SPARKS

The unboxing Madder! video on the Sparks You Tube channel is very funny; when Ron removes the cd the wrong way from its card case it's simply hilarious.

Madder: weirder than Mad!, better than Mad!

Is it just me, or does Mess Up resemble Shadow Stabbing a Shadow by Sparks collaborators Grand Popo Football Club?

Just noticed the LPs/CDs are now available in the Sparks store. Here's hoping that more "stuff" becomes available there in the none-too-distant future.

Thanks for prompting this, Steve.

Just played the album again for the very purpose of reassessing it - I hadn't given it a spin for weeks, which probably tells you how I feel about it. I've come t ...

Just received this cd today. I think I'm correct in saying that Chelsea Spear - aka TwB - is the first artist to have covered an entire Sparks album on disc, and great fun it is. (Think Kelley Stoltz' ...

Ages ago I saw a list of Sparks covers/possible Sparks covers which had this band's eponymous album down as containing (perhaps) a cover of BC. I took a punt recently and bought it off Discogs and can ...

Went to the London show on the 18th. A good crowd (though not full) and the usual great performance. I'm utterly amazed at Russell's energy, which a performer 50 years younger might struggle to replic ...

Like waterloosunset, I had a double-take at some of dinky's choices but - as said - that's the magic of Sparks.

I started my Sparks odyssey well before cds, let alone ipods or streaming, so skippin ...

Good work on this, BfH! I hadn't realised that there so many versions; expensive if you're a Sparks collector, but I presume fans buying multiple versions helped propel the album to #2 in the UK this ...

I've listened to the album about half a dozen times now - so I've given it a fair crack - and I'm definitely in the underwhelmed camp, sad to say. No standout tunes for me: opening track Do Things is ...

Should be on BBC iplayer, at about 6.50am I think. R&R showed their usual tact - the BBC showed three brief clips of the videos of latest singles and a co-presenter asked them, given the length o ...

Thanks for the reminder, Alex - I'd forgotten that it's 50 years since Indiscreet (maybe that's just my age).

Attended my first Sparks gig in Leeds on that tour. Been to one or two more since then ...

Russell's scheduled to be on their BBC Radio 6 programme (8-10 a.m.)

Hope to pick up a copy of CP in the next couple of days. There's also a very decent six-page feature in the latest issue of Mojo (#379, June 2025, Jarvis Cocker cover).

I'm with Peter on this one. I haven't a smartphone either. Fortunately my wife has, and she's coming along (we're going to the first London gig). But there really should be other options available at ...

I've noticed that FM are continuing to shamelessly exploit their rights to the first two LPs with yet further coloured vinyl releases. There must be a point at which the market (in this case, Sparks c ...

I've pre-ordered the album and my understanding it's released on 11 October. If that's so, presumably the pre-order figures kick in then.

This topic is a question in today's Thursday Quiz in the Guardian; Ron features as a possible answer in another question, so Martin Belam has spoilt us today.

TLDP played live on the Jo Whiley show (BBC Radio 2) last night. The band's reviews often mention Sparks (TLDP's debut LP is very good, by the by); their session included an energetic and faithful cov ...

When the touring's all wrapped up, and we see what songs were played in the whole, there's certainly an interesting debate to be had on the make-up of the setlist. You've got the perennial standards a ...