SPARKS

[Andy M]

Thanks again to highersynth - as Alex says, it's been interesting - and enjoyable.

I'll lead off on Mai, then. Four tracks, with a total running time of less than ten minutes, are all we have available of the now-legendary Mai project. It’s not a lot to go on, to be sure, and it’s difficult to know what to say about them. No doubt, had the film actually been made, some of these demos would not have made the cut or would have been significantly changed (more so if the movie were to arise, phoenix-like, from the ashes in the future).

There’s some confusion as to who is involved, with credits being different according to differing sources. It’s probably Jane Wiedlin on That Looks Great on You, which sounds very much a showtime standard, whereas I’d say it’s Christi Haydon on She Used to Be One of Us (echoes of which can be found on Seduction’s The Studio Commissary). Russell and Ron take the fore on What was That?, and it’s CH again on The Patchwork Symphony (The Wake-Up), the most interesting and inventive of the bunch of the bunch, with its clever use of repetition and samples.

Ruud on FanMael points us to Penny Brown’s MTPG article in the 23/1 edition of the newsletter, which is as definitive account as you’ll likely find.

[Alex Robertson]

https://youtu.be/q6Ux_UDk9tg?si=RiNpfFNBfM1zUlt8
That Looks Great On You
https://youtu.be/xYbxWcJs5O8?si=0ue3t5CvThc02Qn5
The Patchwork Symphony
https://youtu.be/tN8dWU3FLuQ?si=UxXaq5E_r_4bY019
What Was That?
https://youtu.be/3jcmaaaLGoQ?si=OZGRxTxapmCsRjjy
She Used To Be One of Us

These were all on YouTube ( courtesy of James)

[Oscar]

[Oscar]

Many many thanks to highersynth for running these threads!

The four tracks we have from Mai are fairly tantalizing. It's not much to go off of, but this little taste makes me think this project could've been even better than The Seduction, and definitely better than Annette. I know these are just demos, but it'd be cool with me if these were part of the final product. I don't know anything about manga, but these songs really sound like a comic book in musical form.

Andy's guesses as to who's singing what sound right to me. I think I read that Lance Loud from the Mumps is in there somewhere too? Anyway, "That Looks Great on You" was the standout for me when I first heard these tracks, but they're all interesting and have lingered in my head over the years, despite hardly ever listening to them. ("What was that? What WAS that?" comes to mind whenever it's relevant.)

Do we know how many songs were written and recorded in total for Mai? Were all of the demos fleshed out like these four? I still believe the whole thing is going to come out in one way or another. Even if they just release the demos as a standalone album, that'd be fine with me.

The Bad Manners soundtrack is worth listening to at least once. I believe this falls somewhere between Outer Space and Pulling Rabbits in the Sparks timeline, so if you like anything about those albums, you might find something to like here. "Things Can Change Overnight" has a similar feel to "A Song That Sings Itself," and "It's Kinda Like the Movies" is good enough that they included it as an encore at one of the Sparks Spectacular shows. But those are the only two I've ever really come back to intentionally.

[waterloosunset]

Thank you so much, highersynth, for shepherding us through these many weeks. It's been a lot of fun!
_________________
better drop the requirement that everything be great

[Andy M]

Hi Oscar, I can't find where on the FanMael site I saw Ruud's reference to the article, but the newsletter's available for download on the Fan Club section of this site.

[Oscar]

Found it, thanks!

[Alex Robertson]

I haven't seen the Bad Manners film so the tracks I've heard aren't relatable to the film so I just listen as though they were an album...perhaps this makes it sound like a album of outtakes or demos due to the lack of context.
I think they sound very " of their time" but still for the most heartily enjoyable.
I have had the good fortune to hear Kinda Like The Movies live ( not by Sparks) with Ian Hampton on lead vocals twice. That may be on YouTube somewhere. Motor Cycle Midget...is funny although maybe not pc nowadays. I think out of all the tracks Things Can Change Overnight is my favourite.
With the Mai tracks it is much the same...no context as to how they should be listened to. I haven't read any Mai comics...sorry graphic novels...so I've had to draw my own conclusions as to the song's meanings.
That Looks Great On You....possibly about a girl dressing to be part of the in-crowd or at least be accepted by them.
What Was That?...the awakening of psychic abilities, the "messages" coming in fast and uncontrolled imo the song portrays that confusion.
She Used To Be One Of Us...I assume is about Mai distancing herself from the crowd she once longed to be part of, perhaps as a way of keeping them from harm but they don't realise the sacrifice she has made and are bitching about it.
Patchwork Symphony...to me sounds like either the aftermath of a battle or an initial defeat, just before a recovery and ultimate victory. The voices are still calling but there is also a fading in and out of consciousness.
Of course this is only my feelings listening to these songs and I might have the whole story AAF.

[Andy M]

And so to our final consideration?

Yonks ago I bought a cdr with the Growing Pains tracks on. There’s seven of them, and it’s a somewhat different tracklist to Steve & highersynth’s list (the latter matches with the IMDB songlist). Re-listening to the songs for this exercise is only the second time I’ve given them a hearing, which says a lot. Actually, they are not as bad as I feared (Things Can Change in particular is pleasantly melodic), but they are definitely of their time. Interestingly, where a writer is given by IMDB it’s Russell alone. Perhaps Ron wisely decided to sit this one out. I also realised that I’d never seen the film, so scooted over to YouTube to give it a spin. I lasted ten minutes. Life is too short . . .

[Alex Robertson]

Is there an appetite to carry on?
We can discuss covers and remixes, songs for other groups...a few possibilities...
The Clash, Morrissey, Telex, Lio, Katie Melua, Pizzicato 5, Grand Popo Football Club and any others you can think of.

[SteveBoyce]

[Oscar]

[Alex Robertson]

I've already mentioned C'est Sheep by Adrian Munsey, which was possibly Sparks first foray into remixing, where a piece of classical music ( with Baa-ing whimsy) was turned into a disco tune.
The Telex songs are, to me, "of their time" but none the worse for it but I prefer the Lio songs.
A Happy Place by Katie Melua is transmuted into something wonderful and soaring with the remix.
We Are The Clash...is a brilliantly odd choice as a tribute, not an obvious song for anyone to cover least of all Sparks but that's Sparks and it turned out great.
Morrissey's Suedehead isn't my favourite remix, it just doesn't do it for me.
Yoko Ono and Sparks an odd combination, but Yoko's somewhat strident voice and Russell's mellifluous tones actually compliment one and other and again transform the song Give Me Something into something enjoyable.
Grand Popo Football Club's Yo Quiero Ma Dinero ( which isn't translated to "Oi Where's My Dinner?"😁) is fun, I haven't heard any other tracks than this.
Pizzicato5's Kimono....is brilliant, I adore this track, everything about is pure enjoyment...If you haven't heard it, I recommend playing it if you're ever a little down.

Now to CanCan...I absolutely love this track, the lyrics are pure Sparks fun with typical Sparksian threads of rue and regret throughout...Offenbach himself would love the story being told here....never intended to be a soundtrack for dancers flaunting their nethers for the lecherous pleasure of wealthy Parisians but that's what it is famous for...Ms Heydon has a great voice too...this by far is my favourite of all Sparks "other stuff"...up to now

[Andy M]

I think my favourite (at the minute) cover/collaboration has to be Gemma Ray's version of Eaten By the Monster of Love, which gives the song a completely different vibe. Agree with Alex about the Melua remix, We are the Clash, GPFC, Ono & Pizzicato 5 especially - all great. What I really appreciate, though, is that through the Sparks connection I've then explored the back catalogues of several artists/bands I now think of as some of my favourites: Ray, P5, Les Rita Mitsouko in particular.

[Alex Robertson]

A couple I missed there Andy, I have heard them just forgot...I used to have the Singing In The Shower single too, so my bad.

[Oscar]

[SteveBoyce]

[Alex Robertson]

Yes Steve , I just checked and I have La Unit Est La too, thanks for the reminder.

[Oscar]

If anyone's interested, maybe we could take this week to talk about some other between-album work Sparks has done. I'm inclined to call this stuff "unreleased," but at this point almost all of it has been officially released in the form of bonus tracks on different reissues. I guess it makes more sense to just call these demos, since nearly all of these tracks were recorded as demos. There are at least three EPs' and one album's worth of this stuff. Here's what I was thinking:

1973 Kimono demos:
When I Take the Field on Friday
Barbecutie
Windy Day
Marry Me
A More Constructive Use of Leisure Time
Alabamy Right
My Brains and Her Looks

"Arista" demos:
After Dark
Biggest Party In The World
B.R.E.A.T.H.E.
Get Laid
I Wish I Could Dance Like Black People Do
Trying Day

Post-Interior Design, Pre-Gratuitous Sax demos:
Where Did I Leave My Halo
She's Beautiful (So What)
Mid-Atlantic
The Farmer's Daughter
This Angry Young Man (Ain't Angry No More)
Bob Hope
She's An Anchorman [Demo]
Love Can Conquer All
That's What I Call Paradise
That's Entertainment (featuring Leslie Bohem)
Drawn By Picasso
Retro Boy, Retro Girl
The Japanese Have Come and They Bought My Number One

Christi Haydon EP:
Katharine Hepburn
Titanic
Othello
Holiday
Boris the Spider