Sparks

Californian siblings Ron and Russell Mael have enjoyed a long and varied career frequently reinventing themselves. Their heyday was undoubtedly the 1970s—the brothers had arrived on the UK scene after initially forming the band Halfnelson and subsequently re-packaging it as Sparks. Their first two albums Sparks and A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing were both produced by Todd Rundgren and built up a cult following for the group. After sacking the US-based backing band the brothers relocated to England in 1973 and formed what many fans would say is the definitive Sparks line-up featuring an all-English backline of Martin Gordon on bass, Adrian Fisher on guitar and Dinky Diamond on drums. The band's driving rhythm section overlaid with Fisher's soaring guitar lines provided the perfect platform for the brothers' distinctive keyboard and vocal styles. The new line-up's debut album was titled Kimono My House, an eclectic selection of songs which showcased the brothers' creativity. The single “This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us” was a surprise hit reaching number two in the charts and created instant stars out of the unlikely duo. After their initial success the brothers decided to return to the US where they adopted a new electronic based style in a collaboration with Giorgio Moroder. The Moroder association proved successful although the change in style alienated early fans of the band. Latterly the band have teamed up with Franz Ferdinand in a project called FFS; they released a single “The Power Couple” and embarked on recording an album together. FFS was released in 2015 with three singles “Johnny Delusional”, “Call Girl” and “Police Encounters”. They also appeared as the supergroup at Glastonbury Festival 2015. In 2017 Sparks revealed they had been working on new material for a Sparks album, with the title to be Hippopotamus. The album was released in September of the same year, peaking at seventh place in the UK charts. After joining forces with French producer SebastiAn for the collaboration “Handcuffed to a Parking Meter” in 2019, the pair unveiled a new LP, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, in May 2020. Matching the chart position of its predecessor, it received rave reviews, although the band’s plans for a European tour were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. They have since embarked on two soundtrack projects in 2021, composing new works for a film about their lives titled The Sparks Brothers as well as the musical Annette.