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Kid Calamity 9044 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 12:27
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I was a bit of a fan in the mid 70s, but then sort of lost track of them. Every now and then I've heard an occasional track or seen a TV appearance. I even read their glowing revues whenever there's a new release or tour - yet, somehow I still don't get hold of anything. Time to play catch up, I reckon. What's best? Actually, thinking about it... Vince, weren't you compiling something for me, a few years back?
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Sin Agog 2253 posts |
Edited Jul 27, 2010, 13:13
Jul 27, 2010, 12:49
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I'm really digging their new LP on Ingmar Bergman's imaginary Hollywood career. I think they're one of those bands you kind of have to teach yourself to love, but once you're tuned into their wavelength right they become one of the funnest bands out there. If someone were to claim they were the first New Wave band, I probably wouldn't disagree with them either. Their first LP came out a year before Roxy Music's debut... EDIT: Definitely start with Kimono My House, by the way.
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keith a 9572 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 13:44
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Kid Calamity wrote: I was a bit of a fan in the mid 70s, but then sort of lost track of them. Me, too. I had Kimono... and Propaganda (and saw them live in 1974!), and though I liked the later singles that followed in the 70's - inc the disco one's - I never bought another Sparks record till I picked up the When I Kiss You single in the mid-90's. Then for some reason - heard good things and saw it cheap I think! - I bought the 2000 album, Balls. And absolutely loved it! Lil' Beethoven came next and is truly superb. Hello Young Lovers isn't far off being as good and though I was initially slightly disappointed by Exotic Creatures Of The Deep, thinking it was a bit HYL Pt II, that has turned out to be something of a cracker, too. Should perhaps add that I've since bought a compilation of the 70's /80's stuff, too, called This Album's Big Enough... The Best Of Sparks. The 70's hits still found fab, of course, but the 80's stuff didn't make me want to go and catch up with the albums from that period. I've bought a couple more of the 70's ones though. Still, I reckon they have made four* great albums this century which is some achievement really for an act that have been around as long as they have. *Not heard the Ingmar Bergman one yet.
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zphage 3378 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 13:51
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First album (1971) presages much of the anglularity in pop that Bowie would later get credit for
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IanB 6761 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 14:26
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Love Propaganda. Bon Voyage is one of my favourite glam era album tracks. Woofer / Tweeter is pretty great. I love the cover of that one and the way they seem to be trying (and failing) to pose like a "normal" 70s rock band like Silverhead or someone like that. Have heard nothing since those days but just wanted to register my love of those first four albums. Queen owe them big time. They were (in my mind at least) to LA what The Tubes were to San Francisco. Love the first Tubes album.
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vince 1628 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 15:07
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Kid Calamity wrote: I was a bit of a fan in the mid 70s, but then sort of lost track of them. Every now and then I've heard an occasional track or seen a TV appearance. I even read their glowing revues whenever there's a new release or tour - yet, somehow I still don't get hold of anything. Time to play catch up, I reckon. What's best? Actually, thinking about it... Vince, weren't you compiling something for me, a few years back? Who, me? =8-o
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keith a 9572 posts |
Edited Jul 27, 2010, 15:19
Jul 27, 2010, 15:19
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IanB wrote: Love Propaganda. Bon Voyage is one of my favourite glam era album tracks. Woofer / Tweeter is pretty great. I love the cover of that one and the way they seem to be trying (and failing) to pose like a "normal" 70s rock band like Silverhead or someone like that. Have heard nothing since those days but just wanted to register my love of those first four albums. Queen owe them big time. They were (in my mind at least) to LA what The Tubes were to San Francisco. Love the first Tubes album. Yeah, Bon Voyage is great! Bizarrely I've still not heard the pre-Kimono stuff. Really should get them! Here's a great intro to the 21st century Sparks. The Rhythm Thief, the opening track from Lil Beethoven, and a bit of a fave of mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ive4NdBMjt0
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Fitter Stoke 2608 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 15:24
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Got the Bearsville albums when they were reissued as a cut-price double in the wake of 'Kimono's success. I always preferred 'Propaganda' to 'Kimono', though to be fair they could be two halves of a double album, so similar are they in sound. I remember getting 'Propaganda' at reduced price a year after it came out, and it was pretty much welded to my dad's Goldring throughout the summer of '75. Happy days. 'Indiscreet' (1975) is also terrific: 'Hospitality On Parade' is quintessential Sparks and possibly my favourite song they've ever done. 'Big Beat' (1976) flopped, but didn't deserve to, ploughing the same (new) wave as Be Bop Deluxe. I also dug the even-stiffer 'Introducing Sparks' (1977) but by then they'd reverted to being a fully American band again, to their commercial disadvantage. I adored the Moroder stuff for Virgin at the time, but it hasn't worn well. After that, I too lost the Sparks vibe, but never lost my respect for them. I bought 1997's classics-remade collection 'Plagiarism' VERY cheaply and really enjoyed it. Couldn't get away with that new album mind when Maconie dedicated a whole Freakzone to it a few months back, but that's not to say it wouldn't repay repeated hearings.
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Kid Calamity 9044 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 15:28
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I could have remembered that wrong.
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IanB 6761 posts |
Jul 27, 2010, 15:49
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keith a wrote: IanB wrote: Love Propaganda. Bon Voyage is one of my favourite glam era album tracks. Woofer / Tweeter is pretty great. I love the cover of that one and the way they seem to be trying (and failing) to pose like a "normal" 70s rock band like Silverhead or someone like that. Have heard nothing since those days but just wanted to register my love of those first four albums. Queen owe them big time. They were (in my mind at least) to LA what The Tubes were to San Francisco. Love the first Tubes album. Yeah, Bon Voyage is great! Bizarrely I've still not heard the pre-Kimono stuff. Really should get them! Here's a great intro to the 21st century Sparks. The Rhythm Thief, the opening track from Lil Beethoven, and a bit of a fave of mine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ive4NdBMjt0 Thanks!
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