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Posted: |
Jul 16, 2019 - 12:50 PM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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This (probably destined to be still-born) thread is dedicated to Jim’s superficial research of the Mael brothers, which presumably threw up an immediate glam rock reference, and like a rope to a drowning man, he clung onto it for dear life.
Now, I know glam rock. I was a teenager in the 70s, eschewing the bulk of popular music for Morricone and Barry, but when I heard “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us” on the radio, I immediately fell for its drama, its rhythm and the audacity of Russell’s soaring falsetto.
Fast forward 40 years, and I finally saw them in concert, an almost religious experience, during their “Two Hands, One Mouth” tour.
Sparks doesn’t have a broad fan base (as compared with similarly long-lived bands) but it has a deep one. Morrissey was discovered by them; Franz Ferdinand collaborated with them. Todd Rundgren, Giorgio Moroder and others have been involved down the years. Over that time they’ve reinvented themselves time and time again, producing classic pop and rock and electro and unclassifiable songs with deep, quirky, fun and touching lyrics with insanely catchy tunes, usually written by Ronald.
For those few who know what I’m talking about, let’s have your Sparks memories!
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There'll be more girls who live in town though not enough to go round
Nev-ver herdovem 
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You introduced me to them here a couple years ago, TG. Reminds me that I need to dig deeper, I just listened to an album or two around the "This Town" time....
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Ya gotta beat the clock, ya gotta beat the clock....!
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Ya gotta beat the clock, ya gotta beat the clock....!
What a terrible disco record that was!!
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Posted: |
Jul 21, 2019 - 9:29 AM
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By: |
Rameau
(Member)
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Well If I'd been home I'd have been the first one to answer this fine thread, but every couple of weeks I have to leave the only computer I can use for FSM for a week to look after a relative (mum), & do I get threads saying...Where is Rameau (née CinemaScore & Big Al, going back a bit), I miss Rameau - I'm going on hunger strike until Rameau returns - no. Anyway...
Where was I & what was I doing when Kennedy got shot? I've no idea, I was only 13 & couldn't care less (& it turned out that he was a rubbish President anyway), but where was I when I first heard This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us...in Wales doing the washing up in my parents house (they moved to Wales, god knows why, they came to their senses a year later & moved back to civilization). It made a huge impact on me & when I got home I bought the album, Kimono My House, quite brilliant, & the next year, Propaganda, even better! And then came Indiscreet, perfection! The Holy Trinity. After that, Big Beat (oh calamity!) & then the disco stuff & I lost interest. And CDs came along & I prematurely got rid of all my LPs, so there was a few years sans Sparks, & then import CDs of those Sparks records started turning up in Tower Records, & I fell in love with those magic records all over again, but I didn't know what they'd been doing since then. A few years ago on a whim I bought Lil' Beethoven, & what do you know; they're still brilliant! And then Exotic Creatures Of The Deep, oh joy, & then Hippopotamus, even more joy. I just can't wait for the next one.
Ron Mael must be one of the finest & most intelligent & wittiest songwriters who ever lived, he writes songs like no one else, no - My Baby's Gone & I'm Feeling Blue - from him. Just looking at Propaganda, there's, Thanks But No Thanks, sung from the point of view of a schoolboy who's parents tell him not to take sweets from a stranger, or get into any strange cars, but he's a friendly lad, he wants to, & it's a great pop song as well. And there's Bon Voyage, sung a an animal who's been left to drown in the great flood, as he hasn't been chosen to go on Noah's Ark - eat you heart out Bob Dylan. I'll end on some great lyrics from Don't Leave Me Alone With Her, about a German woman who everyone thinks is fantastic, but who's a nightmare to be alone with, this is the singers description of her:
A Hitler wearing heels
A soft Simon Legree
A Hun with honey skin
De Sade Who Makes Good Tea.
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ya gotta beat the clock... ya gotta beat the clock...ya gotta beat the clock.....
bye bye bye bye bye bye bye ....ya gotta beat the clock.......... ya gotta beat the clock............................................
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ya gotta beat the clock... ya gotta beat the clock...ya gotta beat the clock.....
bye bye bye bye bye bye bye ....ya gotta beat the clock.......... ya gotta beat the clock............................................
Yep very definitely fine, witty and intelligent!! 
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