THOUGHTS FROM A FAN
There are few bands as inspired, as talented and as humorous as SPARKS, known to my circle
of lunatics as The Brothers Mael. Not being one to get off into "fandom" or "celebrity worship" at
all, I must confess that if I met either of the brothers Mael, I would simply collapse in awe. Never
has there been genius of this caliber so finely honed, so uncatagorizable and so unyeildingly anti-status quo as Sparks, and I doubt there ever will be again.If you've never heard Sparks, try to imagine Queen-meets-Crash Test
Dummies-meets-T.REX-meets-The Marx Brothers-meets-Marice Chevalier-meets-Benny
Goodman-meets-Walter/Wendy Carlos-meets-any first class symphonic
orchestra-meets-Liberace-meets-Tex Avry-meets-Zappa-meets.... damn, it's just IMPOSSIBLE to
really define Sparks.I first heard Sparks in 1979. I was going along perfectly happy with the usual collection of
peculiar musics when a friend handed me an album called "Indiscreet" by Sparks. From the look
of the cover, I was baffled. What was this?? The album opened to an enormous picture of what
appeared to be two incredibly skinny men in thier mid 20's wearing clothing right out of the fifties
(but not fashionable 50's, I mean, these guys looked like young men in old men's clothing), right
down to the lowneck undershirts... standing in a vacant grocery parking lot ... holding bags of
groceries ... squinting from the sun in thier eyes and looking kinda hung-over. One had curly
long hair and reminded me of T.Rex... and the other, well... Ron Mael has achieved something
like a cross between R. Crumb, Adolf Hitler and a door-to-door vaccume cleaner salesman with
a bad attitude. Still, there was something loveable about these characters, and when I flipped
the album over and saw the bizarre "continental" montage of Ron and Russell as wealthy
aristocrats (Russell atop a fine steed and Ron holding the reins dressed as a classic resort
waiter), I KNEW these guys were beyond crazy and if nothing else, "Indiscreet" would prove to
be a lot of fun.To my surprise, I was riveted to the chair I was sitting in, grasping the headphones and shoving
them closer to my ears (and the volume was WAY up as it was), stricken with awe. Sparks was
TIGHT... tight as a drum head ...the quality of recording and mixing was astounding. There were
dozens and dozens of layers of guitar, synthesizer, vocals and the voice of Russell Mael was
like some strange falcetto/operatic/glitter-rock satire. The opening song was "Hospitality on
Parade," and I was laughing to the point of tears. One after the other, every single song on
"Indiscreet" was perfectly arranged, executed and terribly funny... while maintaining a distinctly
ingenius musical paradigm all its own that, for me, would re-set my perception of modern music
entirely for the next 18 years. I had just been, more or less, booted out of my senior year in High
School (something about not attending class or something, I can't remember), and decided to
kick back and enjoy life a little (ie, party my guts out). And then song #2 rolled up and got me
thinking... a song called "Happy Hunting Ground."
In some ways, listening to Sparks is a lot like "channel surfing" with a remote. You never know
what's going to hit you next ... it could be a "muzak" version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" or a
symphonic rapsody to rival Gershwin (Ron Maels keyboard work and arrangements are
staggeringly professional, learned and articulate) or a driving, almost punk/rock anthem to rival
both "Queen" and "The Sex Pistols." Sometime after hearing the album I wandered into a theatre
one afternoon to catch a cheesey movie called "Rollercoster" (an Irwin Allen-ish rollercoaster
disaster flick) and for a brief, shining moment, in a passing sequence, Sparks was there... on
stage, Russell bopping around wildly making the most of this 0.12 second cameo... and then I
began to experience withdrawls. I needed more Sparks, plain and simple; and have been a
tremendous admirer and fan ever since. Their most recent LP, "Sax and Violins" is perhaps the
epitome of Sparks' song writing ability. There's even a poigniant, powerful song about Hillary
Clinton (and if you're like me, you think she stinks), a moving piece about Liberace and
somehow, one is teleported into Gone With The Wind, too... ehhhh .... too hard to explain. Get
the album. Listen to it. Become one of us
...Sparks cannot disappoint. The fact that they remain obscure pisses me off. Someday their
genius will be recognized fully, and then monuments will be constructed to The Brothers Mael....
or at the very least, I'll hear something they composed playing lightly in the background over the
Muzak speakers at some International House of Pancakes and experience a fleeting moment of
nausea, coupled with elation. Either will do. - James Neff