PATTI CAKE$
we can record on our own, without worrying about time or budget.”
So which Sparks record would they suggest a newcomer listens to first?
Russell said: “They should start with our compilation box set called New Music for Amnesiacs – The Ultimate Collection.
“This package is a perfect introduction to our career. It has songs from every album as well as a beautiful book documenting our career. And a bunch of assorted goodies thrown in. Highly recommended.”
Hippopotamus is the first Sparks album for nearly a decade and is bright and quirky with singalong melodies and lyrics that both educate and entertain. Songs include Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me), I Wish You Were Fun and the title track.
Even for a band who wrote Lighten Up Morrissey for The Smiths’ singer and listed perfumes on Perfume, Hippopotamus is a surreal trip about a mammal in a swimming pool that also chucks in a painting by Hieronymus Bosch. Justin Bieber it ain’t.
Ron said: “We had written the instrumental music for the song first and it needed a subject matter as idiosyncratic as the music. The
word Hippopotamus sounds cool and fit. Then it was working backwards and figuring out what happens in a song called Hippopotamus. Voila.”
No wonder they have influenced artists from Sir Paul McCartney, Abba and Kurt Cobain to Depeche Mode, Arcade Fire and Ramones.
In 1974, they hit No2 with This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us. Their third album Kimono My House, from the same year, has been cited as a favourite by the likes of Morrissey, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Bjork and Sex Pistol Steve Jones.
The band influenced again in the late 70s when they left their traditional rock behind for the new wave sounds of The Number One Song in Heaven and Beat the Clock in 1979 – both produced by Giorgio Moroder.
Joy Divison cited The Number One Song in Heaven as an influence on Love Will Tear Us Apart. Even McCartney gave them a nod by dressing up as Ron for the video for 1980 song Coming Up.
Although the brothers are American, it’s always been the UK that has embraced them the most and Ron struggles to fully understand why.
He said: “We had always thought of ourselves as more of a British band than an American band stylistically, so I suppose that has something to do with it. However, there does seem to be an openness to eccentricity in Britain.”
After a lauded show for the Radio 6 Music Festival in Glasgow earlier this year, the brothers and their new band hit the road next Friday, including a sold out show at Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, on September 20.
Russell said: “We will be doing an assortment of songs from past albums as well as a heavy emphasis on Hippopotamus.
“We are very proud of the new album and feel it’s a vital part of our catalogue and would love to share it with our fans.” ● Hippopotamus is out next Friday.