All You Ever Think About Is Sparks

Terminal Jive had the misfortune of following up No. 1 in Heaven, which enjoys legendary status today. It also had the misfortune of Ron and Russ's original slate of songs being defenestrated outright by Giorgio Moroder and Harold Faltermeyer. What we have instead is seven-and-a-half songs (you'll figure out what I mean) written by committee - the lead single being a crucial exception. Terminal Ji...

Hey, Sparkskateers. This episode is entirely about the Mael-produced album by Noel: Is There More to Life Than Dancing. I'm chatting with Monte Mallin on this one, and then another conversation with Jim Wellen. This is an interesting, and fun(!) Sparks-adjacent album (Jim asserts it's a true Sparks album)! Stick around for next time, when we get into Terminal Jive, from 1980! https://postpunkmonk....

I wrap up discussion of side 2 of Number One in Heaven, with the help of my friend Monte Mallin in this ep. We also discussed the Sparks side project for Noël, but I'm saving that for the next episode. To paraphrase DJ Steve Dahl, this one's gonna blow up reeeeeal good. sources: https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-news-now/disco-demolition-night-how-an-anti-disco-baseball-night-led-to-a-riot-in-comiskey-pa...

It's been a while. What can I say? This is maybe *the best* if not just one of the best of the Mael brothers' albums. I had a great conversation with Monte Mallin on the second half, and you'll be hearing more of Monte in the near future. Giorgio Moroder helped Ron and Russ completely rethink their musical approach, and it shows here, in spades. I do spend a good chunk of time near the beginning a...

He brought that crashy, nearly out of control funhouse sound to early 80s albums Whomp that Sucker and Angst in my Pants. Later he worked with two different sets of brothers when he joined DEVO as their first corporeal drummer in years. His own band, The Gleaming Spires is getting a long-deserved second look with brand new remasters out. Of course, I'm talking about legendary drummer David Kendric...

In which I wrap up a discussion of Sparks' until-recently maligned 1977 album. Ron and Russell shared a studio with a revolving door of play-for-pay studio cats, and the end result was a record that sounded good, but didn't sell. Oh, BTW, yes I know Ron Popeil was famous for saying "but wait, there's more," not "but that's not all." You can write me at podcastsparks@gmail.com or visit the pod's pa...

I'm so lucky to have gotten to speak with both halves of Big Beat's rhythm section! As you'll hear from the interview, Sal's been everywhere, man. Sal's been everywhere. Another Sparks player who favors a Rick as his weapon of choice (see: Gordon, Martin), he and Hilly Michaels locked down that bone-crushing groove heard all throughout that aforementioned album. He toured with Roxy Music, Cracker,...

Ron and Russell ditch the whole notion of having a standing army - er, band, and rely on studio cats hired by the hour on Columbia Records' dime. Introducing was out of print for over 30 years, until it finally got a new lease on life on CD format in 2009. A badly underexplored chapter in Sparks' history, find out more about that mysterious album that came and went in a flash in 1977.

While my first episode on Introducing keeps cookin', I've had a couple of great opportunities to interview former Sparks players, including a chap who's been on the show before, and I'm thankful to have him back on again. If you're not yet privy, Martin was the bassist on Kimono My House, and was part of that seminal, yet short-lived lineup (in more ways than one, sad to say). He has a new album o...

No, it isn't Sparks-related, but I'm not a rich enough man for TWO podcast feeds! Instead this is my side project "What We Do Is What We Do," where I basically publish stuff I've recorded that I felt was interesting enough to share with other humans. This ep is my interview with playwright Peter Gordon from June 2020. He wrote (among other things) "Murdered by Death," a genuinely funny farce posin...

Here's Hilly! From starstruck Sparks fan, to fully-fledged member, Hilly was responsible for the Big Beat in Big Beat. He's had a hell of a career post-Sparks, and enjoyed an early MTV smash with Calling All Girls. This interview is stupid long, but I ain't apologizing. Listen to it on a transatlantic flight or something. Have as many cuba libres as I probably did during the proceedings. Next up i...

Back from extended hiatus. Finally, I take to the waters of Lake Sparks once more. I finish off the story of Big Beat and delve into the last several songs on side 2, as well as the bonus tracks. Next episode should be my long-anticipated interview with Big Beat drummer Hilly Michaels. It's so easy tearing the place apart, eh? You can email the pod here , or check us out on our Facebook page of th...

It's been a minute since I rapped at ya, Sparks fans. Hope all is well. At long last, here's the next chapter in the Sparks saga: the story of Big Beat. Recorded in NYC with an all-new, all-American band, and with Rupert Holmes at the helm (yes, THAT Rupert Holmes), Big Beat was released by Columbia Records in October 1976. Inspired in part by the emerging punk/new wave scene of the moment, Big Be...

We're back! Finally I get down to the nitty gritty of Indiscreet side 2, plus a bevy of bonus tracks. That wraps it up for Sparks in England! Next we head to NYC for Big Beat. Check us out on Facebook or drop me a line at podcastsparks@gmail.com .

Christian interviews preeminent (he probably hates that term) rock journalist Dave Thompson in this free-wheeling interview that occasionally even has us discussing Sparks! Dave is the author of the 2009 biography about Sparks, No. 1 Songs in Heaven, a tome that practically stands as this podcast's bible in terms of getting the story of Sparks right. You can check out his author homepage here , ju...

CAVEAT DOWNLOAD-OR: NOT SPARKS-RELATED! Doing some logrolling today. After months of idle threats, I have finally assembled the first episode of my new podcast What We Do Is What We Do. No, it's not about the DEVO song. It's about hobbies, pastimes, and passion projects! Starring maybe you one day! The new show will have its own feed, but it's going to play nice here with the Sparks feed for now....

Sparks' final album as a British band finds them at a whole new level of ambition. Hoping to make their own Sgt Pepper's, Ron and Russell find their personal George Martin in Tony Visconti, who helped Sparks arrange songs for swing bands, marching bands, string quartets, etc. I also tell the sad story of the Jacques Tati film that never was. Check us out on FB here , or email Christian here . Next...

I'm joined by Pini Schatz, director of the documentary about Sparks fandom Never Turn Your Back on Sparks. Listen to Pini's wild ride through the world of Sparks fans across continents, cultures, and income levels. As well as revealing how he nabbed some of those interviews with famous music icons, we get to find out who flaked out on him (hint: Lighten Up)! See the trailer for yourself here  and...

I delve into side two of Propaganda in this one, including B-side Alabamy Right. Propaganda was a deliberate step forward from Kimono My House, in terms of musical ambition. The second and final album produced by Muff Winwood, Ron employs his "Jam-proof your composition" manifesto here to ensure no one does the same thing twice, and to ensure that Adrian Fisher never gets to play a single blues li...

(I updated a new version of the file March 25, with the final versions of Martin's songs "Will of the People" and "Idiots.") What excuse did I have for waiting longer than this for uploading and sharing? None, that's what! While I'm more or less quarantined in my house here in SXSW-less Austin, TX, I've got time on my hands. Thank goodness cabin fever is the only fever in my household at the momen...

Sheltered-in-place so long you've got serious cabin fever? Perfect time to listen to Sparks' second hit LP for Island, Propaganda. Propaganda was recorded in just a few weeks, in the wake of the seismic smash of its predecessor. In this episode, I dig deep into the making of the record and explore side one. As always, drop me a note at podcastsparks@gmail.com  or check us out on Facebook . Stay sa...

(NOTE: I uploaded a new version of this episode with different sound levels 2/26) I explore side 2 of Kimono My House in episode 9, and throw in random tidbits about OPEC-induced vinyl shortages and Japanese musical theatre troupes. Did Doris Day know she had a doppleganger? Is there a gorilla out there doing his best impression of Ron Mael? Do YOU know how to tie a kimono? I expect the answers on...

We're back! Happy 2020, Sparks fans. In episode 8, I take an obsessive gander at side one of Sparks' most famous album Kimono My House. Learn how Sparks catapulted from esoteric Los Angeles weirdos to British superstars in 1974 with the monumental "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us," and its stellar parent album. After the history lesson, I bend the ear of Monte Mallin again, this time ask...

(Amended re-release) Richard Martinez rejoins Christian for a Sparks listening party, as we examine the first Halfnelson/Sparks album on Bearsville Records. Christian reads Joseph Fleury's liner notes from a 1975 repackaging of the first two albums, and a rare interview (from another source) with Earle Mankey rounds out the episode. Email me  here , and check us out on FB  here !

Ron and Russell recruit a new band in England, and sharpen their sound with new songs. Hear how Martin Gordon, Dinky Diamond and Adrian Fisher were discovered, and how Island Records had set Sparks up to be 1974's Next Big Thing. Stick around for an interview with James Lowe, producer of Sparks' previous album A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing, and founding member of the Electric Prunes. Thanks for y...