For many a teenage record buyer in 1974, turning on the radio to
hear Ron Mael's electric piano ushering in the falsetto tones of
brother Russell singing "Zoo time is she and you time, the lions are your favourite kind and you want her tonight....." was a moment of pure delight.
With 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us', Sparks provided
one of those wonderful eureka moments, when a record gets you off
your feet and down to the record shop, because you have to own that record right now. It was exotic and dramatic and not only that, it rocked.
Although they were new on the UK scene, Sparks had already made two albums in the US for Bearsville Records, the first produced by Todd Rundgren. In the new documentary, called The Sparks Brothers, and also in the live Q&A that followed showings of the film across the UK this Thursday evening, the Mael brothers made it very clear that without Rundgren they may not have had a career at all.
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| My 45rpm single |
Not that they achieved any success with those first albums, but Rundgren was the only one who saw the raw potential in them at the time. Ultimately, it took a move to
London for their third album 'Kimono My House' and a new band, for the whole thing to reach its full potential.
Moving from their native LA, they came to the UK and signed to Island
Records. Their British invasion influences and quirkiness were probably better suited to the UK pop
charts anyway. Several of the talking heads in the film say they thought Sparks were an English band at first.
The first single from Kimono My House made an immediate impact and that first appearance on Top Of The Pops showed they had a visual
quirkiness to match the oddball lyrics and quasi-operatic delivery. Ron
Mael with his Hitler moustache and mild smirk; curly-haired
flamboyant Russell taunting his brother for a reaction. This was their moment and they played it for all it was worth.
Kimono My House kickstarted a career that has seen them rediscovered every 10 years by a new generation of pop fans. They have enjoyed three or four distinct periods of success, right up to the present time, surprising everyone with the enduring quality of their music. The Mael's unique take on pop music has remained consistent over their entire career. Above all, there's a distinctively dark humour at the heart of their songs.
Sparks have a knack for composing songs it would be hard to imagine other bands coming up with. On Kimono My House, it was evident on tracks such as 'Here in Heaven', about a suicide pact where only one person did the deed. And 'Amateur Hour' which delves into the subject of how to please a woman sexually - "when you turn pro you'll know, she tell you so". One of the showpiece songs on the album is 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' - performed here by the original band on French TV in 1974.
The film has several key moments that convey why Sparks are so revered by fans and musicians alike. Mike Myers says his favourite line comes from the early song Girl From Germany, about a guy who takes his German girlfriend home to meet his parents, who "can't forget that war".
"My word, she's from Germany
Well, it's the same old country
But the people have changed."
The author Neil Gaiman and Portlandia's Fred Armisen were both inspired by Sparks' skewed view of life. Jonathan Ross is another who zoned in on their oddball humour. Even Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones got something out of their music. He is just one of the very funny contributors to the film.
Earl Mankey and other members of the original band Halfnelson show no bitterness at missing out on the big time. Bass player Ian Hampton (who was drafted in after Kimono bassist Martin Gordon was rather cruelly fired) is only slightly disgruntled at how his moment of stardom was cut short. Drummer Dinky Diamond and guitarist Adrian Fisher have both passed away, which just leaves Ron and Russell to relate how Kimono My House changed the band’s fortunes. It boils down to those essential ingredients - great compositions and that uniquely Sparks humour.
Back in May 1974, the NME's Ian MacDonald was full of praise for this new pop phenomenon in his review of Kimono My House. "Ron Mael has set the whole lop-sided wobbly man of technique and 'tradition' spinning again. Melody lines spiral up and down (care of the extraordinary voice of brother Russell) through intervals and over chords that seem to echo from somewhere in the classics....there's more energy on Kimono My House than anything I've heard since...you know when."
Also on this blog:
Alice Cooper - Back when he was genuinely scary
Slade - Glam rockers back at No.1
T. Rex in 1971 - Electric Warrior
