All You Ever Think About Is Sparks

Christian tells more of the story of the making of 1984's Pulling Rabbits Out a Hat, nerds out more on the Fairlight CMI, wonders whatever happened to the "arch" style of pop singing, and makes a compelling case for Madonna's "Like a Virgin" owing its whole existence to one track on this album.

But the bigger news is this is the first full video episode of the podcast! Christian may as yet be working with a humble set of tools, but...

Welcome to the rise of the machines! Ron and Russell Mael are at a bit of a crossroads with this 1984 LP, and briefly offer the reigns to producer Ian Little (Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Roxy Music's Avalon), who in turn puts in the driver's seat that omnipresent mid-80s behemoth, the CMI Fairlight. It was the first time computerized, visual, grid-based composing was possible, and reduced the amount of friction betwee...

Chris Sutton has appeared on this podcast before, and likewise Monte Mallin's YouTube channel Sparks: Entertainment and Art. This time, Chris and Christian go mano a mano in an interview about his (Chris') latest book On Track... Sparks 1969-1979

We chat about what it's like being a rock music journalist, and just how he managed to track down so many Sparks luminaries for his project. Also, if you happen to be in the neighborhood o...

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.

Check out John's own sparkling groov...

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...

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

Sparks - Entertainment and Art! Episode One - YouTube

MetaSparks - YouTube

Spark...

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...