SPARKS

dinky · Sparkologist Joined: 26 Jul 2003 Posts: 669

A quite magnificent album, have a deep delve into the lyrics courtesy of Paul Barrett, gives an insight way beyond any capacity of mine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUG5KbkmRDA&t=420s

9/10

highersynth · Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2023 11:30 am Post subject:

I do love your discovery stories, @Alex!

Unusually for me I've listened early this week and intend to carry on. I'd not played this album in its entirety since I returned to the Sparks fold earlier this year, so most of it is new to me. It may take me more words than you would all like to read to convey my joy in this album!

Headline: Thank god! The boys were not abducted by aliens and taken away from us forever. They are BACK.

The last 7 weeks have been so frustrating, knowing from snippets and reading that better was coming and wanting to skip ahead. I’m no more familiar with Grat Sax and its successors than I was with Whomp through to Interior Design, but I’ve genuinely felt as though for the last few weeks I’ve been listening to a different band, and one I don’t like all that much. There have been exceptional tracks and the odd glimmer that the Brothers Mael were under there somewhere, but … oh my.

It’s like, the story I make up, is that R&R spent the 1980s trying really hard to chase commercial success (needing to, I would imagine) - and failing, growing more and more disillusioned. After Interior Design, they vanish from sight for a matter of 6 years - a very long time in music. At some point in this desert, they decide - to hell with it, we are who we are, we do what we do, rather well as a matter of fact. Let’s quit chasing what the record companies want us to do, and be US.

This album, from start to finish, filled me with palpable relief and jubilation. It’s authentic Sparks - the spiritual follow-up to Indiscreet, for me - although there’s no similarity. I don't discard Big Beat, Introducing, or Heaven - all great in their own way, but THIS - this is SPARKS.

Russell is using his unique instrument, unabashed, to its full capabilities - spoken, sung, multi-layered. Ron is patently writing what he WANTS to write, music and lyrics - random stuff no one else would write, elegantly, expressively, eruditely. It’s like they were let out of prison. If I discovered they spent the turn of the 80s/90s decade in some off-the-wall isolated self-discovery retreat, eating insects, meditating and conducting inexplicable shamanic soul-journeys, I would be completely unsurprised.
Whatever happened, or didn’t, in this silent interval - they found themselves again, and I’m profoundly glad they did.

Favourite tracks - tricky - but My Way and Charlie Parker are right at the top, jostling for position. Snapping at their heels are National Crime Awareness week, and Liberace - but truthfully, Alex is right, there isn't a bad track among them. I've got through a lot of the expanded version today and I love the dance/trance mixes too. Wasn't crazy about the Vince Clarke mix, and you can take Little Drummer Boy and ... erm offer it to the aliens to abduct instead.

I want to hear it ALL live. I know I'm late to this party - but boy. 9.5/10 on the principle that 10/10 should be refrained from on the whole.
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highersynth · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 2:30 am Post subject:

Many thanks to @WaterlooSunset, who messaged me with the original track listing:

Here is the album as it first appeared.

1. "Gratuitous Sax" 0:31
2. "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" 4:37
3. "(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing" 5:13
4. "Frankly, Scarlett, I Don't Give a Damn" 5:03
5. "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car" 4:20
6. "Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil" 5:37
7. "Now That I Own the BBC" 4:58
8. "Tsui Hark" (Featuring Tsui Hark and Bill Kong) 4:31
9. "The Ghost of Liberace" 4:15
10. "Let's Go Surfing" 5:02
11. "Senseless Violins"
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SteveBoyce · Sub-Deity Joined: 17 Jan 2002 Posts: 755

Hey just a few random jottings from my side
I like So Important, I especially like the syncopation of the riff in the 2nd verse onwards and Fred Chichin's guitar (he just played on that track it was somone else on the rest of the album)
I generally like the melodies on this album, I think they are let down by the production where it's obvious they are on a learning curve. There are more unreleased tracks from the same period around on YT, Retro Boy retro Girl, Picasso, etc.
Of course there was the Mai project in the intervening years where what we have heard of it shows they were learning and experimenting.
NCAW first appeared in 1993 on the Heaven Collection with a note saying it was the first track off the new album. Then it got the cd release with the 13 Minutes in Heaven track which was a favourite of mine at the time, and I think was substantially the work of Fineflex. They appeared on It's Bizarre and as well as NCAW there was also Frankly Scarlett.
Katherine Hepburn was also played on another edition of that show.
The final album had quite a bit of post production work on it.
WDIGTSMY originally was titled "The Punch and Judy Show" with a different lyric.
I was also at that Hammersmith show where Bernard Butler played as I remember.
PS That's What I Call Paradise is a big personal favourite of mine, from the originally unreleased tracks

Andy M · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 9:04 am Post subject:

Late to this one, Sparks chums – have just returned from a wedding in Eastington, birthplace of Edwin Beard Budding, inventor of the lawnmower (cue music!)

“The finest of material”

GS&SV is a truly great Sparks record, the best since No 1 in Heaven, chock-full of gems. Nowadays, When Do I Get to Sing “My Way” (hey, Ron, where’s the question mark?) is the song from the album that gets the most attention as it’s a regular in live performances, but my favourite is Charlie Parker, followed closely by Frankly, Scarlett, I Don’t Give a Damn (a Sparks title if ever I heard one), Now That I Own the BBC (the follow up to I Bought the Mississippi River, perhaps?) and Tsui Hark (the second R&R homage to a director). There are no duff tracks on this album, which has music that is bright and breezy combined with lyrics that are quite dark in places – and isn’t it good to see Ron returning to his trademark densely-packed songs?

For me – and I suspect, for several other British fans on this forum – GS&SV has meaning beyond its existence as an album. It is inextricably linked to the first live Sparks performance in the UK since 1975. I was privileged to be at London’s Shepherd Bush Empire in 1994, which famously made Q Magazine’s “The 100 Best Gigs Ever”. John Aizlewood wrote, “The sound was that of gods . . . I’ve never felt so emotional at a concert.” A brilliant night, where we were also introduced to Christi Haydon singing Katharine Hepburn (the best Sparks song never released as such) and Russell playing drums. As Steve said, Bernard Butler guested on guitar for This Town ..., if I recall correctly.

A fine cover, too, a pastiche of the old US magazine Confidential.

Score? 9.5 at least!

PS For newbies who really enjoy this album, I’d recommend you check out the 2019 re-releases with bonus material (either the handsome 2LP/2CD or the 3CD versions) that give you remixes and rarities, including the Haydon solo demos, as well as full lyrics and liner notes.

Brightonian · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2023 6:01 pm Post subject:

Oscar · Power Groupie Joined: 10 Oct 2002 Posts: 413

Gratuitous Sax is definitely a top-tier Sparks album. If I'd been a fan at the time, after Interior Design, it would have been hard to believe that they still had something like this in them. The six years between ID and this album are still a mystery to me, even knowing they spent much of that time working on Mai. Where do songs like "She's Beautiful (So What)" fall in that timeline? Were they all part of a big batch of songs that got whittled down to become Gratuitous Sax? Or was Gratuitous Sax composed very deliberately as an album with only the songs that ended up on it? The songs on the album proper really are a lot stronger than the other songs that showed up on the recent reissue, as much as I like a lot of those songs. What drove them to up their game so much after going more than 10 years with no really great albums?

The only thing that keeps this from being a perfect album for me is "Tsui Hark," but that's fine -- it doesn't need to be a perfect album. It's good enough as it is. Even the bookend tracks, which could come across as minor throwaways, really enhance the album. Everything else feels epic without overstaying its welcome; the average song length is close to 5 minutes, but none of the songs feel too long. Even though it's an electronic dance pop album, it's also their first album to really show any real influence from modern classical music (John Adams's operas, especially), and listening to "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car" now, it definitely feels like a precursor to the Lil' Beethoven era. Just say goodbye to the beat and replace the instrumentation with a faux classical arrangement and it would fit right in on LB. Speaking of that song, I love how the only thread connecting GS&SV with their previous album is that it contains a sequel to "Madonna."

Favorite track: tough competition here, but I gotta go with "Let's Go Surfing." Musically, I don't even find it all that interesting, but the pairing of that music with those lyrics really elevates it to something special. A slightly dark-tinged techno pop song that is literally about going surfiing (or, at least, about dreaming of going surfing) is something I never would have known I needed in my life, but I'm so glad it exists. One of the key lyrics for me is "Somewhere there is hope / Far from everything / Far from misanthropes." I think the lack of misanthropy in Ron's lyrics is one of the things that sets his writing apart from some other lyrics by songwriters know for having funny lyrics. His clear identification with "normal" (for lack of a better word) people is maybe the #1 element that makes him my favorite songwriter.

The song I'd most like to hear live is "Charlie Parker." Would love to hear Russell tackle those lyrics in concert, and I'd imagine the current band could put together a pretty cool arrangement.

9/10

Spyke · Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 3:40 pm Post subject:

GSASV was my first new album after getting into the band, and my first gig was the not-long-after December 1995 one in London. So I was really lucky to join in at such a high point in Sparks' career. The album's an easy 9.5 for me.

1. "Gratuitous Sax"
Right from the start, you can tell the album's a leap away from Sparks' 80s style. This song's a bit like a brief 'throwing down the gauntlet' to say that a new sound is here.
2. "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'"
The song's slow start builds into one of the brothers' best written songs, with lots of imagination shown in the lyrics.
3. "(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing"
A great follow-up single to WDIGTSMW by being more up-tempo, with Russell impressively cramming in so many words! I like Bernard Butler's very different remix, too.
4. "Frankly, Scarlett, I Don't Give a Damn"
This gem is more 'trippy' than we're used to from the band, and the change of pace from the previous songs shows R&Rs confidence in their new way of working.
5. "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car"
Often, this is my favourite Sparks song overall, with funny lyrics which cleverly tell the story. The arrangement really is top-notch, especially with the layered vocals. I remember the support act at the 21x21 GSASV concert did a decent version of this.
6. "Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil"
This song doesn't say "listen to me!" as loudly as the previous tracks, but it's well-crafted enough.
7. "Now That I Own the BBC"
A bouncy, fun track and a good choice for a third single (although I prefer the 'b-side' She's An Anchorman)
8. "Tsui Hark" (Featuring Tsui Hark and Bill Kong)
A song that was presumably put together in the studio rather than being written in a traditional way, so it's R&R making the most of their new-found style.
9. "The Ghost of Liberace"
Another witty, bouncy track, which unfortunately doesn't quite reach the heights of the others
10. "Let's Go Surfing"
This song gallops along and feels like a finale.
11. "Senseless Violins"
Another quick change of musical direction for an encore!

Most of the songs refer to other pop culture, especially films and music and usually in the title. Basing the album's cover design on the old magazine fitted in well with the 'retro' references. But the dancey sound brought it right up to date.
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phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71

I'm still digesting the album and I expect this will be one that I listen to frequently over the years. But I can say that it is really great. It feels like a Sparks album again, not just some hints at Sparks here and there. Off the wall subject matter, tunes that stick in your head, hilarious lyrics. I feel like this is the next step after Number 1 song in heaven, but maybe it took time to fully realize due to the available technology and their command of the technology. David Byrne wrote about the influence of technology on music in his book about music. Also live performing is an influence and Sparks has commented on how they were not able to easily play music from Number 1 until the tech made it easier to recreate live, so I'm sure that had an impact on how they constructed albums in the 80s. This album sounds nothing like it is stuck in the 80s, thank god. It sounds not tied to a particular era, which is what I enjoyed about other Sparks albums.

I really like all the songs. No real complaints about any of them. I love My Way. It is very sad and makes me thing about the way they were likely treated by the music industry in the 80s. Although I was a new fan, it was special seeing them perform it at the Hollywood Bowl knowing their career ups and downs until the point of this album.

Most hilarious songs are Wait in the Car, Liberace, BBC. Some great lines that I don't get tired of. Let's Go Surfing is the song that is currently stuck in my head. I heard it before on Past Tense and though it was more of a novelty song (surfing lyrics + techno sounds) but in the context of the album it is just a great song.

Tsui Hark and No Evil are good in the context of the album. I might not go to them individually but I enjoy listing to the whole album back to back and they add something different along the way. The opening and endings are funny Sparks song bookends that I appreciate each time I play from start to finish.

I give it a 9/10. I loved National Crime Awareness Week on Past Tense and was surprised that it was not part of the album. I read about how it was released as a single. If it was on the album officially I would give the album a 9.5 or maybe even 10. I'm glad to have it and all of the various remixes and b-sides on the new release.
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waterloosunset · Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2023 11:39 pm Post subject:

It’s as if Sparks came out of a stupor or a spell cast by an evil Top 40 spirit and created Gratuitous Sax. There is so much brilliance to this album, different from 70s Sparks but equally tantalizing. @Andy and I have diametrically opposite favorites, but with one exception, everything that isn’t my favorite is a second favorite. My top songs are Gratuitous Sax, WDIGTSMW, Hear No Evil (mesmerizing – so great live in the 21 x 21 concert https://tinyurl.com/4nk8ykfn), The Ghost of Liberace (beautiful melody and happy, happy ending), and Let’s Go Surfing (oh, the sorrow in that song – just breathtaking). The other songs follow closely in their appeal. The first time I heard I Thought I Told You…, I felt like I’d been smacked in the face, but I guess that’s how the “narrator” feels every time his partner says those words. The only song that I can easily live without is Tsui Hark. It was the Sparks Heardle song on my birthday last year; boy was I disappointed.

To me, National Crime Awareness Week belongs to/on this album. The lyrics just scream WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE HELL WE WERE THINKING IN THE 80s BUT WE’RE BACK NOW!! In the US, there’s a week or a month for everything. We have National Eastern Box Turtle Week, National Pollinator Week, National Breastfeeding Month – you get the idea. Turning the idea of crime awareness on its head – how perfect, how Ron. And what a fabulously sardonic delivery by Russell.

OK, I’m done. I feel so good that, with the exception of Plagiarism, every album hits a home run going forward.

Favorite Track: When Do I Get To Sing My Way (? – it’s hard to pick one)
Least Favorite Track: Tsui Hark
Score: 9/10
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phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71

Is "I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car" told from the perspective of the narrator in Madonna? Or some other guy? It is about Madonna, right? She and Warren Beaty were a thing back in the 90s.
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waterloosunset · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2023 12:04 am Post subject:

Oscar · Power Groupie Joined: 10 Oct 2002 Posts: 413

freeke · Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:04 am Post subject:

3:27, Paul tells Art: "I thought I told you to wait in the car!!!"

https://youtu.be/hUlR8jWUKd8?si=Tg-yjMFBFVwSBZR2

phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71

The intentional writing of a sequel to an earlier song makes me like Madonna more. Especially since they are so starkly different in tone. It’s like the same story told from two different perspectives. Also it gives me more confidence in my theory that My Baby’s Taking Me Home is a sequel to How Are You Getting Home? I’m now wondering how many other songs are linked.
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phdave that afternoon · Certified Fan Joined: 01 Jul 2023 Posts: 71

Toughest Girl In Town · Sparks Guru Joined: 15 Feb 2022 Posts: 3844

First, I must confess I've never been a fan of this mid-90's "eurodance" sound thing. And that's what I feel I'm listening to when I play Gratuitous Sax, which makes it less enjoyable to listen to. Sorry guys, not going to fully share your enthusiasm on this one...

However, I have to admit they did create a very well-produced album, that sounds even better than everything we heard at the time. It's also amazing to see what they achieved after so many different albums before, sounding so young while approaching their fifties. Still, not really my cup of tea.
I'm a rock lover at heart, so even if I try to listen to many different music styles, that album is a bit out-of-bounds for me. So that's why I only listened to the original release this week.

I really love the hypnotic Tsui Hark because it sounds different from all the rest of the album, it has a real Techno flavour that I really enjoy.
On the other hand, I find Hear no evil rather boring, even if I'm totally in love with Russell's falsetto voice I always struggle a bit with this song.

This being said, I have deep admiration for their ability to adapt to any musical genre and be totally accurate each time.
4/10

highersynth · Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 3:10 am Post subject:

Welcome to Week 17 of Album Club - w/c 29th October - Balls

You can find links to the album on Spotify here:

Balls Expanded version (13 tracks) https://open.spotify.com/album/2wGn4o0pbOOj74eZZGN7OD?si=hDdzg-pBRCiEDPdaChImjQ

Balls Deluxe Edition (19 tracks)
https://open.spotify.com/album/2NjsJ1PW8YTpFUUAN38fKx?si=DHCmQK1MS-qHiMz8J-IGRQ

Prompts for discussion, if needed, and scores for previous albums, at the top of the thread.
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Andy M · Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 4:01 am Post subject:

After the giddy heights of Gratuitous Sax, Balls is somewhat of a disappointment. There are, to be sure, some great songs on here: I’ll point to Aeroflot, Calm, Bullet Train and Knockoff as evidence. However, Scheherezade and Angels are for me decidedly sub-par and the other tracks fall somewhere in the middle.

The record companies involved in the cd releases (no vinyl for this baby until 2022) hardly covered themselves in glory by producing versions with different coloured circles on the cover in a blatant attempt to exploit fan loyalty to the utmost. Which is ironic as the cover is as boring as you can imagine! If you had to opt for just one version, I’d go for the Australian one on the Festival Mushroom label as that adds The Calm Before the Opera, a version of ... Storm even better than the original.

Overall? 6/10. But never fear: “Something big is coming soon” . . .

Spyke · Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 4:17 pm Post subject:

Unfortunately, I found the album disappointing on first listen. The music didn't sound as inspired as I hoped, and the lyrics weren't as imaginative as GSASV (for instance, too many songs put 'its' before the title during the song). Somehow, the album seems to be less than the sum of its parts, as there are plenty of decent songs on it: Balls itself is a 10/10, It's A Knock-Off, The Calm Before The Storm, Aeroflot and Bullet Train are all at least an 8/10, and The Angels and Scheherazade are decent enough. Apart from the song Balls, perhaps the best track to come out of this period was The Calm Before The Opera, which pointed the way ahead.
Overall, Balls scores 6/10
(edit: I've just realised I've written more-or-less the same as you, Andy M! We'll see if the album gets a similar response from others too!)
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