FEATURE - Sparks - Your Fandango

 

Way back in 1971 Todd Rungren produced a debut album by an odd little band called Half Nelson. Very shortly after this they changed the band name to Sparks, and I guess you'll know some of what happened thereafter. Fast forward to the new documentary by Edgar Wright about Sparks. As part of its record of their early years that first producer Todd Rungren is interviewed. Shortly after that a demo track from Sparks is sent to him, what could he do to improve it? The result is Your Fandango, a small gem of a track, with a characterful video starring its director -  Liisa Vääriskoski. Four minutes twenty four seconds of mischievous fun and delight.

MUSIC REVIEW - Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

With this new album, a musical Annette directed by Leo Carax, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard and a documentary about their career made by Edgar Wright, both due out later in the year, Sparks are having another moment in the spotlight. After near on fifty years in the music business you'd be rightly wondering what they have left to say. On the evidence of A Steady Drip Drip Drip there are plenty of innovative ideas left in these septuagenarians yet.

The lively lyrical and musical driving force is, as ever, Ron Mael. It would be a mistake though to assume the vocal expertise of Russell is all he contributes. How Team Mael works has always been a mysterious two headed beast. Their lives outside of their pop personas are closely guarded, do they even have partners or children?  Not that we need to know, its just interesting that in our Instagram world there's still not a sniff of anything other than their brotherhood.

Like Hippopotamus, A Steady Drip Drip Drip utilises a song portfolio approach similar to Indiscreet, my favourite Sparks album from their Island Records period. But whilst there are knowing nods to their back catalogue, none of this is self-parody, it feels fresh and musically alive. Sparks remain at the top of their own particularly unique game as acute observers of the ridiculous side of human behaviour, and how recent social media technological developments, in a sense, only change the setting for them.

Of the many many delights on this album I'll focus on three to give a sense of the peachy perfections it contains. Ron Mael has always been able to write an effortlessly sparse song, a simple premise, simply executed, of which 'Lawnmower' is a classic example. Its about a chap who is so obsessed with mowing his lawn that his girlfriend leaves him.

'The neighbors look in awe at my lawnmower
With jealous and awe at my lawnmower
I'll never loan it out, not my lawnmower
La-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la, la-la-la

You're pushin' on your lawnmower, lawnmower
Your lawn will be a showstopper, showstopper
Your lawn will be a jaw-dropper, jaw-dropper
La-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la, la-la-la

What makes the prospect of the upcoming film Annette so exciting is that Ron Mael has been writing show tunes in a pop vein for years. There are a couple here 'Self-effacing' and a beautifully tongue in cheek song, about a woman called Onomato Pia who communicates without using words.

Onomato Pia came from Rome, had a head of angel hair
Couldn’t speak a word of English, no one cared
Onomatopia flowed out everywhere
Pia had a real communication flair

Every little sigh was oh so epic
Every little gasp for air
Every little yawn a yawn beyond compare
Onomato Pia’s gift was oh so rare
Pia had a real communication flair

There are a couple of songs with expletives in, which is unusual for Sparks, but used appropriately. The self explanatory 'Please don't fuck up my world' is one, the other 'I Phone' has the catchy chorus line of  'Put your fucking I Phone down and listen to me'.

Musically, they continue to be adventurous in their music arrangements, pushing at the envelope of what popular music can encompass, such as in the strident 'Sainthood is not in your future'   The wildest example here is 'Stravinsky's Only Hit' a song about how Stravinsky was convinced to make one concession to pop success that he subsequently regrets.

Stravinsky’s only hit
He toned it down a bit
He didn’t write the words, that was my job
He hated minor thirds
Thought them too absurd
I recommended them to make the girls sob

Adulation, how he loved it
All that action, Igor was digging it and
Party, party, rum and women
Party, party, a long way from Rite O’ Spring.

A Steady Drip Drip Drip gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.  

ARTICLE ~ Heaven in the Lyrics of Ron Mael..

THEMES IN THE LYRICS OF RON MAEL
Part Two ~ Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it.

In Part One we looked at Ron Mael's quirky views on the sexual dynamic between men and women.
I thought I'd take a closer look at the theme of God and Heaven. with the release of Hippopotamus we have a new song to add to the growing lexicon of Ron Mael songs that poke gentle fun at the divinity or highlight the more prosaic aspects of having to live in heaven. The history of Sparks songs featuring the godly realms has a broken, but quite distinguished, lineage.

On Kimono My House from 1974, is the track Here in Heaven. Its sung from the point of view of a 'romeo' who has deliberately killed himself, whilst his lover Juliet, who hasn't gone through with their joint suicide pact, is still alive and not here in heaven with him. An odd subject for a song you might think but it contains one of Ron Maels's most smart and wittiest lyrics.

Here, there are lots of things to do
And a panoramic view
Of the universe completely surrounding you

And here you cannot buy souvenirs
You're never going back, never, never
Basically, I guess it could be worse
Yes, I do suppose it could be worse

Here, there are many, many sheep
And the people only sleep
And awake to tell how gory and gruesome was their end
And I don't have many friends
And it's really very clean and I'm thinking
Juliet, you broke our little pact
Juliet, I'm never coming back

Chorus
Up here in Heaven without you
I'm here in Heaven without you
Up here in Heaven without you
It is Hell knowing that your health will keep you out of here
For many many years

Dear, do you often think of me
As you overlook the sea
Do I qualify as dearly departed or am I
That sucker in the sky
The fall guy for the first and the last time
Juliet, I thought we had agreed
Now I know why you let me take the lead

Chorus

Second thoughts, is that what you had?
Second thoughts, first I broke my back
Second thoughts, as I hit the sea
Second thoughts, for eternity, for eternity, for eternity

Indiscreet, from 1976, is full of a very eclectic mix of songs that shows their growing confidence in the range of styles they could successfully master. However, the wider public didn't quite get it, and it marked the end of the first phase of their popularity, only for them to emerge re-energised and electro three years later. It did none the less contain two hits, Looks Looks Looks, a parody of fashionistas, that paradoxically got readily adopted as catwalk music, and Get In The Swing, whose tune thumps along accompanied by what sounds like an American football brass band. Towards the end there is a brief interlude where the divinity completely breaks the entire flow of the song to raise a complaint. There is no rhyme or reason for it at all, its just an excuse to lampoon, its completely unnecessary but a delightful intervention.

Hello down there
This is your creator with a questionnaire
Hello up there
I don't have the time to fill out questionnaires

No 1 Song In Heaven, produced by Giorgio Moroder in 1979 and here we have probably their best known heavenly themed song. Always looking for that slightly askew angle, Ron Mael imagines that heaven is as prone to an addictive pop tune that everyone hums as we are on earth, except that in heaven all the very best tunes are written by god. The full song has two parts, first, a slow ballad with a wistful elegiac air, which then breaks into a fast paced romp, that proceeds at such a pace its almost too brisk to be danced too.

This is the number one song in heaven
Written, of course, by the mightiest hand
All of the angels are sheep in the fold of their master
They always follow the Master and his plan

This is the number one song in heaven
Why are you hearing it now, you ask
Maybe you're closer to here than you imagine
Maybe you're closer to here than you care to be

It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven

If you should die before you wake
If you should die while crossing the street
The song that you'll hear, I guarantee

It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven

The one that's the rage up here in the clouds
Loud as a crowd or soft as a doubt
Lyrically weak, but the music's the thing

Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, let's hear him play it

The song filters down, down through the clouds
It reaches the earth and winds all around
And then it breaks up in millions of ways
It goes la, la, la......
In cars it becomes a hit
In your homes it becomes advertisements
And in the streets it becomes the children singing.

The album Balls from 2000, is their 18th album, and it fell to earth in what was creatively a somewhat flat and directionless bardo between the wacky coherence, and commercial success, of the concept like album Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins and the equally bizarre. yet groundbreaking album Lil Beethoven that was to reinvent them, yet again, in 2002. Nonetheless, its an album I'm still quite fond of, if only for the balls of the title track Balls and speed of Bullet Train. But it also had this sweet little love song called The Angels, where the titular angels are both overwhelmed and green with envy at how stunning this man's girlfriend looks.

I heard the angels call your name

They feel ashamed. They feel ashamed

Because you look so fucking good

I saw the angels glaring down

I saw the angels glaring down

They feel inane,They feel in pain

Because you're oh so fucking cool

Me, I take it in stride

Me, I know I'm on the right side this time

I see the angels disappear, I see the angels disappear

They feel confused, They feel bemused

They are a pale picture of you

Me, I take it in stride

Me, I know I'm on the right side this time

They've felt the heat, And felt defeat

Because you look so fucking good

They've felt the heat, And felt defeat

Because you look so fucking good

So we come to their most recent heaven themed song What The Hell Is It This Time? from the Hippopotamus album. It's like a more extensive rap on that short coda from Get In The Swing. God is getting so pissed off with the number, type and frequency of the requests for helpful intervention he's receiving. 

Historically, Historically we make and appeal

To something greater then we are when we need to heal

But don't concern Him with your little bad day affair

His temper will flare, he'll rise from His chair

What the hell is it this time

My god is great, my god is good, he loves every man

But show consideration when you pray in demands

His plate is filled with famine and clean wholesome air

If Arsenal wins he really don't care

What the hell is it this time

You've asked Him for attention twenty times in the past

But twenty times is granted you and again you have asked

But twenty is the limit and he's now getting peeved

And when he gets peeved It's not to be believed

What the hell is it this time

My god is great, my god is good, he loves every man

He loves every man, he loves every man

My god is great, my god is good

But show some restraint if you're feeling faint

Appeal to a saint

What the hell is it this time

It's you again it's you again, you get on my nerves

What the hell is it this time

I've millions to serve, you get on my nerves

What the hell is it this time

My girl has left, my dog has left, I've cracked up my car

The only one who listens to me stands in the bar

He turns his back and walks away

And I say for you I ain't hardly through

He says "Yeah you're through"

Our god is great,our god is good, he loves every man

But there's a limit to what even He can withstand

So be selective in what you slip under His door

It it isn't war, It may be ignored

What the hell is it this time

My god is great, my god is good, but don't waste his time

He's dealing with crime, so don't waste his time

Historically historically he has carte blanche

He don't take carte blanche

He don't take carte blanche

What the hell is it this time

* all lyrics are by Ron Mael.

FEATURE 133 - Sparks ~ What The Hell Is It This Time

Back with a new album and tour in the Autumn, Sparks are releasing singles to give you a flavour for what's to come. As with all Ron Mael songs, the basic premise of this one is simple, that god is getting fed up with the number of requests he's getting to intervene. All done with the usual level of wit and musical invention we come to expect from this seemingly eternal duo.

FEATURE No 6 - Sparks - Shopping Mall of Love

The 1980's was not an era favoured with success for Sparks, but neither did they do themselves any favours either, as, to be honest, most of their Eighties output sounds insipid. But, there was the odd song which was a gem. On 'Pulling Rabbits out of a hat'- 1984 it was - 'Pretending to be drunk'. 'Music You can Dance to' in 1986 produced this one bona fide classic, and that very rare thing indeed, a song on which Ron takes the lead vocal. I've been playing it constantly since I discovered it on You Tube, in the form of a video taken at their 21 album concert retrospective in June 2008. Here's the original recording.

CD Review No 13 - Sparks - Exotic Creatures of the Deep

The Sparks Renaissance, ( is that Wren-naissance or Run -naissance ? ) continues, with another very lively, collection of pop tunes, on their 21st album. A feat of endurance, as much as one of consistent inventiveness, which many performers half their age fail to maintain with this much virulent energy and attack beyond their third album. In contrast to 'Hello Young Lovers,' Exotic Creatures of the Deep' is less diverse in the musical styles the Mael Brothers choose to pinch, parody or parade. It has a more refined, focused punch, giving it a consistency which its predecessor did sometimes lack, due to its eclecticism. If any cost has been exacted for this, it is that it is lyrically weaker. You have to really search out the sly, dry wit, you've come to expect from Ron Mael.

It does have its delights that are worth finding, such as on 'Good Morning' - about a man who wakes up one morning in bed with a woman he doesn't know. It's full of funny throwaway quips - ' I hope its just your laugh that is infectious' ,or 'Please spare me derision, I'll do my rendition, A lengthy recital, Of every song with foolish in the title.' Even songs that are less successfully conceived, such as - 'This is the Renaissance' - contain hidden gems - ' We can see the moon, We can see the stars, We can see the future and the freeways and electric cars, And they might think we're quaint, We don't really care, We've got Michelangelo and they graffiti everywhere'

It began with 'This Town ain't big enough for the both of us', and they became totally obsessed with it on the album 'Lil Beethoven', and they continue to this day, to shamelessly plunder styles from classical music. Blending them in a variety of confections with grumbling guitars and electronic throbbing beats. Set off by an unerring ability to build up songs around the simplest of riffs or hook lines. The essential idea, nay amusement, of a song is declared loudly by it's title - 'She got me (Pregnant)' - 'Lighten up Morrissey' - 'I can't believe you'd fall for all the crap in this song' - 'I've never been high.' Sometimes the humour of a song title -'I can't believe you'd fall for all the crap in this song' for instance - is all it amounts to, which can leave you feeling a little short changed. All Sparks songs explore a standard theme- male neuroses/paranoia when in a relationship - giving it yet another peculiar twist. This album can sometimes sound like its from the seventies, at other times it's on a more contemporary pulse, all the while staying within the idiosyncratic musical territory Sparks have singlehandedly carved out for themselves.

The track 'Lighten up Morrissey,' is a bit of an oddity, it seems like a remixed out take from their 'Big Beat' period, (not one of their best). Morrissey is a lifelong Sparks fan. so maybe this song is by way of a cheeky, back handed compliment. It is one of their feebler attempts at satire, it fits, to my ears, less comfortable within the musical landscape of 'Exotic Creatures of the Deep.' Here, they rummage through their own back catalogue for ideas to dust off and rehash, but what artist wouldn't this far into their career? There is a direct line of musical sympathy between 'Never turn your back on Mother Earth' and 'I've never been High'. It's never, ever a boring retread, they have always added something new, to freshen its appeal. On' Photoshop', about a spurned lover who wants to erase from memory the relationship that's failed, it explores a new use for digital technology - 'You know what your doing, Look at the acclaim, Grant me one more favour, Alter the terrain, Make it look as though I were in Hell, Or something near enough to Hell, Give it a caption of farewell, Photoshop me out of your life.'


Some day the music buying public will re-discover Sparks and realise what delights they've been missing, since their undoubtedly great 1970's Island records period. I just hope they're not retired, or well passed their best, or dead, by then.

REVIEW - Sparks Live 2006

Wednesday October 4th 2006 - Cambridge Corn Exchange.

You would have thought that after thirty odd years they’d be very tired. You might also think that a Sparks audience would mostly be a nostalgia seeking sway of forty somethings. You would not be wrong with that latter assertion. However, any misconception that this show would consist of just feeble readings from their extensive back catalogue, was instantly dispelled by the first song. ‘Dick Around’ is a hurricane of a song about a man dumped by his girlfriend, who doesn’t know what to do with himself. Part pop song, part mini operetta, it was the first of a track by track run through of ‘Hello Young Lovers’, their twentieth album.

On this showing Sparks have lost none of their musical or lyrical acuteness.
If anything they appear to be having a renaissance. This hasn’t produced any hits and perhaps may never do. Part of their revival seems to be a reawakening of that quintessential Sparks quality of perverse originality. They’ve always been intelligent, clever word smiths and musical kleptomaniacs. This makes them very distinctive, but rarely in line with contemporary tastes.

Lyrically their subject matter is free ranging, partly fond and partly satirising aspects of male romantic behaviour. Other targets are leaden rock music and even contemporary politics in ‘Baby, baby, Can I invade your country?’

Each song was accompanied by impressive back projected visuals. These had the same touches of invention and wit we’ve come to expect from the Mael brothers. Their humour largely originates from Ron Mael, his blank faced caricature, developed over the years into being both slightly sinister and comedic. Whether he’s fighting with his screen self on ‘The very next fight’ or playing the guitar hero on ‘Rock Rock Rock’ he conveys an impish irony. Every cheek has a tongue firmly placed in it.

The first half was definitely ‘a show’ and a very cool one at that. In the second half, the gloves were off. We could finally see and hear that very tight trio of young musicians, who ably supported the Maels as they produced an hours worth of hits and oddities. Opening with ‘Achoo’, and continuing on through ‘No 1 Song in Heaven’ , ‘Something for the girl with everything’ and ‘When do I get to sing My Way?’ Their most famous song ‘This town ain’t big enough for the both of us’ was given a version of spunky gusto with a refreshing rawness. It was no weary retread. This song alone tells you why this band has remained so influential, in so many ways, over so many decades. They concluded the evening with a clutch of songs re-arranged for voice and piano ,‘Suburban Homeboy’ and a final re run of ‘Dick Around’ These displayed the quality and versatility of Ron Mael as a song writer and the youthful verve of Russell’s nimble vocals. Sparks may have become more polished by time, but their creative pulse still has a very big beat.

A version of this review was published in The Independent on 11/10/06

CD Review No 1 - Sparks - Hello Young lovers

Gut Records Ltd. 2006

The album ‘Lil Beethoven’ three years ago set a well nigh impossible musical high point for any band to exceed. Let alone a band whose longevity and diversity of output is legendary. How come we ignored them for so many years? The answer is quite simple. Sparks in the Seventies were a unique mix of musical / lyrical wit and invention. However. From ‘No 1 in Heaven’ onwards Sparks rode any stylistic fashion train going from New Wave to Rave, with varying degrees of success. With ‘Lil Beethoven’ and ‘Hello Young Lovers’ they have rediscovered how to be innovative whist remaining quintessentially inimitable Sparks . From the opening mini operetta ‘ Dick Around’ you know that this is an unusual groundbreaking record. The Sparks renaissance continues.

Ron Mael has always had a preoccupation with the prescient dilemmas of the modern man in love. Check out ‘Amateur Hour’ from ‘Kimono My House’ , ‘Reinforcements’ from ‘Propaganda’ or ‘The Lady is Lingering’ from ‘Indiscreet’. He constantly reveals and revels in a particularly male form of neuroses. ‘ Hello Young Lovers’ is no exception and has many wonderful couplets like these :-

‘Think about the recent past,
The cynics said too good to last
But she could change her mind again
Oh, no, this movie said ’THE END’
So I will go about my day
Just dicking round, my metier
And realise that life is change
And furniture to rearrange’ 
FROM – DICK AROUND

‘The skies are starting to cloud up
But that wont slow me down
Your eyes are starting to well up
But that wont bring me down
‘Cause I’m waterproof, I’m waterproof
The pressure you’re exerting is irrelevant to me
I see you crying but I’m not buying your Meryl Streep mimicry
It’s misdirected, your voice inflected
For maximum sympathy’
FROM – WATERPROOF

That’s the lyrical invention, the musical style develops further breadth on this record. ‘ Dick Around’ is not the only mini operetta, the disc finishes with the magnificent ‘As I sit to play the organ at Notre Dame Cathedral’. There is also the kitsch barber shop of ‘Here Kitty’. The barbed use of the Star Spangled Banner lyrics as ironic counterpoint to the Barn Dance that is ‘( Baby, Baby ) Can I Invade Your Country’. Also, the glory that is ‘Perfume’ with its simple lyrical premise harnessed to the sassiest and jauntiest swing beat.



It’s obvious those decades in the musical desert were not misspent. Whilst success eluded them, they broadened their musical palette. They can now parody any style with panache. ‘Hello Young Lovers’ successfully expands the classical fusion of ‘Lil Beethoven’ by restoring some of their earlier pop sensibilities.