SO MAY WE START

Well, this is 24th May 2023 and I'm looking forward to heading down to London next week. Only for four days altogether, and I'll be seeing my favourite band, playing my favourite music at one of the world's most famous venues. So that is Sparks at the Royal Albert Hall next Tuesday night. Can hardly wait! How much excitement can an almost 70 year bloke take?

This is the first post of not very many, probably, so I'll mention where I first saw and heard Sparks. It was on the legendary BBC TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test" around November 1972. This TV show showcased lots of bands, many of whom I had never heard of and also some of the bigger names. It was broadcast weekly, usually quite late at night. Sparks were introduced and five guys appeared, the usual bass and lead guitarists and the drummer. Then two guys up front, both with very long curly hair - the singer, Russell Mael, who could sing in an extraordinary soprano voice and the keyboards player, Russell's brother, Ron Mael, who as well as the curly hair had a toothbrush "Charlie Chaplin" type moustache (or as some pundits at the time would have it "a Hitler moustache"). It was Ron who wrote all the songs, and indeed still does.

I liked their music so much that I ordered their first two albums from my local record shop in Kirkcaldy. Back then, there was only vinyl and they had to be imported from the USA, taking about 6/7 weeks to arrive. But well worth the wait! I still have these two original albums and the covers are below - 




On the first album cover, Ron and Russell are first left and second left respectively. That is my introduction to the band that is Sparks and I shall update a bit more to the story shortly.

P.S. “So May We Start” is the first track on the soundtrack album “Annette”. Sparks wrote all the music for this film as well as co-writing the screenplay.


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