All You Ever Think About Is Sparks
Home of the unofficial podcast devoted to the music of Ron and Russell Mael
Episodes
Record Store Day 2024 special! Monte Mallin is onboard with me again, and joining us is Sparks megafan - and sometimes DJ - Ad Rebirth. Ad joins us from Leeds, UK and arrives armed with thoughtful insights into the two Sparks vinyl re-releases for RSD '24: Number One in Heaven and Noël: Is There More to Life Than Dancing?, both originally released in 1979.
Lots of great Sparks-related fan material to cross-promote on this momentous...
John Ashdown and I put a bow on the Telex album Sex. Well, sort of. Most of the world got the single disc version that was released in 1981, but the UK had a double album bestowed upon them when the record finally reached that country in 1982. We just didn't possess the ambition to tackle nearly 20 songs, but we did pay lip service two a couple of choice tracks from the expanded British version.
I wasn't sure if I was ever going to really delve into this one, but here you go! This will be another two-parter. Telex was a Belgian technopop group active from 1978 to 1988. They made the acquaintance of Ron and Russell Mael in 1979, through a mutual collaborator, the 18-year-old French pop singer Lio. Ron and Marc Moulin, in particular, struck up a lifelong friendship. But where the 1981 album Sex (hilariously neutered with the...
Thom Chiki is SO DEVO. SO DEVO, that without Thom there would be no DEVOtional convention in Columbus, Ohio. Also a big Sparks fan, personal friend of DEVO and Sparks drummer David Kendrick, and an all-around awesome person. Check out Thom's videos here: Thom CD-ROM - YouTube
You can write to me (as always) at podcastsparks@gmail.com
Wrapping up 2023 (belatedly) with two great interviews from Sparks fans. This one is from Timothy Hall in Cardiff, Wales. He runs Daytrip Records in the UK! Go check it out!
Write to us at podcastsparks@gmail.com
At long last! Monte and Christian wrap up their inexhaustible discussion about Sparks' 1982 landmark LP. Plus, a doff of the cap to Los Angeles' KROQ, the radio station that helped introduce a whole new generation of punk and new wave fans to Ron and Russell's 80s incarnation.
I've been cleaning house, in terms of shoring up unused material for this podcast so that it might see the light of day. That means I have a couple of episod...
More from Monte and Christian about Spark's 1982 party-starter Angst In My Pants! Plus, a short history lesson on the man behind Ron's original "Ronald" synth.
Monte Mallin has a brand-spankin' new YouTube series about Sparks! Check it out! Link below.
Feel free to drop me a line at podcastsparks@gmail.com or Facebook
Links:Ikutaro Kakehashi | NAMM.org
Monte Mallin and I continue our dive into the effervescent waters of Angst In My Pants and the E.T.-induced wonder of 1982. Here, we wrap up side one!
Email me if you want at podcastsparks@gmail.com
...and remember to check out Monte's podcast So Important, as well as his Sparks blog at: So Important: The Interview Podcast! | a podcast by Monte Mallin (podbean.com)
AND: Monte's One Stop Blog!: Revisiting Kimono My House! (Spoile...
Angst in my Pants is one of the greatest albums ever made!
Now that that's out of the way, on this, our 35th episode, Christian spends a conspicuous amount of time comparing classic TV comedy Taxi to Sparks and vice versa, by way of Danny DeVito (briefly) sharing a stage with the Mael Bros. and company on a 1982 episode of Saturday Night Live.
After that, Christian and Monte Mallin can barely contain their own angst over Sparks' 19...
PART TWO OF TWO!
FOUR - count 'em - FOUR Sparks fans join me for a track-by-track look under the hood of Sparks' latest album The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte.
Monte Mallin returns, along with Paul Barrett, Penny Brown, and Jo Sieger! That's a lot of Sparks galaxy brain for a single sitting. So much, in fact, that we did what we often do: chop it in half and save the rest for later. And later is now!
You won't hear the songs in thei...
FOUR - count 'em - FOUR Sparks fans join me for a track-by-track look under the hood of Sparks' latest album The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte.
Monte Mallin returns, along with Paul Barrett, Penny Brown, and Jo Sieger! That's a lot of Sparks galaxy brain for a single sitting. So much, in fact, that we did what we often do: chop it in half and save the rest for later.
You won't hear the songs in their entireties here, so if you really...
Monte and Christian sit for a lengthy (and stimulating!) chat with Sparks superfan and author of the insightful blog One For the Ages (www.sparks-onefortheages.com) Paul Barrett.
We discuss some of his fascinating meta-analyses of Sparks' lyrics, as well as geek out as all proud Sparks fans do, and (checks watch) *just in time* for the release of new LP The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. Can't wait to have you back, Paul!
Christian and Monte wax philosophical about talking hippos, gastric distress and getting kicked in the bonbons. Plus! What is this salt discharge in my latte?
We wrap up Whomp That Sucker, the first of the twin quasars of Reinhold Mack-produced Sparks rock albums, recorded yet again at Giorgio's Musicland Studios in Munich.
Check us out on Larry Graves' YouTube channel discussing (gasp) Sparks!
Don't forget Monte's podcast So Impor...
He started out a middle class kid from Oregon who grumbled about taking his piano lessons. But by the time he was thirty, Jim Goodwin had worked with the likes of Sparks, John Cale, Simple Minds, Bono, Peter Gabriel and other luminaries.
Jim was exceedingly generous with his time when chatting with myself and Monte Mallin. He's had a hell of a career, and I, for one, enjoyed geeking out with him over vintage synths.
One-time keyboa...
Ron and Russ were dying for some decent espresso and pastries. Voila, they found their newest muses at the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles.
The Maels teamed up with a talented band by the name (at that time) of The Bates Motel, and with the assistance of uber-producer Reinhold Mack, they found a new lease on life. Here's the first half of Whomp That Sucker, as discussed by myself and Monte Mallin.
Stay tuned! We have a wonde...
Terminal Jive had the misfortune of following up No. 1 in Heaven, which enjoys legendary status today. It also had the misfortune of Ron and Russ's original slate of songs being defenestrated outright by Giorgio Moroder and Harold Faltermeyer.
What we have instead is seven-and-a-half songs (you'll figure out what I mean) written by committee - the lead single being a crucial exception.
Terminal Jive was written and recorded in a hu...
Hey, Sparkskateers. This episode is entirely about the Mael-produced album by Noel: Is There More to Life Than Dancing. I'm chatting with Monte Mallin on this one, and then another conversation with Jim Wellen.
This is an interesting, and fun(!) Sparks-adjacent album (Jim asserts it's a true Sparks album)!
Stick around for next time, when we get into Terminal Jive, from 1980!
I wrap up discussion of side 2 of Number One in Heaven, with the help of my friend Monte Mallin in this ep. We also discussed the Sparks side project for Noël, but I'm saving that for the next episode. To paraphrase DJ Steve Dahl, this one's gonna blow up reeeeeal good.
sources:
It's been a while. What can I say? This is maybe *the best* if not just one of the best of the Mael brothers' albums.
I had a great conversation with Monte Mallin on the second half, and you'll be hearing more of Monte in the near future.
Giorgio Moroder helped Ron and Russ completely rethink their musical approach, and it shows here, in spades.
I do spend a good chunk of time near the beginning analyzing how modular synthesis work...
He brought that crashy, nearly out of control funhouse sound to early 80s albums Whomp that Sucker and Angst in my Pants. Later he worked with two different sets of brothers when he joined DEVO as their first corporeal drummer in years. His own band, The Gleaming Spires is getting a long-deserved second look with brand new remasters out.
Of course, I'm talking about legendary drummer David Kendrick. He's one of the reasons I love n...
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