- yes
- YES!
0 voters
Yes, YEs, YES
Saw them a few years back with Franz Ferdinand - so good!
Lilā Beethoven is a masterpiece.
omgā¦I just sampled their song āthis townā¦ā
love them
aww man its all good. I crate dig often and i stumbled across āIndiscreetāā¦pure gold
Itās the destination - not how you get there.
2 Likes
Saw FFS at glasto. Ridiculously good fun
2 Likes
was gonna start a thread about recently, one of the actual best bands ever.
been binging on woofer in tweeters clothing these last few months.
didnāt really like FFS 
wouldāve rather they just made another sparks album
Iām not sure Iāve ever sat down and listened to them.
That said I obviously hold them in very high regard.
That was one of my favourite festival sets of all time.
1 Like
Canāt think of many bands that have been able to stay fresh and innovative throughout a 45 year career. Most run out of ideas or are too conservative to change their sound. Sparks have always been off kilter and by and large a cult band who hit a nerve in the UK during the 1970s. āKimono My Houseā is a good starting point but other 70s reference includes this little gem (Viewer warning re Russellās shorts):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avypBDJ68AQ
Number One Song in Heaven is possibly their best - their first real change of direction working with Moroder and introducing the synth duo template that would be taken up by others in the 1980s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoMCip83GZ4
Returned to America in the 980s where they were virtually unknown and attempted to break the charts which I found diluted their sound to a degree but they still remained way too left field for the Americans and I think they gave up by 1988. Their only hit in the states was a collaboration with Jane Weidlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijXxMoArMVc
Then they disappeared for about six years before returning with one of my favourite Sparksā songs. Best single about being middle aged ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dqCQ2MHfQ
Gratuitous Sax & violins was patchy as was their follow up Balls. However, not many bands produce a critical defined opus with album number 19. Lilā Beethoven is funny, subversive and musically interesting, taking the template of dance music and filling the album with classical sampled and synthesised sounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HljyP1mh5IA
Saw them play the follow up Hello Young Lovers in 2008 during their 21 night run in London playing a whole album on different nights. Not bad for a band then approaching their 60s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgakpSoHEiE
The best thing about Sparks is theyāve never taken themselves seriously.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwIrFTo495E
2 Likes
will give it another shot alongside a ploughmans
just feel like sparks are well out of franzās league, would be like scott walker collaborating with miles kane
A band it took me a really long time to get into but who I now absolutely love. I always felt there was something strange and wonderful there, but also found them sort of irritating. I just didnāt feel that I understood what they were getting at.
I now have a strange thing where the first time I hear one of their records I hate it but by the third time I absolutely love it and am completely obsessed with it.
Working through their records now - got a fabulous second hand copy of Propaganda a couple of weeks ago and have been playing it non-stop since. Possibly the greatest album cover ever too.
3 Likes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_j2CJN8rmBE
Album 24 due in September, first single released this week.
1 Like
12" mix of beat the clock is my jam
Anyone going to see them live in the UK in September? Iām tempted to buy a ticket for Manchester.
My go-to song for when I need to cheer myself up:
