SPARKS - one of the world's most stylish pop/electronic music bands will perform in the Baltics in framework of their latest album "A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip".
In over 50 years, the Sparks' career has epitomized what appears to be the longest-running and enduring interaction between the two brothers in entire pop music. The core of the band consists of songwriter and keyboardist Ron Mael and soloist/frontman Russell Mael. In both dress and manners always emphatically serious Ron with his “brand-name” deadpan scowling goes extreme opposite to flamboyant and hyperactively energetic brother Russell. Ron Mael's intricate and rhythmic keyboard playing style and Russell's wide range voice, which easily soars at the height of an operatic falsetto, have become the hallmark of Sparks. And, of course intellectually sophisticated and acerbic lyrics, often about women or Shakespearean literature references.
But most importantly, despite such a long career, the brothers' tandem is still all-round productive, continuing to create innovative and at the same time relevant musical material, keeping the bar high for intellectual and stylish pop music.
The history of Sparks (then called Halfnelson) began in 1968 when the brothers studied film and theater arts at the University of California. Four years later, the band was renamed to Sparks and released 2 albums.
Having failed to achieve the expected success in their native USA, the brothers moved to the UK, which turned out to be a positive moment in the band's career. With the album "Kimono My House" (1974) they swiftly became one of the brightest stars on glam rock's sky, alongside such names as David Bowie and "Roxy Music". The single from this album This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us reached # 2 in the UK charts, which still remains the band's highest official achievement and an inalienable part of their further playlist.
During this "British period" the band released 3 albums total, which comprise their most significant success in the field of glam rock. In addition, the lack of recognition in his native United States, as opposite to success in Europe, henceforth determines that Sparks is considered to be our continent's band.
The next important, or even cardinal, turning point was the acquaintance with the producer Giorgio Moroder. Called the "father" of disco and electronic music, Moroder produced the 1979's Sparks album “Nr. 1 in Heaven ”, leaving a very strong impression on the brothers. Although in the future the band will still experiment with different styles, including sometimes returning to rock, synthesizer becomes irreversible basis of their music. From now on, Sparks will be called one of the pioneers of synth-pop.
The 1983 album "In Outer Space" with the hits Cool Places (50th and highest success in the US top), All You Ever Think About Is Sex and Popularity somehow got into the Latvian music rotation of that time, which finally allowed a larger number of the listeners to discover and fall in love with this act. In general, 80's appear to be very productive for Sparks allowing them to release 7 albums.
However, in the 90s, the brothers find themselves in a kind of creative crossroads, and as a result, only two albums were released during the entire decade. 1994 was marked by the sensational album "Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins", which was brought to us by When Do I Get to Sing "My Way" - another mega-hit, without which the setlist of Sparks is simply unimaginable now. And "Plagiarism" (1997) - an album of cover versions of their own songs, created in collaboration with "Faith No More", "Erasure" and Jimmy Somerville. After a creative search in the 90's, in this century seems the tandem of brothers have found their path again and now confidently followed it.
In 2002 they presented the stylistically amazing album "Lil' Beethoven", in which the synthesizer simulates the sound of a string orchestra and choir, and it is complemented by rhythmic and verbal experiments. Their other creative facet is marked by the musical "Seduction of Ingmar Bergman" (2009) commissioned by Swedish radio. And then in 2015 the music world was introduced with the fruit of the collaboration between Sparks and Scottish alternative rockers “Franz Ferdinand” - the supergroup “FFS” - who released self-titled album and gave a series of well-sold concerts on both sides of the Atlantic.
While all that mentioned above, Sparks managed to cerate and release also several well-received studio albums: “Hello Young Lovers” (2006), “Hippopotamus” (2017) and “A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip” (2020). In total, Sparks have recorded 24 studio albums, 1 live and 1 album in collaboration with "Franz Ferdinand" (as FFS).
