To celebrate the release of their twenty-first album, ‘Exotic Creatures of the Deep’, the popular music combo known as Sparks decided to take-up residency at the Islington Academy to play each of the work in chronological order over a period of a month before moving to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire to perform their latest release. Being a bit of a Sparks fan I bought tickets for three of these gigs and, due to the severe lack of interest over some of their less-popular works, managed to win a pair of free tickets for another. So, four Sparks gigs in three weeks: a different album each night, and a different friend to accompany me at each.
Tuesday 21st May – ‘Propaganda’
The trouble with drinking is that it is always best to remember to eat something before you start. Thus, as I was downing my fifth pint of Guinness in the cramped crush of the Islington Academy bar, the realisation that my total food intake for the day thus far had been one-and-a-half fish finger sandwiches at 10:30 that morning explained why I was now feeling more pissed than by rights I ought to. However, that did not explain why Pete G was as drunk I was. Would our inebriated states heighten our enjoyment of the evening? I have found that a small sweet sherry or two can make a good gig seem like a great one and turn an evening of mediocre music into a far jollier affair than it might otherwise warrant. Would it tonight? Well, frankly no, for Sparks had to do battle with that most fearsome of foes, the one thing that can transform any good band – no matter how strong their performance or how enthusiastic the crowd that cheers them – into a complete Terry-Thomasian shower: the faulty PA system.
For the uninitiated among you I should mention that ‘Propaganda’ is one of Sparks finest albums. Alongside ‘Kimono my House’, the pair book end 1974 when the group were living in England, regularly appearing on ‘Top of the Pops’, and having the most commercially (and, arguably, creatively) successful period of their careers. As such its popularity had ensured that tonight’s gig had sold out thus making it really rammed in the Academy. This is not a good thing chiefly because the venue has a very low ceiling. This means that it also has a low stage. That, combined with a very flat floor (no sense of raking) meant that if you fill it to the brim with tall, middle-aged, overweight men, unless you are prepared to squeeze yourself to the front like an Emo teenager at ‘My Chemical Romance’ concert, you aren’t going to see very much. However, one’s enjoyment of the band can still be obtained by the sound, and that is where it went so badly wrong.
Earlier in the evening the PA had been fine. The support act had sounded brilliant. They were Dan le Sac v Scroobius Pip, essentially two chaps – one on Apple laptop, the other on beard – who had taken The Streets white boy urban rap vibe and injected it with some humour and the twin selfs of ‘knowing’ and ‘deprecation’. They were, without doubt, hugely enjoyable, delivering a witty cover of Prince’s ‘Cream’ mid-set, engaging the audience with confidence and professionalism, and performing at least one blinding track in ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’, a song which I heard on the radio twice about six months ago and had never known who it was by.
Sparks came on to, unsurprisingly, rapturous applause. As the album was to be played in sequence, the set began with its short a-capella title track, augmented here by Ron’s keyboards. Sounded fine; all looking set for a great night! Trouble was, as that number ended, the next track immediately kicks in, all instruments blazing, and from what I could see of the stage that is clearly what happened. However somewhere along the line, someone (possibly due to the fact that the support had just an I-Mac), had excluded the rest of the group’s instruments from the mix. Thus whilst it was clear that the band were a-rocking, neither of the two guitars, bass or drum kit could be heard, only the vocals and the keys. Eek! Cue the nimble sound engineer to work his magic, I hear you cry! Let switches be thrown, faders raised, and sockets plugged in! Sadly not! It wasn’t until half-way through the fifth number that anything that could be remotely considered a mix could be distinguished and even that was half-baked (in fact, I’m not entirely sure now if it was just my ears adjusting to the low volume). In short, the live sound was dreary. Thus as the band powered through what is to me one of the defining albums of the 1970s, they sounded meek and miserable. The audience cheered nonetheless (I think they were just pleased to be there) with only the occasional cry of ‘turn it up’ being heard). So, a disappointment. Plus, of course, as they were playing that album (and nothing else aside from an encored of one of the b-sides of the period), they spent less than fifty minutes on-stage, including band introductions and general cries of how happy they were to be there. Such a shame; I’m only glad I didn’t get tickets for ‘Kimono my House’ now!
Friday 30th May – ‘Angst in my Pants’
Now one of the particular features about Sparks’ career is that their popularity has tended to shift from country-to-country. Whilst they had their initial success in the UK in the early seventies, became a European disco success a few years later, the early eighties their dominant market was the US where they scored success with ‘Whomp that Sucker’, ‘Sparks in Outer Space’ and the – to my ears the best of the bunch - ‘Angst in my Pants’. That the album is virtually unknown in the UK is a great shame. The production may now sound dated (it is very 1982 what with the drum machines and the tinny synths) the quality of the songs stand comparison with anything they did before or since. So it was anticipation that I was looking forward tonight, particularly as it was Jane’s initiation not only to Sparks but also small venues where to have to stand-up all evening as well.
The first thing to note is that following the scrum-pack that had been the ‘Propaganda’ evening, the Academy tonight was a little under half empty. This didn’t seem to deter the support act, a Fratellis-imitating guitar trio who delivered their set with aplomb. Very jolly and rather slick but, ultimately, lacking any sense of identity of their own. They played one number I recognised so, like on the previous occasion, it would seem that Sparks are drawing some up-and-coming signed acts as support. I know wish I could remember their name (The Standards? It was ‘The’ something or others).
But as for Sparks. Well, as I wrote, I knew that this was one of their best albums and so too did pretty much everyone in attendance too, including the band themselves who seemed cheered to be playing the material, with Ron in particular slipping into a grin a regular occasions throughout. The audience seemed to know the lyrics by heart and the whole evening had the feeling of an enthusiastic secret club, where everyone knew that they were in on something select and special which the wider public simply didn’t understand. Thus the up-tempo excitement of ‘Sextown USA’, ‘Nicotina’, the college radio hit ‘Mickey Mouse’ and the closest thing Ron has to a theme song – ‘Moustache’ – were delivered with fire and excitement. In fact, stripped away from that dated production, the songs sounded even better than on the record. The set closed with a stomping, singalong version of ‘Eaten by the Monster of Love’ before the obligatory b-side encore – this time the Disney requested follow-up tune ‘Minnie Mouse’. “It’s been such fun to play this album tonight” Russell declared beaming! “I’ve never been at the front of a gig before” Jane enthused on the way home (we’d stood directly in front of Ron with just one person between us and the stage). A great night out!
Tuesday 3rd June – ‘Music That you Can Dance to’
First up, let’s get tonight’s support act out of the way. Autumn are a band who are so firmly fixed in the sounds of 1981 synth pop you couldn’t help but feel that they should be signed to the Some Bizarre label. Their sound is reminiscent of such fondly (?) remembered acts as B-Movie, Fatal Charm, and Classix Nouveux, only without the quality of songs of any of those bands. In fact on-stage, they looked like two separate groups: the lead guitarist and bass player seeming stepping in from an Emo outfit; the singer and bad-dancer keyboard player like reserve members of OMD. They were tinny, derivative and – bless them – unintentionally humorous to watch. Apparently they got tonight’s gig because they organised a Sparks tribute album for charity for a few years back. Hearts in the right places then, even if their musical aspirations were all wrong.
Now, what can I say about ‘Music That you Can Dance to’? The album was released in the mid-eighties, generally perceived as the hinterland of Sparks’ career (one more album, ‘Interior Design’, and they then moved their focus to film music for the next seven years). The fact that it bombed on release and is only available under the record company’s rather sneakily re-packaged title of ‘The Best of Sparks’ tends to dampen expectations even further.
As the title song strikes up, and the reduced backing band line-up (second guitarist is on bass and regular bassist, Steve Macdonald, is taking a few days off) the first thing I notice is that the songs seems to meld two distinct Sparks styles: the Moroder gay disco stylings of the late 70s with the shiny, glam pop of their commercial peak. The second track, ‘Rose Bud’ continues in a similar vein. So far it, it would seem, we were in for an evening of Sparks-lite: filler material enlivened by strong and lively performance. However, things then turn in an upward direction as ‘Armies of the Night’ provides a sing-along chorus for the hardcore fans in attendance, and this is followed by ‘The Scene’, a strangely arranged number that is top-drawer Sparks. Next is the rarity of Ron taking lead vocals (‘Shopping Mall of Love’), followed by the excellent pop tune ‘Modesty Plays’, a song they wrote as the title track for a film version of ‘Modesty Blaize’ that never got made but they had to change the title stop themselves being sued by the original comic strip publishers. The encored with the excellent ‘Change’, a standalone single from the previous year that also crops up on the ‘Plagiarism’ album. Another half-full gig, buoyed by an enthusiastic crowd. Jane, accompanying me for a second time as Jon cancelled at the last minute, thought Russell’s voice was outstanding. I thought his wig was rather good too.
Saturday 7th June – ‘Plagiarism’
Joining me this evening, all the way from his Fareham abode, was Matron. I’d stayed at his back when Sparks had played in Fareham back in 2006 on the ‘Hello Young Lovers’ tour. This time I reciprocated.
As we had now established ourselves in the age of the CD, where albums are considerably longer than previous, we knew that Sparks were due to hit the stage thirty minutes earlier than on previous gigs. We therefore arrived at 7:35 in order to catch the support act only to find that there wasn’t one. Technical difficulties meant the band didn’t get on till 8:45 so we spent 45 mins in the upstairs bar where before selecting a suitable pitch on the Ron side of the stage some time before the show’s commencement.
And what a show it was! ‘Plagiarism’ is the album in which Sparks revisited their back catalogue, reinventing some of their most loved tunes, sometimes with orchestral arrangements, other times with musical gusts such as Erasure and Faith No More. That, and the fact it was a Saturday night, ensured that this was just as crowded as the ‘Propaganda’ concert. We knew tonight would be a special night and when a string quintet took to the stage in advance of the band’s we knew that they weren’t going to cheat and use backing tapes. The band promptly leapt into a strident version of ‘Pulling Rabbits out of a Hat’ with Russell gesturing to the audience for responses in the ‘Applause, applause, applause’ chorus. However it was the second number of the evening that really had the crowd ecstatic, a version of ‘This Town ain’t Big enough’ stripped down to vocals, harpsichord and strings. I think this got the biggest response of anything over the four nights I attended. And the gig was full of highlights. A brass section joining the strings for ‘Change’, the extended a-capella version of ‘Propaganda’, the hugely emotive rendition of ‘Funny Face’, but – topping them all – was the appearance of Jimmy Sommerville for the orchestral-gay-disc version of ‘Number One Song in Heaven’ . Is there a camper man alive? I can’t say, but the predominantly gay audience lapped him up (not literally; that probably came later). At one point he fell onto his knees in front of Russell. I wasn’t sure if he was going to out him there and then or try and pull his wig off. The gig concluded, as does the album, with a stirring rendition of ‘Never Turn your Back on Mother Earth’ followed by a b-side so obscure that I don’t think anyone had ever heard of it, let alone heard it. A marvellous evening!
So, that’s Sparks then. I was sorely tempted to go to the final night at Shepherds Bush but the knowledge I had to leave early for my weekend in Warwickshire with the lovely Jane meant that I didn’t. A great experience to see a fantastic band playing with heart and passion. (I did later learn that on the day they played ‘Plagiarism’, they had spent seven hours of solid rehearsal before performing the set they’d been practicing a few hours later). Bravo!!!
