Sparks of Inspiration

Ronald and Russell Mael of Sparks. (Photo by Anna Webber)

If you don't know by now, Sparks is my favorite band. I discovered them in 1977 and have had the glorious privilege of growing up with them over the past 44 years. Many people's favorite bands peak early, or break up, or suffer a line-up change that basically all but guarantees that their best days are behind them. They sometimes fall into a groove of self-tribute, playing their biggest hits from decades past while struggling to remain relevant with newer material.

Sparks, however, has managed to not only remain relevant but has continued to evolve and surprise with every new project. The band, consisting mainly of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have done everything from glam-rock, opera, classical and musical theater to folk, pop and pioneering electronic dance music all while remaining unrelentingly funny, clever and irreverently heartbreaking. All the while, they've remained almost indescribable and impossibly original in the process. They are the very definition of creative genius and many, many musicians have been inspired by their astounding legacy that includes 25 full-length albums, almost 300 songs, a staged radio play, film and television appearances, and the screenplay/song score for the upcoming motion picture Annette, which debuts in the U.S. next month after winning awards for music and its director (Leos Carax) at the Cannes Film Festival.

They're also the subject of a new documentary by director Edgar Wright called, The Sparks Brothers. This is their history in a 2:39 trailer for the film. If you click on no other link in this post, click this one and feel the hype. It's available for rental on Amazon Prime Video.

I just watched the documentary for the second time yesterday and I know for a fact that I'll watch it probably a hundred times more. If I ever feel the need to introduce someone to this extraordinary band, I'll show them this film and watch it with them. It's a pure gift. A love-letter to the band and the fans while still shining as an example of compelling documentary film-making. It doesn't hurt that the film's subjects are dynamically and effortlessly charming, inventive and sweet.

What does this have to do with my new tune, "So Supernatural", and the announcement of production on my next album, Please Remain Seated? Practically everything.

Back in the late 80s, I swore off mainstream radio and avoided listening to popular music for fear that it would overly influence my writing and style. Looking back at my body of work, there are very few examples of me liberally copying an artist's sound as I tend to do a lot of mixing and mashing up of styles to arrive at my musical destinations. Besides, attempting to write a Sparks song is a futile endeavor unless you've got the Mael DNA. They're not trying to be anything other than themselves, and that is one of biggest influences they've had upon me as an artist. Just be yourself. Do what you do. Don't try to please anyone, do it for the sake of the art and, above all, don't stop inventing and reinventing yourself. Erase the chalkboard and start from scratch from time to time.

These are all fantastic lessons that no-one had to spray-paint on a wall for me to comprehend. What the film does, wonderfully, is shine a light upon their career trajectory, explain their collective mindset, review their choices, good and bad, and underline the fact that they have worked tirelessly at their craft for 50 years. One thing that really stood out to me while watching yesterday was when Ron, the primary songwriter, said that when they finish an album, it's done, they don't look back at it. They immediately begin work on the next one.

I'm at a stage in my life where I realize that the halfway point of my career is long behind me, with only so many sleeps and wake-ups left before I can't make music anymore. The brothers, in their 70s, are still creating incredible music, touring the world and delighting audiences as they go, and I hope to have twenty more years of doing this. But also, the way that people consume music has been changing for some time, especially now due to the pandemic. Nowadays, many artists are their own record company, marketing department and product sales-people with Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube replacing terrestrial radio and MTV as vehicles for discovery.

My business model for such a long time has been to release a record, tour to support, write while on the road, and then make another record after a while. Now, I realize that even if you do make it to the Olympics, you don't stop going to the gym.

And even though there's not really a single song of mine that screams "Sparks!" (except for maybe my 1998 tune, "Tamagochi Girlfriend"), this first track-in-progress from my next album is probably the closest in terms of style, mood, lyricism and pop hookiness.

Sparks gave me the permission I needed to be undeniably weird and unexpected. It explains why no two of my albums sound alike and why it's so difficult to market my music other than to say, "it's me, just me." And many of you as fans haven't so much as blinked while I trolled the waters of folk and Americana, buzzed the landscape of the blues and rock 'n' roll and created a blend of motion picture soundtracks and pop music. I know some mountain dulcimer artists who feel hampered by their fanbases, wishing to break out and do something radical instead of reining themselves in and toeing a conservative line in order to avoid alienating their following.

But you glorious folks. You have stayed with me even as I let the freak flag fly and I am so very, very grateful to you for that acceptance. It continues to give me the courage to explore, invent and try new things. There are some dulcimer festivals that won't hire me because I'm "too weird" and, you know, I'd rather that be the case than the opposite. Then again, there are lots and lots of festival organizers that have taken the chance on me, and I'm also very grateful for their trust. I mean, I love traditional music, it's not an act. And I love teaching, so maybe I'm even more adaptable than the brothers Mael, who have literally built a career on being humorously subversive.

The documentary made me cry with joy, it's just so good. I may watch it again today during my exercise time (I burned out our treadmill yesterday with 25 minutes to go in the film - luckily, I recently purchased a Square Bike for exercising in the rig when it's too rainy or trafficky to ride my mountain bike.)

I'm also currently in the process of re-listening to every Sparks album from an analytical perspective. If you have Spotify, you can hear their entire discography here.

If you're an intense lover of music, start from the beginning and enjoy the ride. If particularly quirky 70s rock isn't your cup of tea, I'd recommend starting with 1977's Introducing Sparks. If you simply don't have the time nor interest to deep-dive such a voluminous archive, 2006's Hello Young Lovers is a perfect mix of the band at their most accessible and yet still inscrutable as all get-out. Finally, if you want your mind blown, take break from your day, set aside 53 minutes of uninterrupted listening-time, go to the bathroom, grab a beverage, light a candle and listen to 2002's Lil' Beethoven. Quite literally a masterpiece.

While on tour out west in 2015, I was finally able to catch the brothers live as part of the supergroup FFS with Scottish band Franz Ferdinand, and though it wasn't a Sparks show, per se, they did play some of their great tunes, including "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us." This video was shot at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles and I was basically close enough to see their nose hairs. It had been tough to catch the band live, even though they were considered a local band when I lived in L.A., so this was my one true chance to catch them live.

However, in announcing dates for their 2021 tour, I noticed that they were coming to Nashville, which is as far south as they've ever come in the southeastern states, so I quickly snapped up tickets and am going with Jae to see them in March. By then, who knows, they may have added another hyphen to their long list of accomplishments: Academy-Award Winners. I. Can't. Wait.

Academy Award Performance

from the album Number One Song In Heaven (1979)

Play the shark, Play the bride, Joan of Arc, Mrs. Hyde. You're a girl with a thousand faces to choose from, do one. Do the saint, Do the waif, Do the child, That was great. Great performances only come with some inspiration.

Oh, what a great performance. What a convincing performance, An Academy Award performance. Well produced, Clever lines, Well rehearsed, Well defined. There's a goldmine in what you do, but of course you know that. That's not bad, Nor is that, Very good, So was that. On behalf of the guys you've known, here's your golden trophy.

Oh, what a great performance. What a convincing performance, An Academy Award performance. Well produced, Clever lines, Well rehearsed, Well defined. There's a goldmine in what you do, but of course you know that. That's not bad, Nor is that, Very good, So was that. On behalf of the guys you've known, here's your golden trophy.

Play the scene Naturelle, Drop the lights, Drop the towel. No director can tell you what you should do, you'll do it. What panache, Oh, what style. Pack the house, Pack the aisles. Everyone's in the dark when you're in the room, those rumors.