Sparks cover of "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
Vann Hall sends this 1976 cover of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by Sparks. (Audio only.) It was recorded for their Big Beat album but didn't make the cut. The track was eventually released as a vinyl single and later as a CD bonus track. From a site about the band:
Even though "Big Beat" was going to be a more stripped down album with more guitars and fewer of Ron's keyboards Russell Mael was going to do a lush, orchestral duet version of Lennonn & MacCartney's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with Marianne Faithfull. Producer Rupert Holmes did syrupy score for the song, yet Marianne Faithfull dropped out of the project at the last minute leaving Rupert Holmes, Jeffrey Lesser and The Maels with a score and no one to sing it. Russell Mael ended up singing the song, yet it seemed so incongruous even for Sparks, that this execrable orchestral assault produced by Jeffrey Lesser never appeared on an album. Link
the latest
latest episodes
Proving that at least half the Beatles talent was in the performance.
I could go on . . .
I love the Sparks. They were my brother's favorite band growing up, so I was exposed to a lot of them over the years. Very under-appreciated!
That track was a bit of a prank - it is intentionally schmaltzy. Sparks are so cheeky. Their Valentines day 2009 show in L.A. was so astoundingly good it brought tears to my eyes.
DANDYRAKE is right - look up irony, it's in the dictionary.
Is it me or does this sound like Feargal Sharkey? He of Undertones and Teenage Kicks fame.
I believe my original description of the track went something like this:
Now, a couple of decades after the fact, it's almost not embarrassing at all, coming across something like the Fifth Dimension meet Bachrach and David in the catacombs below Studio 54….
I'm going to go listen to 'My Mustache' by them now
mazoola is right. this is a brilliant cover by a brilliant band.
Thanks, my hubby is a Sparks fan.
-Carrie
Sparks are so funny and talented, it's a shame that they still seem to be something of a secret. I'm glad to see BoingBoing feature them; maybe some people will be tempted to check them out. For any who may doubt their ability, check out "Kimono My House", the classic, or "Profile", a best-of.
Cracking me up right now is "Tryouts for the Human Race", sung by sperm anxious to get to the egg, and an entirely danceable track.
"We just want to feel the sun, to be your little daughter or your son
We're just words that lovers use, words that light that automatic fuse
When that love explosion comes, my oh my, we want to be someone"
my oh my!
It should also be noted that the same Rupert Holmes who worked on that track (who, yes, is the Pina Colada Song dude among several other later credits) put out a single on the 10th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival in the U.S. titled "I Don't Want to Hold Your Hand".
http://www.rupertholmes.com/record/discography/rupert_holmes.html
Oh phooey. BoingBoing finally gets around to mentioning my favorite band, and instead of showcasing them as the ultimate prehistoric ur-geek band they post the ONE TRACK most guaranteed to make the curious run screaming in the opposite direction. As anyone with any passing familiarity with Sparks will tell you - it's a joke, folks.
It's worth noting that the Maels are pretty notorious for lying to the press. When they first hit it big in Britain in the early 70s they told some teenybopper rag that they were the sons of Doris Day. That one still occasionally gets trotted out by the unwitting press. The Marianne Faithfull story just stinks of Mael media manipulation.
I don't care if this hideous mess is supposed to be some kind of clever post-modern 'joke' that anticipates SongSmith by about 30 years, it's still an abomination. It sounds like bad karaoke sung over the wrong backing track.
I used to enjoy their singles though, back in the day. And while I don't actually like the Pina Colada song, it's a well crafted piece of schmaltz that succeeds in what it sets out to do.
I saw these two walking through Disneyland one day way back when. I like "I Predict," but I don't remember any of their other songs.
That "way back when" was probably about the time their song "Mickey Mouse" came out. They actually played my high school Grad Night concert at Disneyland. I had no idea then that, 25 years later, they would be my favorite band of all time.
@12 TinaTwice: Oh phooey. BoingBoing finally gets around to mentioning my favorite band, and instead of showcasing them as the ultimate prehistoric ur-geek band they post the ONE TRACK most guaranteed to make the curious run screaming in the opposite direction. As anyone with any passing familiarity with Sparks will tell you - it's a joke, folks.
I've never heard of The Sparks before, but this single track has made me want to check out all of their other stuff! =D I don't know, maybe this one track is supposed to be a "joke", but only as much as Captain Beefheart is a "joke"--there's a certain deep artistry to crafting a "joke" this good. Your worries are unfounded as far as I'm concerned, TinaTwice.
@13 I don't care if this hideous mess is supposed to be some kind of clever post-modern 'joke' that anticipates SongSmith by about 30 years, it's still an abomination. It sounds like bad karaoke sung over the wrong backing track.
Holy cow, if SongSmith sounded like this, I'd be a huge fan of SongSmith. But then again, I'm the kind of guy who thinks that bad karaoke sung over the wrong backing track would be potentially very interesting to listen to.
"the number one song in heaven" pretty much sums it up
(Ron & Russell Mael, Giorgio Moroder)
This is the number one song in heaven
Written, of course, by the mightiest hand
All of the angels are sheep in the fold of their master
They alwas follow the Master and his plan
This is the number one song in heaven
Why are you hearing it now, you ask
Maybe you're closer to here than you imagine
Maybe you're closer to here than you care to be
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven
If you should die before you wake
If you should die while crossing the street
The song that you'll hear, I guarantee
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
It's number one, all over heaven
The number one song all over heaven
The one that's the rage up here in the clouds
Loud s a crowd or soft as a doubt
Lyrically weak, but the music's the thing
Gabriel plays it,
God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it,
God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it,
God how he plays it
Gabriel plays it, let's hear him play it
The song filters down, down through the clouds
It reaches the earth and winds all around
And then it breaks up in millions of ways
It goes la, la, la......
In cars it becomes a hit
In your homes it becomes advertisements
And in the streets it becomes the children singing...
You could do worse than check out my YouTube channel... http://www.youtube.com/BritSwedeGuy