All You Ever Think About Is Sparks

Monte and John Ashdown join me for the second part of our pow-wow about Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat. Hear them spins yarns of hipper times, better dance clubs, cheaper beer, and young love! Always fascinating to hear what being a Sparks fan was like in 1984, from both sides of the Atlantic. Monte's YouTube channel Sparks: Entertainment and Art continues to be THE premiere Arts and Crafts Spectacu...

Christian tells more of the story of the making of 1984's Pulling Rabbits Out a Hat, nerds out more on the Fairlight CMI, wonders whatever happened to the "arch" style of pop singing, and makes a compelling case for Madonna's "Like a Virgin" owing its whole existence to one track on this album. But the bigger news is this is the first full video episode of the podcast! Christian may as yet be work...

Welcome to the rise of the machines! Ron and Russell Mael are at a bit of a crossroads with this 1984 LP, and briefly offer the reigns to producer Ian Little (Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Roxy Music's Avalon), who in turn puts in the driver's seat that omnipresent mid-80s behemoth, the CMI Fairlight. It was the first time computerized, visual, grid-based composing was possible, and re...

Chris Sutton has appeared on this podcast before, and likewise Monte Mallin's YouTube channel Sparks: Entertainment and Art. This time, Chris and Christian go mano a mano in an interview about his (Chris') latest book On Track... Sparks 1969-1979 We chat about what it's like being a rock music journalist, and just how he managed to track down so many Sparks luminaries for his project. Also, if you...

Tally ho! We're going deep into the vaults today for this one, with an in-depth look at the never-officially-released soundtrack to the obscure 1984 teen gross-out film Bad Manners... Or is that Growing Pains? It seems Sparks didn't even know, so they recorded two theme songs, using both titles! After we flap our yaps about both the movie and the soundtrack, we take a little bit of time to explore...

Howdy, Sparks fans! As promised, here's another episode all about New Haven's finest, the inimitable Hilly Michaels! Monte Mallin and I wax poetic for a bit about just what made Hilly's powerhouse work on the skins so special on 1976's Big Beat. After that, I clock out, and pass the baton over to Monte for his one-on-one interview with Hilly, recorded a few weeks before our three-way convo with th...

Hilly Boy is back! Monte Mallin and I have a nice, in-depth chat with one of Sparks' most celebrated drummers, Hilly Michaels! We cover lots of ground that was left unexplored from the last time we talked, back in 2021. For thousands - if not tens of thousands - of folks of their generation, Hilly's smash hit "Calling All Girls" was the very first video they saw on the fledgling MTV! Hearing Hilly...

This one has been in the vault for a while now! Monte and I mix things up by occupying the same geocoordinates as each other for this episode. It's Sparks In Outer Space! Side B. Or 2, if that's your jam. This one was a ton of fun, y'all! We've got another one I'm sticking in the podcast oven to warm up, so that I can serve it up hot and fresh, reeeeeal soon now. Next stop: Pulling Rabits Out of a...

Part 2 of our 3-parter on Sparks' 1983 LP In Outer Space! We get through the rest of side A! Plus, a brief history of the Linn Drum! Lucky me, lucky you! Monte's Sparks-themed YouTube channel at: Monte Mallin - YouTube  And Paul Barrett's MetaSparks at: MetaSparks - YouTube Drop me a line at podcastsparks@gmail.com

Monte Mallin and I take the wayback machine to 1983, when Sparks were kings of the mountain - the Magic Mountain. In Outer Space was Sparks' 12th LP, and was released when the group was white-hot, at least in Los Angeles! This episode focuses mostly on the smash single "Cool Places," a duet with Go-Go Jane Wiedlin. So, sit back and let the soothing strains of the Linn Drum lull you to a state of b...

Record Store Day 2024 special! Monte Mallin is onboard with me again, and joining us is Sparks megafan - and sometimes DJ - Ad Rebirth. Ad joins us from Leeds, UK and arrives armed with thoughtful insights into the two Sparks vinyl re-releases for RSD '24: Number One in Heaven and Noël: Is There More to Life Than Dancing?, both originally released in 1979. Lots of great Sparks-related fan material...

John Ashdown and I put a bow on the Telex album Sex. Well, sort of. Most of the world got the single disc version that was released in 1981, but the UK had a double album bestowed upon them when the record finally reached that country in 1982. We just didn't possess the ambition to tackle nearly 20 songs, but we did pay lip service two a couple of choice tracks from the expanded British version. C...

I wasn't sure if I was ever going to really delve into this one, but here you go! This will be another two-parter. Telex was a Belgian technopop group active from 1978 to 1988. They made the acquaintance of Ron and Russell Mael in 1979, through a mutual collaborator, the 18-year-old French pop singer Lio. Ron and Marc Moulin, in particular, struck up a lifelong friendship. But where the 1981 album...

Thom Chiki is SO DEVO. SO DEVO, that without Thom there would be no DEVOtional convention in Columbus, Ohio. Also a big Sparks fan, personal friend of DEVO and Sparks drummer David Kendrick, and an all-around awesome person. Check out Thom's videos here: Thom CD-ROM - YouTube You can write to me (as always) at podcastsparks@gmail.com  

Wrapping up 2023 (belatedly) with two great interviews from Sparks fans. This one is from Timothy Hall in Cardiff, Wales. He runs Daytrip Records in the UK! Go check it out! Write to us at podcastsparks@gmail.com

At long last! Monte and Christian wrap up their inexhaustible discussion about Sparks' 1982 landmark LP. Plus, a doff of the cap to Los Angeles' KROQ, the radio station that helped introduce a whole new generation of punk and new wave fans to Ron and Russell's 80s incarnation. I've been cleaning house, in terms of shoring up unused material for this podcast so that it might see the light of day. T...

More from Monte and Christian about Spark's 1982 party-starter Angst In My Pants! Plus, a short history lesson on the man behind Ron's original "Ronald" synth. Monte Mallin has a brand-spankin' new YouTube series about Sparks! Check it out! Link below. Feel free to drop me a line at podcastsparks@gmail.com or Facebook Links: Ikutaro Kakehashi | NAMM.org Sparks - Entertainment and Art! Episode One...

Monte Mallin and I continue our dive into the effervescent waters of Angst In My Pants and the E.T.-induced wonder of 1982. Here, we wrap up side one! Email me if you want at  podcastsparks@gmail.com ...and remember to check out Monte's podcast So Important, as well as his Sparks blog at: So Important: The Interview Podcast! | a podcast by Monte Mallin (podbean.com) AND: Monte's One Stop Blog!: Re...

Angst in my Pants is one of the greatest albums ever made! Now that that's out of the way, on this, our 35th episode, Christian spends a conspicuous amount of time comparing classic TV comedy Taxi to Sparks and vice versa, by way of Danny DeVito (briefly) sharing a stage with the Mael Bros. and company on a 1982 episode of Saturday Night Live. After that, Christian and Monte Mallin can barely cont...

PART TWO OF TWO! FOUR - count 'em - FOUR Sparks fans join me for a track-by-track look under the hood of Sparks' latest album The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. Monte Mallin returns, along with Paul Barrett, Penny Brown, and Jo Sieger! That's a lot of Sparks galaxy brain for a single sitting. So much, in fact, that we did what we often do: chop it in half and save the rest for later. And later is no...

FOUR - count 'em - FOUR Sparks fans join me for a track-by-track look under the hood of Sparks' latest album The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. Monte Mallin returns, along with Paul Barrett, Penny Brown, and Jo Sieger! That's a lot of Sparks galaxy brain for a single sitting. So much, in fact, that we did what we often do: chop it in half and save the rest for later. You won't hear the songs in thei...

Monte and Christian sit for a lengthy (and stimulating!) chat with Sparks superfan and author of the insightful blog One For the Ages (www.sparks-onefortheages.com)   Paul Barrett. We discuss some of his fascinating meta-analyses of Sparks' lyrics, as well as geek out as all proud Sparks fans do, and (checks watch) *just in time* for the release of new LP The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. Can't wai...

Christian and Monte wax philosophical about talking hippos, gastric distress and getting kicked in the bonbons. Plus! What is this salt discharge in my latte? We wrap up Whomp That Sucker, the first of the twin quasars of Reinhold Mack-produced Sparks rock albums, recorded yet again at Giorgio's Musicland Studios in Munich. Check us out on Larry Graves' YouTube channel discussing (gasp) Sparks! Do...

He started out a middle class kid from Oregon who grumbled about taking his piano lessons. But by the time he was thirty, Jim Goodwin had worked with the likes of Sparks, John Cale, Simple Minds, Bono, Peter Gabriel and other luminaries. Jim was exceedingly generous with his time when chatting with myself and Monte Mallin. He's had a hell of a career, and I, for one, enjoyed geeking out with him o...

Ron and Russ were dying for some decent espresso and pastries. Voila, they found their newest muses at the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles. The Maels teamed up with a talented band by the name (at that time) of The Bates Motel, and with the assistance of uber-producer Reinhold Mack, they found a new lease on life. Here's the first half of Whomp That Sucker, as discussed by myself and Monte...