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Underground > Radio & Music >

Sparks

07:29 / 11.06.08

I had the good fortune of seeing Sparks perform their Li'l Beethoven album last night at the Islington Academy, part of their 21-night "Sparks Spectacular", where they play all of their albums, one a night, in chronological order culminating in them performing their new album " Exotic Creatures Of The Deep" at the Shepherds Bush Empire this Friday the 13th.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show despite never really having heard their music, nor even that album before. I think the combination of stage theatrics and amusing lyrics with good tunes nabbed me.

Considering their almost 40 year history as a band, I'm surprised to find there is no previous thread on this cult band on Barbelith (or at least none that show up on the search function, but then that is always ropey).

The main point of this thread is to get some direction from some Sparks fans out there. Which albums are recommedned? I mean 21 albums? Where do I start? Obviously Li'l Beethoven, and perhaps the new one, but from there?

13:50 / 11.06.08

So did I! Well, most of it: I didn't expect them to start so early and missed "The Rhythm Thief" and "How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall". Which are two of my favourites from the album. Arse.

I discovered Sparks through "L'il Beethoven", having previously dismissed them out of hand for ... reasons that are hard to fathom now. The received wisdom appears to be that they hit an arty high with their early albums, then slumped badly in the Eighties before going into hibernation and then re-emerging triumphantly with "L'il Beethoven".

With that in mind, I've been working my way backwards through their catalogue. Haven't been disappointed yet, though I've only got as up to 1994's "Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins" so far. I'd highly recommend "Hello Young Lovers, the follow-up to "Beethoven". "Plagiarism", their sorta-greatest-hits album might be a good place to start too.

12:31 / 12.06.08

My favourites from the gig were "Rhythm Thief", (what a great video), "Ride 'Em Cowboy", "My Baby's Taking Me Home", "Your Call is Important to Us..." and maybe most of all "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Women", fantastic. It was all good though, really. "Suburban Homeboy" was particularly amusing.

I've been told from one friend that "Kimono My House" is a very good album as is "Gratuitous Sax..." which you've already mentioned, another friend has also recommended "Hello Young Lovers" too. Well I guess that's where I'll be starting this foray.

I've been trying to pin down what I like so much about this band. Their sound, despite their 70's glam(?) origins, seems quite timeless. By that I mean "Lil' Beethoven" does not sound like a 90's album and does not sound dated in the least. I should hardly make these sweeping statements since my knowledge of their sound is limited to just one album (but I'm told is the best/boiled down typified "essence" of their work) so I'll stop there.

It's been a while since I've been this excited about a band, and it's surprising that this is coming from a creative entity that is almost 40 years old. Where have I been?