I first heard Sparks "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us' driving along Surrey Road in Blackburn in 1974. I was in the back seat and I implored the driver to turn it up. It sounded amazing. I had already read about them. Roxy Music's little brothers I think they were coined as in NME. Or Roxy on helium. Whatever it was I had to to have it and duly bought Kimono My House. Which I liked but didn't love at the time. It was jostling with other records for my attention.
At the end of 74 I went back to the UK and the first thing I saw on television was Sparks performing "Something For The Girl With Everything' off their new album Propaganda. Russell was wearing gloves and a Christmas jumper. Ron looked like Hitler behind the keyboards. The sound popped right out of the TV.
A little while later I was at WH Smith. The newsagents but also a record store. There was a massive record sale. The whole upstairs was full of records. Even recent hit albums at great prices. I couldn't believe that Propaganda was amongst them so even though I had only heard the one track I bought the album.
In the UK winter of 74 and 75 I lived at my Aunt Sheila's house. Most days I was alone in the house until my cousin Neil came home at lunch and played Band on The Run or Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits before going back to work. So a lot of the time I sat, read books and wrote letters and listened to Propaganda. Start to finish and without skipping tracks. Trying to sing along. Often hurting my throat with the high notes.
45 years later I'm in a venue in Tokyo with Sparks on stage and Russell sings ""Hello soldier boy," oh boy, she's spewing out her Propaganda" And a chill runs up my spine. Absolutely brilliant!
No comments:
Post a Comment