Sparks: This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us
Check out Ron’s awesome O RLY face at 33 seconds!
This incredible clip of Sparks appearing on TOTP back in ’74 speaks for itself. I have very little to add beyond mentioning that the entirety of Kimono My House is desert island playlist worthy, that I know I can’t be the only pervert who wouldn’t mind being the meat in a Mael brothers sandwich, and that I actually met douchebags in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who would chug the beverage SPARKS* ironically while simultaneously listening to the band Sparks and snorting coke off one another’s asses.
I still say we take off and nuke Bedford Avenue from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
*SPARKS the drink has been banned. Sparks the band is still going strong. Good job, cosmos!
February 25th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Funny I hadn’t heard of this SPARKS beverage. It appears to be canned vodka/redbull, aimed at a hipster crowd? How novel.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:53 am
… What to say. Can I have more?
February 25th, 2009 at 7:35 am
1974! Astonishing. I always thought of them as a definitively 80’s band, even though I think the Siouxsie & the Banshees cover of this song came out in the 80’s too. Must be because of “Cool Places”.
I remember in high school nearly crying tears of relief that I wasn’t the only one wanting to yell at my feet “Dance, Goddammit.”
February 25th, 2009 at 8:41 am
I loves me some Sparks (the band, that is. I thought the drink was crap. I can’t imagine finishing one off with an ass sniffing cocaine chaser, but alas, some devils enjoy trying to snort their own tails). I thought it was very enterprising of the Brothers to chronologically perform all 21 of their albums live over the course of 21 days. Heck, name a band that has 21 albums to play out to begin with and one can only start to understand the magnitude of musicianship that’s on display here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X80XBP-H7SY
“But when I trimmed it real small, my Jewish friends would never call”. That’s Mael-volent poetry at its best. Lyrics for the lobes.
Thanks Mer!
Off topic (but inspired by the electronic Sparks albums)- Have you ever thought about doing a video post featuring artists smashing things? Two clips I can think of off hand are “Close to the Edit” by the Art of Noise and “Lose Your Love” by Blancmange. Why do sequenced synthesizers pads have to be so painful? Does the darkness of the black keys twist, turn and torture their very souls?
I put the blame on Trevor Horn, of course. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-o5C_d72vA
February 25th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Words cannot explain how much I heart Ron Mael. Did Anyone go to the show in LA on Valentines? I heard it was phenomenal.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Sparks= all the caffeine, taurine and sugar of an energy drink with a hearty dose of alcohol thrown in to get ya going on those killer NY winter mornings!!!!
I KNOW those Williamsburg Douchebags!!!
Yes, please–the band OVER the drink
Thnak you EVER so much for this!!!
February 25th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Sparks tasted like an unholy mix of crushed baby aspirin and beer… it was disgusting. And please, yes, let’s burn down Bedford Ave… I just moved away from there a couple of months ago. I was crowded out by the hipsters, but fear I may have caught the TAINT from them!
February 25th, 2009 at 10:41 am
What I find interesting is how that hipsterrunnoff blog you linked also claims “alternative culture” (not that there is only one “alternative” of course). It is much, much stupider than this blog. And yet, I keep looking at it.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Now now, some hipsters aren’t so bad. At least the ones who are passed out. Okay, I’m with you on nuking Bedford, Ave.
As for the Mael brothers…yes, good shit.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Wow, the drink has been banned? I thought it tasted oddly like sweet tarts and was fun to drink while playing Scrabble.
I also really enjoy this song vs. Fatih No More http://songza.com/z/f7g3jm
February 25th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I love this damn song. The British comedy “Green Wing” did a, like, five second-long parody of this in their S2 premiere and it blew my mind.
February 25th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
*SPARKS, aka “Fight in a can”
I’m not fan of that particular iteration, but the trusty taurine+alcohol concoction is just the thing for ignoring the fact that you played the part of a working stiff all day when you’re out at the krub on a Friday night.
I recommend Patron silver+energy drink. It tastes utterly vile, but you really couldn’t care less after the first ounce or two. It’s also fun to watch the faces people make when you tell them what you’re drinking.
February 25th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
As I just spent almost 3 days emptying my guts & recovering after some bad food poisoning or stomach flu episode, and now am suffering from a rather murky, slimy post-sickness funk, you have made me a VERY happy girl. Sparks are one of the best bands in the world. Nay, the number one band in HEAVEN. Also, anyone who denies the brilliance of “Angst in my Pants,” “Tips for Teens” or “Mustache” is just DUMB. Also, I do “This town…” as a duet with a friend during karaoke once in a while.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
@Tanya, I covered it on banjo recently, it was death to sing and play to, and that last note is a nutcrusher. You should come sing it and I’ll play!
February 25th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
@ Tanya:
Is “This Town…” easy to find on your average karaoke listing? Or do you have to go out of your way to look for it (as I suspect)?
February 26th, 2009 at 12:39 am
I can’t count the number of times I have seen this clip — the BBC always, always wheel it out whenever they want to show “great pop TV from the 70s” or whatever. This is because it is ace.
It comes from an era when chart pop was still sometimes a dangerous, clever thing, I think.
February 26th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Agreed, Wood. The Maels are far more dangerous and clever than the bloody Sex Pistols ever were, wot wot.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I can remember bringing hope the first two Sparks records when they were released way back when. Propaganda and kimono my house were both a revelation.I was in high school and when I played them for friends, I lost friends.
That was something of a relief, in fact. I still like Sparks and so does my daughter.