Sparks
Studio album by
Sparks
ReleasedSeptember 1971 (as Halfnelson)
July 1972 (as Sparks)
Recorded1971
Genre
Length40:23
LabelBearsville
ProducerTodd Rundgren
Sparks chronology
Sparks
(1971)		 A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing
(1973)
Alternative cover
1971 release
Singles from Halfnelson/Sparks
  1. "Wonder Girl" b/w "(No More) Mr. Nice Guys"
    Released: May 1972 (US) / November 1972 (UK) / November 10, 1972 (The Netherlands)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]

Sparks, originally titled Halfnelson, is the debut album by the Los Angeles rock band Sparks. The album was first released as Halfnelson, the band's original name, and reissued a year later under the group’s new name.

Recording

At this point in their career, Halfnelson was a three piece group comprising the Mael brothers and guitarist Earle Mankey. The demos that the trio had recorded in Mankey's home studio came to the attention of musician and producer Todd Rundgren, who signed them to the Bearsville label and produced their debut album in 1971. Interviewed in 2013, the duo recalled their collaboration with Rundgren as a very positive experience.

Ron Mael: "It was intimidating for us just to be in a studio, but he was really incredibly open to what we were doing, and I think we really felt like kindred spirits, even though some of his own music was kinda maybe more soul-based. But he was an Anglophile just the way we were Anglophiles. It all went incredibly well with him personally and musically."

Russell Mael: "To his credit, he didn't wanna change what we were doing, he just wanted the fidelity to be a little better. So we were going into an expensive recording studio with Todd, but still banging on cardboard boxes and all. He could see that the recording process was kind of a part of what we were. It wasn't that we needed to be changed into a traditional band. The way we were recording was a fair part of what we were and what made us interesting as a band to him.”

"Wonder Girl", the band's first single, exemplified both the Maels' unorthodox approach, and Rundgren's openness to it:

Russell Mael: "Todd really wanted to preserve the quality of the demo. It's not like a live band sound at all. The guitar parts are really deliberate. The recording has a real character to it.”

Ron Mael: "The keyboard on that was the Wurlitzer. It was always difficult for me to figure out how a keyboard really worked with a band. So in that particular song, it was kind of a two-note riff.”[4]

Release

Halfnelson was initially released on Bearsville Records in 1971. Shortly after the release of the album the group changed their name to 'Sparks'. The album was then re-released by Bearsville Records in 1972 as Sparks.[5] The new version of the album featured new artwork that was simpler, displaying the group in more of a classic pose superimposed against a red brick pattern. The single to this reissue "Wonder Girl", became a minor regional hit in certain parts of Alabama and California and also appeared on the lower end of the Cashbox chart at #92. The single also Bubbled Under the Hot 100 at No. 112. The tracks "Roger" and "Saccharin and the War" are re-recorded versions of songs from their untitled 1969 demo album, which is erroneously referred to as "The 'A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing' Demos".

Re-issue

Sparks has been re-released numerous times since 1972. It is often packaged with the follow-up album A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing. One such re-issue was released in 1975 to capitalize on the group's success in the UK. This version was titled 2 Originals of Sparks and was packaged as a double-LP in a gatefold sleeve with a 14-page booklet.

The most recent CD re-issue was released in 2019 in The Netherlands on Music On CD.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wonder Girl"Ron Mael2:21
2."Fa La Fa Lee"Ron Mael2:53
3."Roger"Russell Mael2:37
4."High C"Ron Mael3:13
5."Fletcher Honorama"Ron Mael4:15
6."Simple Ballet"Russell Mael, Ron Mael3:53
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Slowboat"Russell Mael, Ron Mael3:54
8."Biology 2"Earle Mankey3:10
9."Saccharin and the War"Russell Mael4:02
10."Big Bands"Ron Mael, Russell Mael4:16
11."(No More) Mr. Nice Guys"Jim Mankey, Ron Mael5:49

Personnel

Halfnelson
Technical
  • Todd Rundgren - producer
  • Thaddeus James Lowe - engineer
  • Ron Mael - artwork
  • Larry Dupont - photography

References

  1. ↑ "Sparks - Biography by Jason Ankeny". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ↑ Allmusic review
  4. ↑ "Sparks - Ron and Russell Mael: 45 Years in Showbiz". soundonsound.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Sparks Discography - Albums and 7" Singles". graphikdesigns.free.fr. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
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