got to meet them I was tongue tied and couldn't think of a thing to say except "Can I kiss you?" And my fiance who took me to the show was really mad that I didn't insist that he be allowed backstage too. Meeting Ron and Russell was more important. Needless to say that marriage didn't last. But my appreciation for Sparks music did. These songs take me back!
that drummer was so damn good, I think he was the real key to The Sparks at their peak, not to mention the guitarist , bass player etc. , they were also great. This drummer though was said to have been one of the most good-natured, powerful and excellent drummers in the world. Without him, the SParks were never quite the same. He deserves recognition. Norman Diamond. The story of what happened to him is sad,and I think it all stemmed back to the tragedy that this incredible band did not last.
This incredible band is still together. As great a drummer as he is here, Sparks proved with Lil Beethoven that you don't need drums to create a masterpiece. "Oh no, where did the groove go?"
I agree with everything you say about how great a drummer Mr Diamond was, however there have been loads of equally fantastic drummers with the Maels IMO, they've consistently chosen brilliant drummers. Hilly Michaels was by a mile the best of the musicians on the Big Beat album, his thunderous drumming defining that album's sound. Keith Forsey's AMAZING drums helped make N1IH as high energy and uptempo as it is, especially as he must have just been playing along to a bunch of bleeping synths rather than any other musicians. Although he didn't record with them, David Humphrey did a lot of TV appearances with N1IH era Sparks, and was a vital addition to their promotions at this time. David Kendricks provided the relentless backbeats for WTS and AIMP, and nominally the following three albums, though the beats were essentially electronic. And then we had Christi Haydon and Tammy Glover in the 90s and 00s, both brilliant drummers who brought something special to the Sparks universe. They truly have been spoilt over the years. But none of this is to take away from DInky's awesome work.
Mac intoSser What utter nonsense . Bowie set all the trends. Each album he produced - especially pre 80s was so different from the last . Every pop/rock artist has used, borrowed or stolen something from every other artiste. Led Zeppelin and The Stones are prime examples of a band who used old blues or rhythm n blues riffs and re-arranged them to suit their own themes. Bowie used the term "magpie" to describe himself - although the end product was distinctly Bowie. Jayne County/Wayne County was a joke . Angie Bowie ? Hypocritical or what ? Still using her ex-husband's stage name ... hmm ! Without her association to Bowie , no one would even know or care about Angela Barnett .
I love Sparks, great band, the first band whose pictures I put on my bedroom wall. And they still are going today and still producing the occasional great tune. But to put Sparks in any way shape or form alongside Bowie. Ridiculous. Bowie was able to not just spot a trend but make it his own by being more adventurous, more talented and more daring with in it. Say what you want but his body of work spans so many styles of music and their are very few duds in amongst them. Bowie
@@PAULLONDEN I mightn't care for Wayne Countys music, but for anyone to call anyone a "tranny" in this day and age surely deserves being hollered back "ya fuckin' troglodyte"
It is like a revolved queen lineup...Freddy Mercury at the keyboard with Deacon actitud, Bryan May singing with Freddy actitud, Roger Taylor playing the bass with...Roger Taylor actitud! Excelent song Sparks!!!!
I remember an interview in the Dutch music mag Muziekkrant Oor in which the band tell they were barred from a restaurant becaue of Russell' shoulder-length hair. The reporter also remarked on the latter's absolutely flawless vocal performance in concert. One of the very few rock stars who has remained his shy and winsome self, listen to his recent interview on wfmu.org/playlists/shows/35582
This is such a good piece of music,short as it is-always a good test if the melody stands on it's own.Underrated-best I heard from Sparks. They should rework it for the global environmental/climate crisis now-for me,it evokes the exactly right blend of portentous and sad.
haunting song, eternal. Extremely talented composition, and the singer is unreal, its like looking on the face of the very peak of British excellence, and ..... its just gone now.
I know it's a long while ago since you posted your comment, but I feel like I have to say: This band is called SPARKS. Nothing more, nothing else. There is another band called The Sparks, VERY DIFFERENT from the band here. To use the wrong name only causes confusions. 🤗😍
