Drummer reacts to "Amateur Hour" (Live) by Sparks

[@saturninebear]

Have been a huge Sparks fan for 50 years. Lovely to see a younger generation being exposed to them.

[@zanyzander]

I discovered Sparks in 2021 during lockdown. My life has never been the same and they quickly became my favourite band ever.

[@johankretz6871]

I´m happy for you. It really is lifechanging. Although I guess it takes a while to gp through all their phases musically.

[@Gill3D]

I feel privileged to have grown up with Sparks and such artists. It's marvellous that another generation is finding my generation's music and vindicating us.

[@tancredtankard2940]

Still performing live... filled the Albert Hall in London (twice) and the Sydney Opera House and went down a storm at Glastonbury in 2023... its a great rabbit hole!

[@Wilss]

Queen once supported Sparks so it's quite possible they were inspired in part by them.

[@WavesRay]

Ron Mael has to be my favorite lyricist of all time. Genius.

[@NBM3]

They're still playing and touring. Go see them ! There's a nice doc out about them recently to .

[@Andy.Moore.AndysTreasureTrove]

You might consider listening to their latest album, which is terrific.

[@nixonradio]

The best thing is that this comment could apply to literally every album they've released

[@GeoffCB]

I would have heard "This town isn't big enough for the both of us" before this one - that's definitely worth listening to! 🙂

[@nathanherkowitz764]

Sparks is still going strong as the Mael Brothers are in their 70s with top 10 albums in the UK!

[@firebird7479]

Also, Paul McCartney pays homage to them in the music video to his 1980 hit "Coming Up" in which Paul and his wife, Linda, play various characters in a band, including McCartney playing himself as a Beatle in 1964.

[@Annie-hd3jx]

They are brothers 😄

[@NBM3]

Ron also gets up and does a dance during the show.

[@pauldover1403]

What a great band Sparks were and are. Hearing "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of us" for the first time was incredible and then they had a whole string of hits which were also brilliant. As far as I remember Sparks broke through after Queen. Personally they always seem to be bracketed more to Cheap Trick but maybe I'm on my own in thinking that. Great choice though, I was really excited to see it.

[@mattleppard1970]

Trying to get this before school run deluge. Ah Sparks. So incredibly odd ❤❤❤

[@MrDiddyDee]

Sparks and Queen are really contemporaries of the glam rock era, along with acts like Roxy Music and David Bowie, all pushing their music in their unique and idiosyncratic ways. Both Queen and Sparks were formed in 1970. 'Amateur hour' was a hit single in 1974, the second single off their third album, (they have now released 26 studio albums so far). Not real easy to decern with Russell's falsetto vocals, but Sparks lyrics are off the wall, and they have remained unconventional throughout the past decades. Check out another of their big hits 'This town ain't big enough for both of us' it sounded like nothing else.

[@rockwren]

SPARKS! Glam rock! How could I have forgotten. Thanks for reminding me.

[@LarryGravesCanadianStudmuffin]

I don't think they were glam rock at all... too unique to be labelled with other bands.

[@Humb7757]

Yes!! some Sparks… ⚡️ ❤

[@tobytanzer]

Lots of humour, parody, satire and word play in their music. Album titles such as Kimono My House, Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins. They never took themselves seriously and unfortunately few others did as well. Music's version of Mad Magazine.

[@firebird7479]

They appeared in the 1977 movie "Rollercoaster" and performed their song "Big Boy".

[@phillipradcliffe8037]

Give a listen to their early albums (1st album the group's name was Half Nelson). The second is A Woofer in Tweeters clothing. They're still making albums. I think there was a Sparks Documentary a year or two ago.

[@martinduner1844]

Long time favourites!

[@canadianstudmuffin]

Thank you for the reaction, it was great! Looking forward to interviewing you!

[@morrisgautreau6704]

Yeah, I sub'd the guy!

[@canadianstudmuffin]

@@morrisgautreau6704 Thanks Morris!

[@edwardthorne9875]

Not a bad starting spot for Sparks. I am afraid you have a very deep rabbit hole here -- 27 or so albums worth, and still going. My favorite band for years and decades.

[@petervandervlies6427]

Great band. Verry original. This town ain't big enough for both of us,is one of my favorit records ever. Nice one, thanks. 👍😁👊

[@todwest]

Angst in My Pants is one of my desert island albums

[@micknordstrom2591]

When pop music was great!

[@gailsmythe8476]

i had there album that was see through red vinyl. crazy. love there song the lady is lingering.

[@Mischa337]

Wow that was great ❤! I had forgotten about Sparks - but wow 🎉

[@tillandsiausneoides]

My favorite Sparks song is "All I do now is Dick Around". It's an epic like Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. I also enjoy "my Baby's Taking me Home".

[@GP-mw8ce]

Big influence on the Killers no doubt.Kimono my house great album

[@PolferiferusII]

My older brother once said of another group of people (loosely defined group; Chicago north-side folks in the 1990s): "everyone thinks they're their own little deity". You may enjoy this turn of phrase.

[@alvillanueva2525]

A great band.

[@ednicholson7839]

Yeah I think Sparks had to have been an influence on Queen - and also a big influence on the new wave groups of a few years later. Sparks is one of those unusual American artists that were popular in Europe but never really got a major audience in the US. Scott Walker was another one.

[@brianvernon249]

I discovered Sparks due to FFS, the collaboration album between them & Franz Ferdinand. As I was listening, my wife said to me: That girl from the Go-Gos sang a song with them on MTV in the early 80s. So, they never faded away, just stayed, and stayed themselves.

[@markknight6267]

Started Deejaying in 1973 when Sparks first released This town ain’t big enough for both of us and used to blow the cone s on our speakers every time we played it. TUNE!!!

[@geob3963]

Most people listen to music while doing something else. To me, listening to music is doing something. I like to think of music eras as neighborhoods. I used to live there, I love visiting the old hood but I don’t want to be stuck there anymore.

[@nightHawk66]

I always tries to let the neighbors listen to the same music as me... 😎

[@DJDennyRay]

SPARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Watch the biographical movie, "The Sparks Brothers"....You will be hooked!)

[@chazblitz]

Sparks the town is essentially Hunt Valley north

[@Kevvinm]

As someone said great place to start with Sparks. They put out an album in 2023 , that shows no slowing down in quality song writing. Many songs are tongue in cheek humor. Check out The Girl is Crying in Her Latte from last year. I’m 63 and find there’s plenty of great new bands. Radio doesn’t break acts like it did in the past. You really have to dig around yourself. If you do I find the amount of quality bands is overwhelmingly. If you like post punk try , Fontaines D.C. , Idles, Shame and The Murder Capital to mention a few.

[@canadianstudmuffin]

LYRICS: The lawns grow plush in the hinterlands The perfect little setting for the one night stands. The drapes are drawn and the lights are out It's the time to put in practice what you've dreamed about. Well she can show you what you must do To be more like people better than you. Amateur hour goes on and on When you turn pro you know She'll let you know Amateur hour goes on and on When you turn pro You know she tells you so. Girls grow tops to go topless in While we sit and count the hairs that blossom from our chins. Our voices change at a rapid pace I could start a song a tenor and then end as bass. So choose your partners everyone If you hesitate the good ones are gone. Amateur hour goes on and on Dance Laugh Wine Dine and talk and sing But those cannot replace what is the real thing It's a lot like playing the violin You cannot start off and be Yehudi Menuhin. So Amateur hour goes on and on

[@AnnaReitman-r5z]

I always loved that Ronald's keyboard says his name instead of Roland

[@PolferiferusII]

Sparks have an official video channel on youtube. They are still making music! Just search under the first, fourth, and fifth words from my first sentence :p

[@nathanherkowitz764]

In this era, John Lennon said about Ron Mael, “Look, It’s Hitler on the telly.”

[@almondroca]

Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead, Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) directed their documentary film The Sparks Brothers, well worth a watch for an overview of the Maels' long and storied career.

[@MrRavaillac1610]

Intereting chap to listen to listen. Looking forwars to the interview

[@johankretz6871]

Just go ahead and dive into their discography, it´s fantastic. Kimono My House, where this song come from is pure genious. Simply hit by hit.

[@xlerb_again_to_music7908]

Sparks! OMG - be going off onto some T-Rex perhaps....? Glam rock bands: T-Rex, Garry Glitter, Adam and the Ants (some pop tracks with x2 drummers), others and of course Sparks

[@LarryGravesCanadianStudmuffin]

I really don't think Sparks were a glam rock band at all, they were just lumped in with them....

[@kurtkish6970]

Even though they are my favorite Pop band their albums (for me) are hit and miss. Kimono My House/Propaganda/Whomp That Sucker/Angst In My Pants/Hippopotamus/Hello Young Lovers/Exotic Creatures form the Deep and their two most recent: A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip and The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte are my favorites. SO MUCH variety throughout their career.

[@finylvinyl66]

WAY BETTER THAN QUEEN! Ron Mael's been writing excellent, witty lyrics for some fifty years and brother Russell has been an endearing frontman all that time. They were a little too bizarre for mass success but they certainly deserved it.

[@tancredtankard2940]

I think I read in the sparks autobiog... that there was discussions with Brian May for him to join Sparks before Queen burst through

[@nkeair1]

You really need to react to Neil Peart (Rush) live

[@L33Reacts]

I've done a ton of rush. It's in my rush playlist :)

[@StoneShards]

I think Sparks had a hit in the US--but it wasn't this song! A little quirky...

[@scottstambaugh8473]

Why is Hitler playing the keys?

[@canadianstudmuffin]

It is a takeoff on Charlie Chaplin... there was more than one person who wore a moustache like that.

[@scottstambaugh8473]

@@canadianstudmuffin I was being funny.

[@canadianstudmuffin]

@@scottstambaugh8473 No worries, it is just that they compare his look to Hitler a lot, and that was not Ron's intention. Have a great day!

[@scottstambaugh8473]

@@canadianstudmuffin Yeah, I can see where that would begin to grate.

[@tonyengel8847]

I’m telling you check out kimono my house,first five tracks are amazing