Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with Sparks will know the basics by now. Californian brothers Ron and Russell Mael, both students at UCLA, began making music together in the late 60s under the name Halfnelson. Their Top Of The Pops debut with ‘This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us’ stunned a generation and came close to landing the band a UK No.1. From there, the band leapt across genres, from art rock to glam, big band swing to electro-disco, new wave to synth-pop, taking in collaborations with Todd Rundgren, Les Rita Mitsouko, Tony Visconti, Franz Ferdinand and Giorgio Moroder.
Sparks are a band of contrasts and comparisons: keyboardist and songwriter Ron's intricate staccato arrangements offset by the hysteria-pitch falsetto in which Russell delivers his brother's always-on-point lyrics; Ron's still, stern, intimidating visage contrasted onstage with Russell's hyperactivity. Their popularity has spiked unpredictably in different territories at different times: Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Japan, and their homeland the United States. Their influence as “the greatest band you've never heard of” or “your favourite band's favourite band” has been recognised by successive generations of artists from Joy Division to Duran Duran(Opens in new tab) to Depeche Mode(Opens in new tab) to Bjork to Beck to The Darkness and beyond.
The 00s and onwards saw Sparks once more become Top 10 regulars, with studio albums Hippopotamus (2017) and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (2020) both cracking the UK Top 10 and receiving global acclaim. The lauded 2021 career-spanning documentary The Sparks Brothers, directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver), brought an awareness of Sparks to parts they previously hadn't reached.
Not that Wright’s film was Sparks’ only big screen exploit. Their 2021 film musical Annette – directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard – was showered with awards, especially in France where Carax won Best Director at Cannes, and where the film won three Lumières Awards and five César Awards including Best Original Music for Ron and Russell. The film’s success led to Focus Features announcing that they were developing X-Crucior a musical epic written by Ron and Russell.
2023's The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte followed suit, proving that levels of interest in the work of Sparks are at heights unsurpassed in their 50 year plus career – including that of superfan Cate Blanchett, with the Hollywood heavyweight starring in the lead single's music video as well as joining the Mael brothers for a headline-stealing set at Glastonbury Festival that year. Sparks are the ultimate cult band, now centre stage in the full beam of the spotlight.
