Sparks - Cool Places & Popularity

from the album In Outer Space (1983) -- Russell Mael - Ron Mael - Les Bohem - David Kendrick - Bob Haag - Jim Goodwin

[@LawnMowersThingsThatMakeNoise]

its July 2024 Who is still listening to this great music?

[@bethanyjoan4254]

Im here in 2024 x obsessed with Sparks x

[@WizardGlik]

I was at this taping! Afterwards, Ron met with fans in the parking lot and did their taxes!

[@2230abcdE]

That is hilarious 😂! Sounds like something he would do.

[@Mary-p6m]

can u pass him a msg from Australia?

[@thegarden5798]

You are part of history, part of Sparks history, and Sparks is also part of your history!

[@Mary-p6m]

There's more that meets the eye with Ron. I think he's awesome. (Russell too).

[@MickPosch]

@Scott Robinson He always did have quite a sense of humor.

[@clewismessina6630]

If you only had nine minutes and twenty six seconds to fully explain 80’s New wave culture to anyone, just have them watch this.

[@kyachdistent1301]

Ha!

[@catchmeifyoucannow6782]

Indeed

[@microminiskirt]

It's 2022. Who is still listening to this great music?

[@user-mt5hp8nj4x]

Я

[@ChatGPT1111]

I'm not but am in 2024!

[@purplemascara99]

The 80's were just the best! No other decade even comes close to how fun it was! So glad I got to see Sparks in 1984..just the best!!!

[@ashleyvences-calderon6023]

russel and jane look like the stars of an 80s teen film going to prom and ron looks like their principal. love sparks, roxy music, david bowie ...

[@aurorazafra768]

Ron is the coolest keyboard player in the world!

[@apollozero]

He also looks cool playing guitar.. look up So Important video.

[@jonnyquest9091]

Really coooool!

[@miked3168]

Nick Rhodes has him beat

[@maxximus35]

JP6 not plugged in

[@eusebiocipriano4707]

And d wackiest..

[@stefantreff1767]

Jane Wiedlin so beautiful!

[@EarmonkeyMusic]

The best thing is how Ron changed the lettering on his Roland Jupiter 8 to read RONALD instead of ROLAND

[@kennethtilton6137]

Always loved Jane Weiland from the Go Gos. Her ability to do 80s dancing while playing guitar is awesome.

[@qotitadelsol8689]

Wiedlin lol

[@magovenor]

She only had one dance move whether with Sparks or The Go Gos.

[@markallen2984]

@@magovenor But of course, that's all she needed to be hotter than any "girlfriend" you ever had (especially "Lola")

[@plummerdesign]

My greatest thanks to Ron and Russell for their decades of creativity against all odds! Was super blessed to see the Sparks Brothers movie yesterday and to relish having started my musical appreciation for them in 1974 when I first heard them sing BC. Yesssss!

[@donaldlake675]

I love this. I remember it in the 80s. Such a happy song

[@westfield90]

Jane is so insanely cute

[@daniellehall9679]

Yeah, she's what's known as a woman

[@JohnnyDanger36963]

​​@@daniellehall9679she was born a man.

[@FuckSlowShit]

@@JohnnyDanger36963apparently you never saw her pus** in real life like i did in November ‘87 youngsters these days

[@ErleenNada]

I'm totally in love with Ron.

[@matthewstetson1840]

Dick Clark seemed to have an affinity with the band. Nice.

[@coreyzimmerman9782]

I once waited on Dick Clark many many years ago he was very specific that he didn't want anybody to know he was at the restaurant so what did The Pianist do he plays the theme to American Bandstand as soon as he walks in and he was Furious the whole dinner he never stopped talking about that I was cracking up laughing I just couldn't stand it

[@tl50camiva]

Sparks & Jane - What's not to like! Ron's dancing was superb, I saw him wow the crowd in a similar way at the Barbican Theatre in London- happy days. Thanks for the upload 🙂

[@edp3202]

I knew it was Jane Weidlin!

[@WinsterMoves]

Ron Mael - comic genius

[@MaskedMan66]

He reminds me a little of John Cleese.

[@Mary-p6m]

@@MaskedMan66lol

[@greggates1137]

If you mix Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and 80s New Wave music you get this great band

[@ChatGPT1111]

Also a hint of Elvis Costello and Buster Poindexter.

[@josedarioduenassanchez1732]

I love this band¡¡¡¡great hits

[@lizethlopezdelgado]

I love that part when ron dance 2:06

[@garygrimmett7945]

Why outer space and angst were not recognised in Britain in early 80s is beyond me!...we went on a lads holiday to Torquay...they were all listening to wham!...and kid creoles lot!...and i was the oddball shouting for cool places in night club!!!😂-oh well...never mind ay!...but these 2 albums are still very relevant...so are sparks!!!...gazz

[@user-yv3pk9cs3b]

Мой самый любимый альбом. Юность Комсомольская 1983. Другая реальность.

[@user-sk1re6vw9q]

Так и есть!!!! Для СССР это был самый "популярный" альбом. Остальные были для слишком узкой аудитории "меломанов", но этот альбом был просто создан для дискотек! Он остался неотъемлемой частью 1983 года - навсегда! 💥

[@Sherrysugar41976]

One of my favorite AB performances. I never realized until now that Ron changed ROLAND into RONALD LOL. I used to love Sparks. Ronald used to mesmerize me as a child whenever I saw them on TV. Haha.

[@Petfal]

This is the only video I have found where Ron plays on a ROLAND keyboard... usually it's RONALD, don't know why not here kzbin.info/www/bejne/naDFn4KEqrikgtE

[@alexander_rom]

Reagan?

[@kdj29]

I thought Ron was his fake name, just so he could use the Roland anagram.

[@VambeefcoHorzey]

@@kdj29 Nope, it's his real name.

[@MaskedMan66]

Jane was the most freaking adorable woman in all of 80's music! Her hair looks awesome any length, color, and consistency.

[@baladacolector]

Jane is beautiful, Specially with that white dress ...!

[@elgatogordo9523]

Ahhh! Blast from the Past 😁 I was in in high school when these jams were playing on KROQ , The Rock of the 80s 😎

[@daniellehall9679]

We had geometry class together, remember? Class of '84

[@bradlafferty6076]

Ron won me over

[@kyachdistent1301]

Love how there's an equality brilliance here. Often when you get 2 very different acts together, one's into it more than the other so they seem utterly out of sync with each other, but Russ & Jane (ahhh!) are totally right together. Having such fun, and he sounds as sexy as ever. One of the best male vocalists out there, and he and his brother create such fun, memorable vids to go with their highly individual songs. Class stuff.

[@Sviatomira727]

Ухх какая песня,все клетки организма прыгают и искрят😂ностальгия,как мы до упада в дискотеках танцевали...

[@williamk3702]

Wonderful, the cutest, a delight!

[@matthewscott2562]

I watched this when it was first on TV, but tuned away for the dance break in "Cool Places" and wondered for years what I missed. Thank you KZbin. I like the part at the very end when the crowd starts applauding and Ron looks like an indoor cat in a rainstorm.

[@LawnMowersThingsThatMakeNoise]

i LOVE ThIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@lourencooliva7429]

Love Sparks and from Portugal. Never actually saw Dick Clark in action, he’s actually pretty good!

[@sylmarjimmy]

Great video, Sparks was the shit in the early 80's!!!

[@joyceannpumpkin]

One of my guilty pleasures of being an 80's kid that keeps my kids in stitches today, ah..paybacks from laughing at my mom's music!

[@RickMathissongs]

I love the Go Go’s dance moves.

[@JohnnyTyrone77]

Origin of The Carlton Dance! Eddie Murphy also commented on this style of dancing.

[@eileenh28]

Too adorable for words.

[@jupitermadcat]

Best band Sparks!

[@michaelmccrory2220]

Only heard this track for the first time yesterday, and now keep playing it, how on earth have I never hear it before? Born 1960s, love 60s, 70s and 80s music.

[@RickDelmonico]

The keyboard player rocks.

[@DiegoDude83]

I want to go to Cool Places with Jane....Great song when I was in High School.. Now where did I park the Time Machine?? I wish :/

[@MrToddling]

DiegoDude83 Jane was responsible for more than a couple great orgasms in my teenage years- yet she has no idea!

[@cettycaesar3637]

Thanks for uploading this...love this album.

[@GoGo-qi1yr]

....Jane Wiedlin is Campbell's Soup: Mmm-Mmm GOOD!!!!!!!! 😍🤩😍

[@NewMusicNetworks]

I just saw the Go Gos do this live. They were amazing and they all look really young still. Jane rocked. and Shit, I had a feeling that was the Gleaming Spires on drums and bass. This is possibly one of the most legendary groupings ever. Go Gos member, Sparks and the Spires!

[@user-ue6wg1mp3f]

The entire backing back is Gleaming Spires. That guitarist and keyboardist were the session players on their albums.

[@joshperu2473]

Jane is really hot here.

[@batterycock]

i always had suspicion sparks were taking the piss of the eighties. if these songs came out today it would clearly be parody of the 80's "sound".

[@RebirthRadio2023]

They are, and they aren't at the same time. It's taking the piss whilst also celebrating it, that seems to be the nature of Sparks. Sometimes this strange Schrodinger's Cat approach to music (being something whilst simultaneously not being it) buckles under the weight of its own contradictions - eg most of Terminal Jive. Mostly however, like the lead single When I'm With You from that album, they get it just right and end up creating something brand new and groundbreaking. With the songs in this performance, they're clearly ironic to an extent, taking the piss out of notions of "cool" and "popularity", yet equally there's an affection, an empathy and a profound understanding for exactly why human beings so badly crave coolness and popularity. One couplet on the In Outer Space album sums it all up: "I get scared when I'm alone, ah don't leave me all alone". I guess it's the modern version of not wanting to be thrown to the wolves, and in the process falling over oneself to be in with the "in-group". Sparks nail this rather tragicomic human quirk better than anyone else, ever!

[@lauraveney1412]

I think they just wriote a cool new wave song and are having fun.

[@tommypwood672]

Jane...what a dish.

[@mcarthurperu]

La Mejor decada de la musica los 80's lo demas apartir de los 90's en decadencia la musica

[@pytheus]

I love the spray painted ironing board turned into keyboard stand!

[@eduardoteodorobracamonteal397]

jane is so cute

[@Kohntarkosz]

I always find it amusing watching musicians mime instrumental parts that don't actually exist on the recording (ie the guitarist and bassist, and to a lesser extent, the drummer).

[@fernandocontreras50]

BELLOS RECUERDOS!...

[@theprof291166]

These guys get better and more original as they get older - how many bands can you say do that? Most peak in their 20s and go down. Amazing!

[@miked3168]

Duran Duran is another one

[@jorgesuntaxi1540]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@jpm9628]

Sparks rule and Jane is the grooviest.

[@eastend59]

Ron the Street Dancer!

[@EzraPoundandTSEliot]

5:20 "I'll do anything for a good cover"

[@PrinceDecember]

Que tal recuerdo de mi adolescencia ♫ ♪ en las discotecas limeñas ♫ ♪ (►_◄) ♪ ♫

[@user-fl9ps8xf2y]

This is the best thing I never new of, the lyrics awesome

[@mcarthurperu]

The decade of the music 80's great 80, the rest decades decadents

[@scottlawone]

Sparks is as good today as ever 2018! This video was during a time (one of a few opportunities) they had gained a degree of popularity in the states (no thanks to Dick Clark) and were trying to “sell it” and properly so! They fortunately. In my opinion. were always too good/peculiar for mainstream.

[@kyachdistent1301]

Most decent things are, peculiar or not. You need to be shit for the mainstream, ay Madonna, Madness, S/A/W, Take That, Oasis, Houston, Adele etc.

[@armandofernandez9839]

gran cancion de los poderosos años 80s viva esa epoca sin igual

[@howardmerritt445]

“Popularity” is one of the most under-the-radar snarkiest, subversive attack songs ever written, slyly criticizing and sending up the ignorance and shallowness of the “popular” kids it claims to celebrate… A couple of years ago, I played this for the first time for my high-school aged daughter, who was NOT in with the “popular kids” clique - she got the gist of this tune IMMEDIATELY. Just a superb song.

[@kevintraynor4508]

Absolutely Coool

[@vlad86fan20]

wonderful

[@versaarchuleta3114]

This is a great song .... 80's rule

[@eusebiocipriano4707]

I m a frustrated keboard player coz i dontknow how to play that instrument but it seems ron just playing it easy& cool

[@axecalibore]

I remember watching this on Bandstand! Thanks!

[@everjesushurtadomontoya557]

Que buena cancion la ponian en las fiestad pops

[@Augenleberwurst]

For the longest time I thought that Jane Wiedlin sang Popularity (real low) too.

[@howardlevin2753]

And I thought I could dig these up by now (bats self upside the head). I especially remember Russell putting one over on Dick, as guests were known to do (although he occasionally fired back).

[@sabirevans3122]

I saw the Documentary on Netflix. Very Humble dudes! Ron a little weird🤣 but nah, he was just being him and very creative! 80's Vibes and Jane? Reminds me of "Josie and the Pussy Cats" 🤣

[@zBeestBeest]

As a society, we’ve done nothing to deserve this new wave sarcasm. We are unworthy of Ron’s sudden cheesy breakdance break that ends as abruptly as it began.

[@robinbourassa1390]

American Bandstand & Soul Train were the best

[@2230abcdE]

Dick Clark totally gets Ron.

[@fattypneumonia]

In Soviet Russia, Ron gets Dick!

[@AiMR]

I had a mad crush on Jane.

[@rapidito123]

son lo maximo,,tiempos aquellos!!!

[@LawnMowersThingsThatMakeNoise]

Will there be there or else !!!!!

[@NebNoodles]

@ladyislingering How does somebody have to be on something to dance happily? He seems to be really into what he does. I think dance is the most uplifting feeling in the world, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be ON something? Then again, what do I know, I was just 3.:)

[@paulinalopez7777]

Wow spark modica de mis tiempos baile tanto

[@jgonzalof]

great up load!!!

[@user-tg2jj5it2f]

👌👌👌

[@gahloot]

Also went to a place in the Valley called the Tapestry! They had a page on facebook but I think its gone! I'll think some more later, good talking to yah!

[@laszloszikra9145]

NEW WAVE STYLE!

[@michelherrera1300]

Excelente popularity

[@gahloot]

That was my and my friends stomping ground! We would take a bus, if we had to to get there from the valley! I use to dress up Rock a Billy, and like Adam Ant LOL I didn't know it at the time, but the owners really liked me, and wanted to enter me in this play girl man of the year contest, and dance! My dad really didn't like the idea, so I didn't do it. I later found out it was owned by Eddy Nash, and John Holmes! My friend slipped in there, and hurt his knee, and the word got-

[@kstar982]

An epic ramble, we'll never know the ending..

[@emmteemee]

I saw this song (Cool Places) on tv and knew I HAD to have the album. I got to the record store and couldn't remember the name of the band. I looked through all the albums starting with A until I found it. Of course, I didn't really like the rest of the album, but at least I had this song. :-)

[@robdavidson1876]

Sparks fun....

[@endofthelinejoel]

Cool! Cool! Cool!

[@unnim]

The best part of this is that the drummer the guitarist and bassist are all superfluous. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[@Kohntarkosz]

Given that they're lip synching here, the entire band is superfluous, apart from Russell, Ron and Jane.

[@donthewatcher8835]

saw the palace and roxy shows i had same haircut

[@gahloot]

out he wanted to sue them. Well one night one of the guys I knew there, came up and said P, you better tell your buddy to rethink suing us! Trust me I knew, being Italian this was a nice warning! That place was a blast, but yes very under world! Ever hear of Gino's in Hollywood? Florentine Gardens, Wah Lah's, this place by the Beverly Center, I forget the name! Or 321 in Santa Monica? Richard Blade did the D-jaying there! I was also on a show with Richard called called MV3 on channel 9!

[@christopherthompson3387]

This thread is way necroed, but yeah, Florentine Gardens and, of course Richard Blade and MV3 ring a bell, definitely. My gf at the time and I got first place in an MV3 sponsored dance contest at a club near San Bernardino, CA...the song was, "Blinded Me With Science." There was also this (secret?)killer place at Hollywood and Vine called, "Viva La Revolucion"...it had no signs outside, just a blue light on. We paid $10 bucks each to get in and the place was dead. There was a rickety turntable in the corner of the tiny dance floor and there was a milk crate with about 50 albums in it. The "bar" only served "Go Juice." What? We got ripped off! Or, so we thought. Around 1:00 am this huge crowd of people came in, including Sting from U2 and every member of the Bangles, plus others I can't think of right now. The people in the '80's were so beautiful and now, I was among them! What a feeling! I will never forget those days!

[@NebNoodles]

@ladyislingering Oh Ok LOL I always dance like him in the kitchen when I cook. These guys are my prozac seriously, what I would not give to have grown up in the 80s. Much Love x

[@user-ej5hc1tx9f]

😘

[@alastairjr44]

cool places make me feel so uncool.

[@playsbass1969]

jane widelin

[@thevincentgonzalesplan]

Ahh, the 80's, when Girls only wanted to be with Girls, and Boys only wanted to be with Boys, and procreation became ironic, and Ron Mael wisely stayed out of it all and raised Classic MTV Pop Babies.

[@howardcohen4255]

Cool