Listening Post: Sparks - Propaganda

Sparks - Propaganda - 1974

Like I said before. 1974. Crazy.
Obviously if this and the previous Sparks album were put out 15 years later, on CD, they would have been one offering, as Propaganda plays like Kimono My House part 2. But more of the same is terrific if what was before was as great as Kimono. Loony and more British than an LA band has a right to be. The Maels wear their influences on their sleeve and, while the production is just as keen as the previous record, the highlight is neither that nor the musicianship, its not even Russell's voice, all of which are stellar. It's the songwriting. Catchy as hell ("Reinforcements"), insightful ("At Home, At Work, At Play", "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth"), and just plain loopy ("B.C.", "Thanks But No Thanks", "Something for the Girl with Everything"). The Maels have captured the mid-decade confluence of dada-art and commercialism, albeit both are disguised within another. While it could use a little editing here and there ("Achoo" seems to go on forever, but maybe that's the point) Propaganda is another winner from Sparks.

Grade: B+
A Side: At Home At Work At Play, Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth, Something for the Girl With Everything
BlindSide: Reinforcements, B.C., Achoo
DownSide: Don't Leave Me Alone With Her

Listening Post: Sparks - Kimono My House

Sparks- Kimono My House - 1974

Someday I'm going to get around to doing the Listening Post for the year 1974. A watershed year, I think. So much music really came into it's own: Metal, Glam, classic Rock, it was a grand time.
Sparks' 3rd album, the extraordinary merry-go-round of lunacy Kimono My House, which came out that year, is at once an epic of singular fun while at the same time picking up the mantle of Beatle glam and Queen sass and running wild.
Russell has embraced his anglophilia while brother Ron, writing epics of dubious nature (The exquisite epic glam waltz/lullaby "Falling in Love with Myself again" for example) and operatic genius ("This Town....") has truly found his voice.
The first side of Kimono is relentless. "Here in Heaven" is haunting and grandiose, worthy of Broadway. The breathless "Thank God it's not Christmas" calls to mind a 70s movie car chase with a vocal that calls to mind Freddie Mercury at his falsetto best.
The lost traveler opener of the second side, "Hasta Manana, Monsieur" is cute with it's obvious, cheeky, fish out of water lyrics, but it's not up to the par of the rest of the record. But it rights itself quickly with the bouncy Kinks pop of "Talent is an Asset", a terrific 3rd person tale of overindulgent parents and their prodigy. Reminds me of "Making Plans for Nigel" or any of the myriad songs in this idiom from English rock. It's quite brilliant. And on a record of great songs, it's a standout as is the equally jaunty "Complaints".
I could go on, song by song (well I guess I have) but the bottom line is that Kimono My House is one of the best top to bottom records of it's kind, an explosive yet bizarre (Sometimes macabre) glam pop rock relic of the mid-70s. If you think you know the era but you haven't heard this, you are not as educated as you think. It's a must.

Grade: A
ASide: This Town Ain't Big Enough for the both of Us, Amateur Hour, Talent is an Asset
BliindSide: Falling in Love With Myself Again, Here in Heaven, Thank God it's Not Christmas, Complaints, In My Family
Downside: Equator

Listening Post: Sparks - A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing

Sparks - A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing - 1972

Sparks gets much closer to perfecting their brand of glam and goof on their sophomore outing. Once again the record is front loaded as "Girl From Germany" is a splendid way to start but it's at about 3 songs in with the scattershot and epic "Nothing is Sacred" coupled with the string festooned "Here Comes Bob" that the album gets its fun on. "Moon Over Kentucky" completes the first side and shows the pathway to greatness that the forthcoming "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" would exemplify.
Side Two opens with a looney yet earnestly rocking version of Rogers and Hammerstein's "Do-Re-Mi" which would almost kill were it not for Russell's insistence on using that faux french accent which works later on "The Louvre" but is too distracting to ever convert anyone expecting mainstream pop to these guys. A denser and more rewarding record than their first, Sparks makes it clear that they are not for everyone but if you get them, they can be a real treat.

Grade B
A Side: Girl From Germany
BlindSide: Nothing is Sacred, Moon Over Kentucky
DownSide: Angus Desire, Whippings & Apologies

Listening Post: Sparks

Has anyone ever listened to every Sparks record? Well, I'm pretty sure the Mael brothers did but, other than them, I'm skeptical. So I'm about to change that.




Sparks/Halfnelson - Halfnelson - 1971

I bought Angst in my Pants after hearing "I Predict" on some New Wave stations and college radio. So, I assumed Sparks was a cheeky, humor band. When I saw Ron Mael's sardonic, determinedly non-musical presentation and his Chaplin/Hitler moustache I was convinced that this group spoke to my outside the mainstream aesthetic. I was pretty close. And when I would have the time and an extra couple bucks I would wander to a used record store (Most of the time it was Sounds in the East Village) and I would grab me an old Sparks record.
It took me a while to get my hands on the debut record and when I got it to my dorm and popped it on the turntable I was surprised to hear a very stripped down and bare sound, unlike the later glam gigantosaurs.
More surprising was the french accent lead singer Russel Mael adopted for much of the first side of the record. "Wonder Girl", the only single, and the only really memorable track, sounds like a french band trying to sound American. Or worse, an American band trying to sound like a French band trying to sound American.

Grade: C-
A Side: Wonder Girl
BlindSide: No More Mr. Nice Guys
DownSide: The rest.