In my past life as a rock critic, I remember getting an album by Sparks. (It was Plagiarism in 1998.) I assumed the band was a joke — a one-off parody of something. (The emaciated-Hitler looks of creepy Ron Mael helped promote that assumption.) Only later did I learn that, well, yes, it is sort of a joke — but only sort of. And it’s a joke they’ve been telling for 36 years. Quoth the wiki: “In contrast to the esteem in which they are held by such peers as Depeche Mode, New Order and the Pet Shop Boys, who all cite the Sparks as a major influence, their almost constantly changing styles and unique visual presentations have sometimes seen them dismissed as a novelty act.”

Gee, I can’t imagine why:

And here’s “The Number One Song In Heaven” from 1979 (I rather like this one):

Comments

13 November | 12:41 | Das

Damn you! Now I'm going to have to get out all of my old Sparks albums.

Sparks RULES!!!

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Joshua Benton

Joshua Benton is the director of the Nieman Digital Journalism Project at Harvard University, among other things. Before that, he was a staff writer and columnist for The Dallas Morning News. (More.)