Screw The Past: Sparks

Prepare yourself for a treat. As mentioned in my previous post Sparks are releasing a musical. Not oneof those shite and cynical pieces of shit like 'We Will Rock You' but an original radio musical about Ingmar Bergman.
This is worth getting reasonably excited about as it follows an impressive run of albums, that began with Lil' Beethoven, which in my eyes threw them into genius territory.

Now this proclaimation isn't to be taken lightly. In this age where every band and album the NME promotes claims to speak to their generation, where they just so happen to be the best thing since Joy Division, Sex Pistols and the discovery of fire, this proclaimation does have more credibility.

But I have the evidence. I haven't been able to get the evidence out of my head. I have objectivity. I don't have an agenda to go down in history as the beneficiary of popular music. Hello Young Lovers is a masterpiece, a feat, made only ever more remarkable by the fact that their last album Lil' Beethoven was also a masterpiece and so is 'Exotic Creatures of the Deep', albeit it not quite as focused as their new opus. Their 1980 album, Number 1 Song In Heaven, produced with Giorgio Moroder, is probably the world's best disco album.

The music of Sparks, their approach, their attitude, their sense of irony carries everything that the ultra-conservative bands of today lack. The music of Sparks is beautiful, it's romantic, it's lyrical, and tragic, cheeky. It's dark, atmospheric, concerned, and disillusioned. Lil' Beethoven , it's string arrangments and multi-layered repitative vocal excursions, contained in a pop forumula, was very much the blueprint for Hello Young Lovers which adds to this mix drums, rock guitars, and more of Russell's operatic flourishes. Standout tracks such as 'Dick Around, 'Metaphor', 'Perfume', 'Waterproof', 'Rock Rock Rock', bring together the classical and the classic rock of early Spark albums to bring you a stylish, polished disc, not afraid to subtley take on the themes and re-evaluate society, popular culture, infidelity, religion and politics. Of course all deleivered in the grandiose style. This was continued in 'Exotic Creatures of the Deep' and no doubt has progressed in the genre of the musical with 'The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman.' The results of an experiment between Gilbert and George and Beethoven may well achieve similar results. But I doubt it.

Some things I'm reasonably excited about so far...

I've always enjoyed Kraftwerk since I first heard 'The Model' in 1981. And you don't have to be Einstein to know how influential they were on dance music, etc. Essential. Perhaps more so than the next act who I'm reasonably excited about...


The first Beatles albums I ever 'taped' off someone was the 'Red' and 'Blue' albums in 1995. Obviously The Beatles were always so ubiquitous that you didn't really have to own anything by them. I've never really been into 60s music, but the point with The Beatles is that you can't consider them to be 60s music, in so far as they, like Kraftwerk, are pretty much responsible for modern pop music and unfortunately...Oasis. That's not to say that 60s music isn't much cop and only The Beatles are worthwhile. No, it's probably because it wasn't an era I grew up in. I love some of the output by The Beach Boys as well. Although I could appreciate the songwriting of Lennon/McCartney I never got the whole thing about how great Sgt Pepper sounded because either the original CD masters weren't much cop or it was the cheap Hi-Fi system I had. That changed when I bought the 'Love' CD when the panoramic sound college and my superior system hinted at what could be possible if their albums went through a decent remastering. Anyway, can't wait. I'll probably get one or two albums a month and make my own definitive compilation. I'll start with The Beatles 'White' album.

Following what critics often lazily hail as a 'return to form' in the form of 'Yes' the recent Pet Shop Boys album, all being well, I'll be seeing them at the Manchester Evening News Arena for a live show this December that promises Chris' disco mirror ball jacket, live versions of 'Please' tracks, 'Two Divided By Zero' and 'Why Don't We Live Together?' and a track list that's programmed and arranged by super producer Stuart Price. Whey!

For the past three albums Sparks have done no wrong. They have transformed, progressed and continued to produce a sound that is their very own. In many respects their last three albums OWN those of their counterparts. Now having heard the radio version of the new Sparks musical about the nightmarish adventures of Ingmar Bergman in Hollywood, it doesn't immediately grab you as the last couple of Sparks albums. That's beside the point. As with 'Lil' Beethoven' I'll probably be hooked by the third listen and we can hope that a film version starring Ron and Russell will follow.
Everyone who knows me, and that's not too many outside my other half and my sole work mate, my boss maybe...well they know that I adore Little Boots. They'll know that I will go out of my way to say how platonic it is and that she's like the step-sister I never had. The fact is, well my fact is, is that she's a fantastic pop star with pop songs as catchy and euphoric that I haven't heard since the 80s. The fact that she wasn't nominated for the Mercury Music Prize doesn't matter as the judges are reactionary tossers, no does the fact that 'Remedy' didn't go number 1 mean that it isn't the best pop song of the year. Irrelevant. As far as I'm concerned she pisses on La Roux and her contemporaries but that isn't important. It's the potential...where will she go...what will she be like in five years...reclusive like Kate Bush, sexualised like Madonna but still jumping onto the trendiest producer, a homecoming queen like Kylie, down the dumper like Kate Nash and probably La Roux or...Can't wait to see her live show this autumn.


Waiting for confirmation of the live DVD of The Killers Live at RAH which I attended in the summer. It was a triumphant show of glitter, sparks, theatrics, arm waving, air-punching, big choruses, powerful chords and emotions. Spectacular. If they can capture 25% on DVD it'll be worth it. Should be out in November.

So these are some of the things I'm reasomnably excited about. Hope you are too.

Mute Chorus

I have a confession to make. Actually I have quite a few but for the purposes of this feature I'll let you in on a secret. Coming ready or not. I'm an Erasure fan. What no reaction? Erraaasssure!

Perhaps you think I'm madder than ever. Perhaps this musical faux pas may be quickly forgotten about and we'll never speak of this again. After all they're just not 'cool' enough to be taken seriously or to be worthy of credible appraisal. But it's not pop music's role to be 'cool'. Pop can be as naff, exciting, tear-jerking, ecstatic and as offensive as it likes. Let's not get bogged down on the state of pop music. 'But why are you harping on about an 80s pop act?' you may well ask. Okay so they aren't as popular as they once were, very few acts over twenty odd years in the music business tend to shift as many units as they used to, but this is besides the point. So Erasure haven't had a no.1 album since 1994 and their albums since then have, well, not delivered anywhere near the same amounts of success. So what? Here's more Erasure.

So, you cynics like me, may ask, was there ever a time when Erasure were popular or cool? The eloquent answer to this must be, you're damn fucking right! I'm not so sure about how 'cool' they ever were but put it this why, hailing from the 'cool' label Mute Records, and largely considered an 'indie' act because of the labels business credentials, Erasure were, ooh, for at least 7 or 8 years decently promoted and featured in many publications in the music press. The idiosyncratic pure electronic pop of the duo, the flamboyance and sheer knack of knocking out more than a few quality three minute pop singles contributed to countless Top 10 singles (including the odd number 2 and number 1 single), five no. 1 albums, sell out arena tours (including one 50,000 capacity at Milton 'big bowl of fruit' Keynes in 1990) and were coveted by mums, dads, sisters, brothers, gay people, straight people, black people and even music journalists. Everyone I hung around with in my youth from about 1986-1991 adored Erasure, of course they adored The Communards, Pet Shop Boys, Bros, A-ha and Wet Wet Wet as well but you know what I mean.

I suppose the hype and popularity of Erasure in the late 80s was not dissimilar to Scissor Sisters a couple of years ago or the shocking success of Mika. There acts are more or less exactly the same market but Erasure's 2005 album, 'Nightbird' and 2007's 'Light At The End of The World' seemed to bypass this market somehow. So yes, they were popular...and to some extent, if you actually care, cool, given that Mute Records have given us Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp and Moby, Nick Cave, tend to be regarded as safe bets of what might given the impression of credible. So my question to the music industry is what happened? The public couldn't have fallen out of love with Erasure if the press weren't writing about them. Was Erasure's last greatest single really 'Always'? The recent 'Breathe' which made the Top 5 in 2005 is regraded by Erasure fans as a classic. 2007's 'I Could Fall in Love With You' had all the hallmarks and infectious hooks of an Erasure floor filler at weddings.

While we're at it, in the days when I went to Under 18s discos, the moment the Indian Rubber Megamix of Erasure came on, the moving throng would bob you along to the dance floor. Some Sunday nights in 1987/88 in my town were given over to Erasure nights. So why the cold shoulder? Can they really be dismissed as 'too camp' in an age where Kylie and any number of Big Brother winners are whored around? Has their sound committed the cardinal sin in 'serious' music publications of not jumping on any half-arsed popular generic bandwagon? I want to understand why, it's probably the same kind of curiosity in me that wonder why A-ha aren't the biggest band in the world when U2, Oasis and The Killers are generally considered to be. I mean Yazoo, Vince's previous incarnation enjoyed some really glowing reviews when they got back together for some shows in 2008.

I'm fairly confident that Erasure's fall from grace is due in part to a number of factors. Erasure fans will lay some of the blame on the issue of class. Erasure aren't seen as classy as, say, at a guess, the Pet Shop Boys. Andy Bell has spoken out about a homophobic media and press, and although there may be a lot of truth in his claims, it didn't stop Michael Eavis inviting the Pet Shop Boys to play Glastonbury in 2000. So are Pet Shop Boys to blame? They enjoy more acclaim, column inches and publicity. However are they any more successful? Both bands produce electronic pop. Erasure use vintage synths, while Pet Shop Boys straddle contemporary dance genres. Lyrically Neil and Andy are different, the formers lyrics tend to be introspective, detached, intellectual, sincere and heartbreaking, whilst Andy too does heartbreaking, but his words are often sentimental, fairytale-like, personal and unusual. The fans of both bands may very well have similar subtle differences and aspirations but I'm sure they share a love of classic pop music, be it Abba, The Human League, New Order or Kylie Minogue and I know from some casual visits to the various forums, Erasure fans are just as contemporary and forward looking in their tastes as the Pet Shop Boys fan. So why division? And derision?

My own rationale for this oversight is that the media and music press must have got bored with Erasure. To them Erasure were a novelty and while it lasted they sold copy. Above this there was a couple of weak albums and strange single choices. Arguably the self-titled 'Erasure' album released in 1996 was their strongest, consistent, dark and experimental opus. This was the most overlooked. A true 'lost' and 'misunderstood' album. Ironically this was where the commercial decline began. This wasn't redeemed by 1997's weaker, 'Cowboy' album. The album title alone was, at worst, questionable and apart from the singles extracted from it, it failed to open up anything refreshing. Then when fresh electronic music, or 'electroclash' was starting to emerge from New York, Erasure put out 'Loveboat', a dirtier sounding work produced with Flood. This album, some fans wondered, was mastered all wrong. I enjoyed the brave sonic experiment but I wondered why on earth it was called 'Loveboat', why the cover art was naff and cheap looking and where had the four on the floor singles gone. Maybe they were forced to walk the plank. Nevertheless it was their worst performing album since 1985's 'Wonderland'. So was Erasure finally sunk? Well not exactly. There was a dubious cover's album in 2003 in the shape of 'Other People's Songs' which saw them return to the Top Ten singles chart in the UK with 'Solsbury Hill' and the next album, 2005's 'Nightbird' did give the impression of featuring a couple of Erasure classic signature sounds with chords and hooks to match, but nothing quite as seductively pop or classic as 'The Innocents' or 'Chorus'. Then came 2007's 'Light At The End Of The World'. Well this was in many sense a return to form, if you forgive the horrendous cover art work, and it did pick up some good reviews for ages, but, well, is it now too late?

In spite of all of the above I'm enjoying the joys of Erasure, past and present in the shape of their best album tracks, b-sides and remixes, all collected and updated in my iTunes playlists, and with the re-emergence of electronic music, maybe it's time for you to re-appraise Erasure.