Seeing Sparks

Well, it's only fair that I divulge the source of my nom de plume. After all, it is one of the bands I have seen performing live the most often. I first heard of them in probably the same way that everyone else of a certain age did - seeing them performing "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" on Top of the Pops. That rather unusual falsetto delivery of a bizarre set of lyrics, with a keyboard player whose moustache and demeanour were just a little unsettling. They were, of course, Russell and Ron Mael, the central twosome of the group Sparks. Although the other band members changed over the years, it is these brothers who remain the essence of Sparks.

It is somewhat ironic that the first album of theirs I bought was the least representative of their work. They ditched the guitars for a solid keyboard/synth sound as they teamed up with Italian electronic music maestro Giorgio Moroder for 1979's Number One In Heaven. The hits "Beat the Clock", "Tryouts for the Human Race" and "Number One Song in Heaven" gave them plenty of airtime. I was impressed to learn many years later that the metronomic drumming, so precise that it just had to be a drum machine, was actually played by a very talented session musician - Keith Forsey.

'Lil Beethoven was Sparks'19th album, released in 2002 showed precisely what makes them a band of which you can never tire. While most bands would be switching to their Greatest Hits tours, living off the big hits with which they made their name, Sparks were stretching and blurring the boundaries between many different music styles. The songs are grand in scale, with minimalist lyrics and fascinating percussion. The first track, "The Rhythm Thief" has kettle drums as the only percussion, played to emphasise the start of each line. Another standout song is "My Baby's Taking Me Home", which features the title phrase repeated over and over again, with one short, spoken stanza to unsettle you in the middle, but the accompaniment changes subtly throughout the song, with gentle but unusual key changes, taking you on a journey of sorts which builds to the most dramatic, almost breathtaking ending, still repeating that same phrase. My favourite song from this album, however, is the final track. A jaunty, bouncing melody over which Russell sings of the joys of being a Suburban Homeboy, delightfully taking the mickey out of those well-to-do, upper-middle class folk who like to pretend they are "street" - a bit like David Cameron and his dreadful "Hug a Hoodie" phase!

This album was followed up by "Hello Young Lovers" - in a similar vein, but with a few more lyrics(!) and a much rockier feel to it. 

I finally got to see Sparks performing in the run-up to the premiere of their 21st album, Exotic Creatures of the Deep, when they performed all 21 albums in order in 21 individual performances, with an encore of the B-sides and other songs from that era. I was lucky enough to get to see them perform Number One In Heaven, 'Lil Beethoven, Hello Young Lovers and Exotic Creatures of the Deep as part of that performance series. Heaven knows how the real fans managed when they went to see all twenty-one shows! 

True to form, Sparks have remained consistently inconsistent, following up Exotic Creatures with what is almost an opera about Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman. The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman imagines the director transported to Hollywood, where he is asked to direct the kind of trite blockbuster that his films would eschew. It all turns out to be a bad dream, from which he is rescued by the angel-like appearance of Greta Garbo. Then, just before Christmas, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album that gave them their first hit, they performed the album with a full orchestra. An outstanding evening and typically off-the-wall. Their next venture is a new "supergroup" which sees them joining forces with Franz Ferdinand. The group's name is the initials of both bands, apparently: FFS.

Bless their cotton socks!