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Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier
Nice stories there. Well I was a kid when I first heard Sparks and that was around 1979 when most of the singles off the No.1 in Heaven album were in the charts and on tv here and fell in love with them around this period and over the following years gradually purchased the back and future albums of theirs. Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat always had a sour story with me. I actually bought it on vinyl when it came out and the record actually had a slab of plastic melded onto the vinyl meaning I couldn't play the last couple of songs and the shop was too far away for me to exchange it. I actually think Interior Design to be one of the weakest albums 
The Sparks were always much bigger in europe especially in France and Germany. They were only really popular in the UK in 1974/1975 and 1979 periods. Despite that though, they do have a big loyal fanbase here. |
I wish I could have experienced that. All I have to make up for a past life I missed out on are a few picture discs/records (Beat the Clock/long version yellow 12"'; Tryouts for the Human Race/long version orange 12"; 2 copies of
No. 1 in Heaven (somehow)). The worst thing about collecting Sparks' records is that a bunch of them from the later portion of the 70s were released (even 7" singles) on coloured vinyl.
I actually have two copies of "Introducing Sparks" because one is red, but I know that the singles from
No. 1 in Heaven were released on a plethora of lovely colours (red, orange, yellow, blue, pink, transparent/white(?)). Later on there was the vinyl release of
Hello Young Lovers (2006) and I managed to grab one in pink.
Still wishing there would have been a vinyl release of
Exotic Creatures of the Deep. Still looking for a vinyl copy of
Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins. I know it exists. I could just never justify spending more than $40 for it.
Sorry to hear about what happened to your record. That must have been terrible, especially considering that the price of a record was a killer on the young wallet. I have a few records in my collection that have somehow grown concave, so my needle sails over them and it plays in a grotesque warped fashion. Really upsetting.
I have always wondered how it is that Sparks have such a huge fanbase over there, but they're essentially ignored over here. I used to have some vintage pinback badges (c.1974-76 - auctioned off last year) that I'd wear every so often a few years ago and had a few customers on the job that discussed Sparks with me (a very cool happening when you live in the midwest, where everyone is eerily normal) but there's no denying that Europe loves Sparks more than America.