Showing posts with label Sparks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sparks. Show all posts

Sunday, 21 September 2025

Bang, bang, bang

It's a sunny, blustery, chilly autumnal day here in London - a bit of a change, after a burst of "Indian Summer" temperatures on Friday, and a mild (if showery) day yesterday - and Madam Arcati and I are off to the cinema to wallow in sumptuous grandeur courtesy of Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale this afternoon.

Meanwhile, I think a collection of some of the "newer" choons that have caught my ear of late is in order:

First up - the ever-wonderful Mael brothers show absolutely no sign of stopping their consistently brilliant musical output [fifty-one years' worth and counting!] - and their new one (featuring performer Self-Esteem, in the video at least) is as superb as ever:

Cranking the party up a notch, a couple of bangers - starting with a bit of a kinky one...

...followed by the return of an old club fave:

How about a mash-up? Yes please! Metallica never sounded so good:

Here's what happens when two fave bands collide:

And, finally, the current house faves de jour!

As ever dear reader, I'd love to know your thoughts...

Tuesday, 12 August 2025

Why are you hearing it now, you ask?

Lordy. The creepiest man in pop, Ron Mael of Sparks is 80 years old today!

A band that was always miles ahead of the rest (with the exception of Bowie or Roxy Music) in innovation - even way back in 1974, the Mael brothers' music was already beginning to sound like some of the stuff we came to love in the post-Punk era, as in these two classics...

...and in 1979 their collaboration with the maestro Giorgio Moroder produced another two massive hits [in the UK anyhow - they never had major success in their native USA] that carried all the synthesised "hooks" and effects that more than matched the likes of Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and OMD in the inspirational synth-pop era to come in the early 80s...

Ron Mael's lyrics for the latter seem particularly pithy on today of all days:

This is the number one song in heaven
Why are you hearing it now, you ask?
Maybe you're closer to here than you imagine
Maybe you're closer to here than you care to be

It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven

All hail.

Wednesday, 14 May 2025

Another pop potpurri

It's been a busy time here at Dolores Delargo Towers! Instead of, as one might have expected after a fun-packed holiday in Spain burning the candle at both ends (as is our wont), taking a bit of a breather and a wind-down - with the combination of a garden rocketing away before our eyes and needing to be sorted-out and the "party of the year" for Eurovision pending this weekend, there's been loads of work to do.

Today alone, while cleaning, I tackled an unwanted infestation of moths and their grubs that I found have half-eaten the carpet behind chairs in the bedroom and I built a new set of garden shelving that we hope will make a big difference in accommodating our rapidly-expanding collection of plants (all Spring I have been splitting and dividing overgrown specimens, which inevitably increases the volume, and (obviously) shopping for more - especially on my Easter jaunt to Essex). The Madam's been back at work, but still embarked on scrubbing-down the front room in anticipation of guests. Phew!

Time, methinks for a bit of a musical interlude, with some of the "newer" choons that have caught my ear of late [thanks, Mr DeVice for spurring me into actually finishing a draft blog idea I have had pootling around for ages]...

Let's open with a pleasant surprise! I have always had a soft spot for Dame Elton John, but when I found out that his newest choice of collaborator was a country'n'western artiste, I dreaded the outcome. I was entirely wrong - I love this! A real nod to his heyday:

A singer who never disappoints is Our Sophie - here's her brand new (and rather good) single:

The engimatic Ms Goldfrapp's new one's pretty catchy, too:

It's been a bit of a cavalcade of "welcome returns" in the past few months - not least for none other than the Mael brothers!

...and here's another:

At last! The hoo-ha about the reformation and return of the original trio of Sugababes has so far been a bit of a "damp squib" - however, this one has their full signature hit-making sound, so let's hope it becomes one:

Here's an oddity that I have been hanging on to for too long without sharing it here - it's an absolute work of genius!

And finally - saving the best for last, it's Our Princess!

Enjoy! And, as ever dear reader, let me know your thoughts...


PS

My post about the posthumous premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Here We Are, that we went to see the night before we flew to Spain, is over at the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp...

Friday, 5 October 2018

Nose that's straight, a set of perfect teeth



Time flies when you're having fun, they say - and, as the weekend looms and we try and get ourselves in the mood for a party (despite the forecast that, after a week of gloriously warm and sunny weather, it is going to bloody rain tomorrow; as usual!), we shudder at the news that the gorgeous Russell Mael of Sparks is seventy years old today!

Sigh.

Sparks has always been a source of joy and full of the party spirit, so let's just pause right there and let the boys take it away - first, with this rather appropriate number...


Nose that's straight, a set of perfect teeth
You got a built-in seat, that makes you look effete
You know that looks, looks, looks, are why you rely on books


...and then, this:


This is the number one song in heaven
Why are you hearing it now, you ask
Maybe you're closer to here than you imagine
Maybe you're closer to here than you care to be
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven


Love 'em.

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Read my previous tribute the the lovely Mr Mael

Sparks official website

Sunday, 26 April 2015

The synth God



Giorgio Moroder, the single greatest influence on what we know as "electronic dance music" - which these days even has its own acronym "EDM" in the "hip'n'happening" media - celebrates his 75th birthday today.

We can recognise the man's seminal style-setting (much-copied) sound in his breakthrough hit From Here to Eternity, which entered the UK charts thirty-eight years ago in September 1977:




When he launched Miss Donna Summer onto an unsuspecting world, he possibly didn't realise that he had almost single-handedly enshrined "Disco" as an electronic, rather than orchestral/percussive, genre:


Of course, the lovely Legs & Co make it all seem so retro...



Signor Moroder didn't stop there, of course. His music "gave birth" to the preponderance of synth-pop in the 80s, in no small part influenced by his collaboration with the fantabulosa Sparks:




Few people make the connection these days, I reckon - but he was the producer who made Blondie's Call Me so utterly brilliant:


He continued to be a presence throughout the decade (collaborating with David Bowie on Cat People, Phil Oakey of Human League on Electric Dreams, Harold Faltermeyer and Berlin on Take My Breath Away, and with the lovely Limahl on The Neverending Story), but until his recent work with dance weirdos Daft Punk, his star had faded somewhat.



And so it came as a bit of a surprise to everyone when he resurfaced just last year, and began teasing us with details of his soon-to-be-released collaboration album Deja Vu. I am still raving about Right Here, Right Now, the choon he released with Princess Kylie (as featured on my last "musical round-up" blog). The album also features (among others) tracks with Kelis, Sia and Charli XCX - and this...

It's a rather good cover of Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner... starring none other than Britney Spears!


Happy birthday, Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (born 26th April 1940)

Saturday, 5 October 2013

Didn't look too good in shorts?







I had a real crush on Russell Mael from Sparks when I was younger.

Today, I find with a shudder that he celebrates his 65th birthday. Lordy.

Sparks was a band that was miles ahead of the rest (with the exception of Bowie or Roxy Music) in innovation - way back in 1974, the Mael brothers' music was already beginning to sound like some of the stuff we came to love in the post-Punk era, and in 1979 their single Beat The Clock carried all the synthesised "hooks" and effects that no doubt influenced the likes of Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and OMD to create the inspirational pop they did in the 80s...


I was born a little premature
Mom just couldn't take no more
Had no time to learn to cry
Goodbye, Mama, got to fly
Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye

Entered school when I was two
PhD'd that afternoon
Never entered any sports
Didn't look too good in shorts
Got divorced when I was four

I've seen everything there is
I've done everything there is
I've met everyone but Liz
Now I've even met ol' Liz
No time for relationship
Skip the foreplay, let 'er rip
You gotta beat the clock, beat the clock,
Beat the clock, beat the clock

I did lots of travelling
Parts of me unraveling
The Army then rejected me
Said I had two flat feet
Wore them out when I was three

Too bad there ain't ten of you
Then I'd show you what I'd do
I could cheat on five of you
And be faithful to you too
But there's only one of you


The song still stands the test of time - how fab!

PS Russell's the pretty one, not the creepy one with the moustache.

Sparks official website

Saturday, 7 March 2009

The Sweet Life



Fifty years ago this month, a certain Swedish sexpot by the name of Anita Ekberg splashed around in the Trevi Fountain in Fellini's La Dolce Vita, and one of the iconic female screen images of the 20th century was born.

Read Duncan Kennedy's retrospective on the film.

And of course, "The Sweet Life" has inspired numerous musical tributes over the years. Here is my selection (in the genre we call "tacky", of course). Enjoy...

The utterly camp-as-tits After Dark (from the 2004 Melodifestivalen in Sweden):


Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas's take on the Ryan Paris song:


Finnish entry for Eurovision 1989, Anneli Saaristo:


And finally, Sparks!


Dolce, indeed.