Sparks Kimono My House (1974)–I belatedly got into Sparks after going on a whim to see them perform this album in full with the Heritage Orchestra at the Barbican in 2014, and discovering that with several near misses along the way (which we will get to) they should always have been one of my very favourite bands. Kimono My House is their absolute undisputed masterpiece and perhaps the oddest thing about it now is to think that they only took two singles off it, when you could easily imagine there being iconic TOTP performances of Falling In Love With Myself Again, Here In Heaven, Thank God It’s Not Christmas, Hasta Manana Monsieur and Talent Is An Asset too.

a b Chiu, David (May 25, 2020). "Sparks' Ron Mael On The Duo's New Album, Upcoming Movie, And 50 Years Of Idiosyncratic Music". Forbes . Retrieved August 8, 2020. The pair retain an unflinching love for their medium even into their 70s. “Being childlike is a positive,” says Russell. “If someone says we’ve never grown up I say: you’re right.” Ron also credits a disdain for banality as key to their ceaseless creative spark. “We have hostility towards a boring approach to something sacred like pop music,” he says. “It’s motivating to be hostile to the status quo. I like watching sports, and sometimes athletes invent an enemy to be really motivated and come out and just kill. There’s that motivation of us versus them, even if you don’t know who ‘them’ is. That’s important because it means you’re always trying to throw something in people’s faces. You’re going to hear this, whether you’re interested or not.” They are, of course, already working on their 26th album. a b c d Hodgkinson, Will (2002-11-01). "Sparks Interview". Arts Guide. The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014 . Retrieved 2006-04-13. The Maels were teenagers during LA's musical golden period, where bands like the Doors, Love, the Standells and the Leaves played at the Whisky-a-Go-Go on Sunset Strip and the Beach Boys would play at the Teenage Fair, an afternoon event where bands performed in one tent and an exhibition for a new line of hipster jeans filled another. Sparks, Adam Driver & Marion Cotillard: "So May We Start (feat. Simon Helberg)," from Annette". npr.org. 2021-07-13 . Retrieved 2021-07-13. Sparks battled on in Los Angeles, surviving on food stamps. They loved the city, and its glamorous Hollywood roots, but the music scene less so. “That Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter vibe was really not appealing,” says Russell, 72. “Like: ooh, it’s got to be honest and in blue jeans and a boring shirt. Whereas putting on a show and being really flamboyant wasn’t considered honest or authentic.”In February 2022 Sparks played two sold-out shows at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, their first full concerts since 2018 following postponements of tour dates throughout 2020 and 2021. [72] Variety lauded the first concert as "a rousingly celebratory homecoming". [73] North American and European spring tours followed, then festival dates in the US [74] and Japan. The Maels performed at the 2022 Césars, France's national film award ceremony, and received a César for best original music for Annette. [9]

Houle, Zachary (24 October 2013). "Sparks: New Music for Amnesiacs, the Ultimate Collection". PopMatters . Retrieved 18 August 2015.Both Ron and Russell Mael are seen in the audience during the Ronettes' section of the concert film The Big T.N.T. Show, filmed in 1966. Both attended UCLA, Ron studying cinema and graphic art and Russell, theatre arts and filmmaking. Detesting the folk music scene, which they considered "cerebral and sedate and we had no time for that", [12] they developed a particular taste in English bands of the time such as the Who, Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, the Kinks and the Move, which led to their description of themselves as "Anglophiles". [12] Dave Connolly of AllMusic touched on the criticism: "The torrential outpouring of words and ideas, underscored by guitars and keyboards with oft-shifting rhythms, either repels or attracts listeners." However, he believed "close-minded" American listeners were more critical of the album's "cross between 10cc and the power pop of the late '70s", concluding that " Propaganda remains one of Sparks' brightest achievements, brimming with a loopy charm that continued to captivate the open-minded English listeners". [3] Re-release [ edit ] SPARKS (1972-2020) - не забудьте переименовать! Root folder renamed as SPARKS (1972-2020) - don't forget to rename it on your device! Mike Canoe: The genesis of Kimono My House is a great story: the Mael brothers, Ron and Russell, ditch their old band in L.A. and head to London, where they are supplied by their sympathetic benefactor with an amazing new band and producer, become stars, so much that resulting "Sparksmania" often found singer Russell Mael with his clothes ripped off and/or his hair ripped out.

The feeling that chaos was about to erupt was palpable": Thurston Moore's memoir Sonic Life is a fascinating insider account of life-changing outsider art, and one music geek's insatiable lust for the loud Hull, Tom (April 1975). "The Rekord Report: Third Card". Overdose . Retrieved June 26, 2020– via tomhull.com.TV News Desk (6 July 2020). "Sparks Teams Up Animator Cyriak for New Video". BroadwayWorld . Retrieved 24 July 2020.