Sparks just dropped word yesterday of their new catalog projects

While I was busy yesterday extolling the merits of the “1999” BSOG edition, my personal device alerted me that Sparks have done further curation of their formidable back catalog once more. This time it’s an album we already know and love that getting the DLX RM treatment as well as a newly compiled career retrospective looking back on a half-century of work. Formidable!

Universal ‎| 5xCD | 2013 | UK |  LBRBOX6

The last time they compiled a career retrospective, it was six years ago with the hefty “New Music For Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection” 5xCD boxed set from UMG that included:

• 64 page hardback book containing 4 CDs.
• A4 Certificate of Authenticity
• A2 Poster
• Vellum envelope containing:
-2 replica tickets
-4 A4 black and white prints
-4 A4 colour prints
• Brown paper envelope with replica address sticker containing-3 A4 black and white proof sheets
• Souvenir CD in card wallet
• Laminated AAA pass
• Lanyard with plastic snap lock
• Car window sticker
• Button badge

Very posh…and very co$tly. It sold for three figures as I recall, though it’s trading hands for about double the initial cost now. There were a handful of rarities, but the cost placed it out of my sights. This time, the first Sparks logo [they began their career under the name Haflneslon]  from their sophomore album “A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing” has been dusted off and re-used for the new compilation “Past Tense: The Best Of Sparks.”

Go for the 3xCD version!

Sparks: Past Tense – The Best of Sparks US 3xCD [2019]

Disc One

1. Computer Girl
2. Wonder Girl
3. (No More) Mr. Nice Guys
4. Girl from Germany
5. Beaver O’Lindy
6. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us
7. Amateur Hour
8. Here In Heaven
9. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
10. Something for the Girl With Everything
11. Achoo
12. Get in the Swing
13. In The Future
14. Looks, Looks, Looks
15. I Want To Hold Your Hand
16. Big Boy
17. I Bought The Mississippi River
18. Occupation
19. Those Mysteries
20. Tryouts for the Human Race
21. Beat the Clock

Disc Two

1. The Number One Song in Heaven
2. When I’m With You
3. Tips for Teens
4. Funny Face
5. Angst in My Pants
6. I Predict
7. Sherlock Holmes
8. Cool Places (with Jane Wiedlin)
9. Popularity
10. I Wish I Looked A Little Better
11. With All My Might
12. Change
13. Music That You Can Dance To
14. So Important
15. Singing In The Shower (with Les Rita Mitsouko)
16. National Crime Awareness Week (Psycho Cut)
17. When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’
18. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing – Radio Edit
19. Let’s Go Surfing

Disc Three

1. Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat
2. The Calm Before The Storm
3. It’s A Knockoff
4. The Rhythm Thief
5. My Baby’s Taking Me Home
6. Suburban Homeboy
7. Dick Around
8. Perfume
9. Islington N1
10. Good Morning
11. Lighten Up, Morrissey
12. Two Hands, One Mouth
13. Piss Off (Sparks original demo)
14. Johnny Delusional (FFS)
15. Missionary Position
16. Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)
17. I Wish You Were Fun
18. Check Out Time 11AM

This time there were a few more rarities, and the set started off with the earliest known Sparks recording, “Computer Girl,” which had only been released on 2006 as a bonus CD in a Japanese book on the band. Their great single with Les Rita Mitsouko is rightly included, and the set has a reach going all the way to their last opus, “Hippopotamus,” and beyond. Disc three had the rare  track “IslingtonN1” which was only on a 2008 CD5 given to people who bought all 21 tickets for the Complete Sparks Residency in England; 21 concerts in 21 nights when they played all 21 of their albums in order. Suck on that, Kraftwerk!

I am happy to see that even their FFS period was covered on this collection, but it even encompassed the 7″ only A-side released in late 2017; “Check Out Time 11 AM.” Though I was crestfallen to see that the same courtesy was not extended to “Now You’ve Earned The Right To Be A Dick” which was a non-LP A-side on shaped picture disc only from early last year that would have probably benefitted much in fidelity from its leap from pic disc to CD.

It’s released on November 8, 2019 in a trio of formats: 2xCD, 3xCD, and 3xLP. The 2xCD with 39 songs is for wimps but cheap at $12.99. The 3xLP is cheap enough as these things go at $36.99, but it only had a subset of the material with just 27 cuts. The 3xCD is the best value with 58 tunes for the low, low price of just $15.99!! A 16-page booklet accompanies the music. Any neophytes seeking to wet their metaphoric toes in the dazzling world of Sparks should do well to start there.

Those demos on disc 3 have my name on them!

Sparks: Gratuitous Sax + Senseless Violins US 3xCD [2019]

Disc One – Album

1. Gratuitous Sax
2. When Do I Get To Sing “My Way”
3. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing
4. Frankly, Scarlett, I Don’t Give A Damn
5. I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car
6. Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil
7. Now That I Own The BBC
8. Tsui Hark
9. The Ghost Of Liberace
10. Let’s Go Surfing
11. Senseless Violins

Disc Two – Mixes, B-sides, and versions

1. National Crime Awareness Week (Complete Psycho) produced by Finiflex
2. When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” (The Grid Radio Edit) Remixed by The Grid
3. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing [Bernard Butler’s Fashionable World Of Fashion Mix]remixed by Bernard Butler
4. Now That I Own The BBC (Live BBC Acoustic Version)
5. When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” (Vince Clarke Remix)
6. She’s An Anchorman
7. Little Drummer Boy Unreleased studio version
8. Beat The Clock (Live in Concert)Live at Shepherds Bush Empire, London. 17 November 1994
9. National Crime Awareness Week (13 Minutes In Heaven) produced by Finiflex
10. When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” (Sticks & Stones Remix) remixed by Keith Marantz & DavidLongoria at The Steamroom
11. (When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing [The Beatmasters’ Full-Blown Dub] Remixed by The Beatmasters
12. Now That I Own The BBC (Motiv 8 Extended Vocal Mix) remixed by Motiv 8
13. When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” (Pro-Gress Mix) Remix & additional production by Pro-Gress for D.E.F.
14. National Crime Awareness Week (The Janet Leigh Mix) remixed by Steve Bates

Disc Three – Unreleased demos

1. Where Did I Leave My Halo?
2. She’s Beautiful (So What)
3. Mid-Atlantic
4. The Farmer’s Daugher
5. This Angry Young Man Ain’t Angry No More
6. Bob Hope
7. She’s An Anchorman (Demo)
8. Love Can Conquer All
9. That’s What I Call Paradise
10. This Angry Young Man Ain’t Angry No More (Ron Vocal Version)
11. Mid-Atlantic (Ron Vocal Version)
12. That’s Entertainment (feat. Les Bohem)
13. Katharine Hepburn (vocals by Christi Haydon)
14. Titanic (vocals by Christi Haydon)
15. Othello (vocals by Christi Haydon)
16. Holiday
17. Boris The Spider

We were just re-visiting the wonders of the “Gratuitous Sax + Senseless Violins” album two months ago and were pleased by its mix of barbed wit, insight, and pathos. The album gave Sparks a European hit in their third decade and provided a leg up for the band to make very impressive late-in-the-game conceptual leaps following it. Now the gaze has been turned on it again 25 years later with a plethora of tantalizing goods added to the program.

Of course, we gravitate to the 3xCD version as it had the most music in the format of our choice. The second CD was a selection of B-sides, versions and remixes. Truth be told, this could have been another two to three discs in itself. It was the 90s. I don’t have any singles from this album, but am open to hearing this material. The B-sides will surely be more to my liking than the excessive dance porn of the era. I’m guessing that the most musical of the remixes probably figured here.

Christi Haydon

But the third CD has me drooling. And I ain’t fooling. It’s all unreleased demos of songs written during this period but ultimately not included on the album. And Ron Mael was the lead voice on some of these. Tracks 13-15 are from the unreleased Christi Haydon EP the Maels produced that never got released. Ms. Haydon was best known as the photographer of the “pesky photog” tabloid shots on the album cover that amused to no end. All of this and an early Who cover to boot! The song that I really have to hear badly is “Bob Hope.” I really am curious to hear what Ron did with the subject matter as I have a “difficult” relationship with the famed comic.

Ron and Russell have written the liner notes in the 20 page booklet and I’m sure this will be something to hear. Given that I paid $1.00 on La La in 2006 for my copy of this album, I am all too willing to re-purchase it in this executive version with all of the cash going to the artistes. As usual, a granular selection of formats are on offer as the album is released on November 15, 2019 in a variety of CD/vinyl formats. The main ones are: black LP $24.99, yellow LP + 2xCD [discs 2-3] for $36.99, and the Monk-tastic 3xCD for $18.99. I may pass on the other collection but the demos on this one are calling my name like sirens. There are a potentially bewildering selection of bundles so I’ll leave it to you to find your own way in the Official Sparks Webstore here.

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