There is a certain band that I am simply mad about. I have been listening to their music for over 15 years and I have become quite an obsessive fan. The name of the band is Sparks, and they have been around since 1971.
I love this band because they are amazingly quirky, and they give new meaning to the word "eccentric". This is exactly the type of music that I appreciate. When they started out, they were doing heavy metal bombast/glam type material. They are actually American, but they achieved a much greater level of success in the UK and Europe than they did in North America. Over the years they've released something like 30 albums, and they have changed their sound numerous times.
They sing songs with titles like "I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car", "Angst in My Pants", "Barbecutie", "A Fun Bunch of Guys From Outer Space", "That's Not Nastassia", "The Ghost of Liberace", "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls" and numerous other crazy titles. The thing I love about these guys is that despite their eccentricities, the music is still very controlled and stylish. Everything they do has a high level of intelligence.
I am crazy about their song "Popularity". If you listen to the lyrics, it sounds like something that could have been written by an 8 year old. But I think therein lays the genius of this great band. I think it takes true talent to write something that simple and unpretentious. Here are the lyrics:
I love this band because they are amazingly quirky, and they give new meaning to the word "eccentric". This is exactly the type of music that I appreciate. When they started out, they were doing heavy metal bombast/glam type material. They are actually American, but they achieved a much greater level of success in the UK and Europe than they did in North America. Over the years they've released something like 30 albums, and they have changed their sound numerous times.
They sing songs with titles like "I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car", "Angst in My Pants", "Barbecutie", "A Fun Bunch of Guys From Outer Space", "That's Not Nastassia", "The Ghost of Liberace", "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls" and numerous other crazy titles. The thing I love about these guys is that despite their eccentricities, the music is still very controlled and stylish. Everything they do has a high level of intelligence.
I am crazy about their song "Popularity". If you listen to the lyrics, it sounds like something that could have been written by an 8 year old. But I think therein lays the genius of this great band. I think it takes true talent to write something that simple and unpretentious. Here are the lyrics:
I like you and you like me a lot
And we do those things that can make us feel hot
Then we join some friends, all of them are all right
And we talk a while, then we climb in our cars
What a night, we all drive into town
Where we'll park our cars, and meet the rest of our friends
At a place that's called, I forget what it's called
But it's really great, and all our friends will be there
Popularity
Popularity
I like you and you like me a lot
And it's nice to be all alone with you too
But it's also nice being out with our friends
Cause they're all all right, maybe that's why we're friends
Popularity
Popularity
Popularity
I feel great, but it's getting real late
So I'll drive you home and you'll slide up real close
I'm so glad we met, and I like you so much
And I'm also glad that I got all those friends
Popularity
Popularity
Popularity
To hear some of their tracks, go to:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=3254211
posted by Gary F at 10:19 AM
1 Comments:
I must admit I have never heard of the Sparks but I did take a look at their web page and I think my daughter would like them. She enjoys bands with unique styles and sounds and her music taste ranges from Willie Nelson to the Misfits. She went through a "British" phase when she only listened to The Beatles, The Ramones, and The Sex Pistols. Now anything goes which makes it very interesting when I go to her place for dinner as one never knows what music will be playing.
I agree with you about the simplicity of the lyrics adding its own message.
Thanks for this post. I will pass it along to my daughter.
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