The vital Sparks
Even after success in their 60s with their Franz Ferdinand tie-up, Sparks are determined to surprise people and win new fans by keeping their music as kooky as it was when This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us went to No2
IT was a perfect indie collaboration. But it seems the gorgeous clash of Scots group Franz Ferdinand and perennial American oddballs Sparks was like all the best things – a one-off.
Then in their late 60s, brothers Russell (the singer) and Ron (the keyboard player) Mael joined Alex Kapranos’s band to create supergroup FFS.
They fused jangly guitars with baroque melodies and quick-witted lyrics on songs like Johnny Delusional and The Man Without a Tan on their self-titled album in 2015.
But it looks like the need for constant reinvention that has driven the Maels since the 70s has put paid to a second FFS album. At least for the foreseeable future.
Russell, 68, said: “The album for us was so perfect and the concept of working together with them, the novelty of that idea, was so strong that to do it again, we don’t know if it might be diminishing returns or not. That would be one fear against doing a second album. Time will tell.”
Ron, 72, is more adamant. He said: “It was probably a one-off, yeah. It was so exciting the first time round.
“I think that maybe it is the kind of thing where it really is better to leave it at one record because the novelty idea of the two bands working together would obviously be gone on the second record and then it’s kind of judging it in different ways.”
What it did do was put the band back in the charts. FFS reached No17 in the UK, Sparks’ best charting album since 1975’s Indiscreet, which reached No18.
Now a new generation will be switched on to the brothers, who have entertained their fans since 1972 (although they formed a band in 1968 as Halfnelson), as they release their 25th studio album Hippopotamus next Friday. Russell said: “FFS was a valuable experience and we felt it was strong musically and allowed Sparks to reach an audience that maybe weren’t familiar with the band.”
While young music fans have switched on to the brothers, technology has caught up with the Maels’ own imaginations.
Ron – whose 70s moustache prompted John Lennon to shout to Yoko Ono, “They’ve got Hitler on the telly” – said: “Ideas are always the key and that never changes but technology has allowed us new ways to make these ideas concrete. “Musically, we’re able to
experiment more since