All You Ever Think About Is Sparks
Home of the unofficial podcast devoted to the music of Ron and Russell Mael, written and produced by Christian Huey.
Episodes
Tally ho! We're going deep into the vaults today for this one, with an in-depth look at the never-officially-released soundtrack to the obscure 1984 teen gross-out film Bad Manners... Or is that Growing Pains? It seems Sparks didn't even know, so they recorded two theme songs, using both titles! After we flap our yaps about both the movie and the soundtrack, we take a little bit of time to explore the unusually high number of sound...
Howdy, Sparks fans! As promised, here's another episode all about New Haven's finest, the inimitable Hilly Michaels! Monte Mallin and I wax poetic for a bit about just what made Hilly's powerhouse work on the skins so special on 1976's Big Beat. After that, I clock out, and pass the baton over to Monte for his one-on-one interview with Hilly, recorded a few weeks before our three-way convo with the rhythm savant, which was featured...
Hilly Boy is back! Monte Mallin and I have a nice, in-depth chat with one of Sparks' most celebrated drummers, Hilly Michaels! We cover lots of ground that was left unexplored from the last time we talked, back in 2021. For thousands - if not tens of thousands - of folks of their generation, Hilly's smash hit "Calling All Girls" was the very first video they saw on the fledgling MTV! Hearing Hilly talk about his career is like read...
Monte Mallin and I take the wayback machine to 1983, when Sparks were kings of the mountain - the Magic Mountain. In Outer Space was Sparks' 12th LP, and was released when the group was white-hot, at least in Los Angeles! This episode focuses mostly on the smash single "Cool Places," a duet with Go-Go Jane Wiedlin. So, sit back and let the soothing strains of the Linn Drum lull you to a state of bliss. This is "All You Ever Think A...
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...
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