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Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Sparks 2000-09 catalog gets deluxe reissue treatment

Sparks' 21st Century Sparks collection of deluxe reissues will be released by BMG on CD and vinyl later this spring. Balls (2000), Lil’ Beethoven (2002), and Hello Young Lovers (2006) arrive on Friday, April 29; Exotic Creatures Of The Deep (2008) and The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman (2009) follow on Friday, May 27. Pre-orders are available now HERE.

All five releases – a number of which have been out of print for years and much sought after by Sparks collectors – have been specially remastered for the 21st Century Sparks collection, with an array of bonus material – much of it previously unreleased – featured on all (excluding 2009’s radio musical, The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman). Sparks’ two most recent releases – Hippopotamus (2017) and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (2020) – complete the collection and are both available now.

Sparks are about to begin an epic world tour, including the biggest North American run of their career. North American dates – which began last month with a pair of hometown shows at Los Angeles, CA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall – continue through early April, followed by shows in the UK and Europe. Additional dates will be announced. For complete details and ticket availability, please visit allsparks.com.

SPARKS
The 21st Century Sparks Collection
(BMG)

TRACKLISTS

Balls
(2022 remaster - originally released in 2000)
Release Date: Friday, April 29
* First Time on Vinyl *
1. Balls
2. More Than A Sex Machine
3. Scheherazade
4. Aeroflot
5. The Calm Before The Storm
6. How To Get Your Ass Kicked
7. Bullet Train
8. It’s A Knockoff
9. Irreplaceable
10. It’s Educational
11. The Angels

CD Bonus Tracks:
12. It's A Sparks Show [Opening theme for Sparks live shows; Previously unreleased]
13. Calm Before The Opera [Reworking of the song ‘The Calm Before The Storm’]
14. The Angels (Sparks Alternative Version)
15. More Than A Sex Machine (Sparks Definitive Version - Radio Edit)
16. The Angels (Tony Visconti version)
17. The Oblongs [Proposed pilot theme song for the animated TV series The Oblongs; Previously released in Japan]
18. A Cute Candidate [Opening Theme From In Entertainment We Trust: Music From The Motion Picture A Cute Candidate by Kuntzel+Deygas]
19. The Race For President [From In Entertainment We Trust: Music From The Motion Picture A Cute Candidate by Kuntzel+Deygas]

Lil’ Beethoven
(2022 remaster - originally released in 2002)
(BMG)
Release Date: Friday, April 29
1. The Rhythm Thief
2. How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall?
3. What Are All These Bands So Angry About?
4. I Married Myself
5. Ride ‘Em Cowboy
6. My Baby’s Taking Me Home
7. Your Call’s Very Important To Us. Please Hold.
8. Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls
9. Suburban Homeboy

CD Bonus Tracks:
10. The Legend Of Lil' Beethoven [The story of ‘Lil’ Beethoven’ read by Ron Mael]
11. Wunderbar (Concerto In Koch Minor) [Originally commissioned for Günther Koch Revisited: Voll in den Mann by Bayerischer Rundfunk / Hörspiel und Medienkunst; Features the sampled voice of Günther Koch]
12. Kakadu [Originally commissioned for one word one sound by Bayerischer Rundfunk / Hörspiel und Medienkunst Concept: a song created from an assigned word and sound, Word: “Kakadu” (voice of Richard Huelsenbeck). Sound: papier schnippen / snip paper. Reading by Tammy Glover]
13. Suburban Homeboy (Extended "Ron Speaks" Version)
14. The Rhythm Thief (Instrumental Version)

Hello Young Lovers
(2022 remaster - originally released in 2005)
(BMG)
Release Date: Friday, April 29
1. Dick Around
2. Perfume
3. The Very Next Fight
4. (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
5. Rock, Rock, Rock
6. Metaphor
7. Waterproof
8. Here Kitty
9. There’s No Such Thing as Aliens
10. As I Sit Down to Play the Organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral

CD Bonus Tracks:
11. We Are The Clash [Originally released on White Riot, Vol.2: A Tribute to The Clash, issued by Uncut Magazine in November 2003]
12. (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country (Alternative Lyrics)

Exotic Creatures of the Deep
(2022 remaster - originally released 2008)
(BMG)
Release Date: Friday, May 27
1. Intro
2. Good Morning
3. Strange Animal
4. I Can’t Believe That You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song
5. Let the Monkey Drive
6. Intro Reprise
7. I’ve Never Been High
8. (She Got Me) Pregnant
9. Lighten Up, Morrissey
10. This Is the Renaissance
11. The Director Never Yelled ‘Cut’
12. Photoshop
13. Likeable

CD Bonus Tracks:
14. Brenda is Always in the Way [B-side of the 7” single ‘Lighten Up, Morrissey’]
15. Islington N1 [Written to commemorate the concert event Sparks Spectacular: 21 Albums in 21 Nights (May-June 2008) in Islington, London; Originally available only for “Golden Ticket” holders]
16. Mr. Hulot [Unused theme song written for the documentary The Magnificent Tati]
17. I Am A Bookworm [End theme song of the radio show Bookworm, hosted by Michael Silverblatt, and broadcast weekly on National Public Radio member station KCRW in Los Angeles]
18. Where Would We Be Without Books [Main theme song of the radio show Bookworm, as above]

The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman
(2022 remaster – originally released in 2009)
(BMG)
Release Date: Friday, May 27
1. 1956 Cannes Film Festival
2. “I Am Ingmar Bergman”
3. Limo Driver (Welcome To Hollywood)
4. “Here He Is Now”
5. “Mr. Bergman, How Are You?”
6. “He’ll Come ‘Round”
7. En Route To The Beverly Hills Hotel
8. Hollywood Welcoming Committee
9. “I’ve Got To Contact Sweden”
10. The Studio Commissary
11. “I Must Not Be Hasty”
12. “Quiet On The Set”
13. “Why Do You Take That Tone With Me?”
14. Pleasant Hotel Staff
15. Hollywood Tour Bus
16. Autograph Hounds
17. Bergman Ponders Escape
18. “We’ve Got To Turn Him ‘Round”
19. Escape (Part 1)
20. Escape (Part 2)
21. “Oh My God”
22. Garbo Sings
23. Almost A Hollywood Ending
24. “He’s Home”

Hippopotamus (2017)
(BMG)
Available Now
1. Probably Nothing
2. Missionary Position
3. Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)
4. Scandinavian Design
5. Giddy Giddy
6. What the Hell Is It This Time?
7. Unaware
8. Hippopotamus
9. Bummer
10. I Wish You Were Fun
11. So Tell Me Mrs Lincoln Aside From That How Was The Play
12. When You’re a French Director
13. The Amazing Mr. Repeat
14. A Little Bit Like Fun
15. Life with the Macbeths

A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (2021)
(BMG)
Available Now
1. All That
2. I’m Toast
3. Lawnmower
4. Sainthood Is Not in Your Future
5. Pacific Standard Time
6. Stravinsky’s Only Hit
7. Left Out in the Cold
8. Self-Effacing
9. One for the Ages
10. Onomato Pia
11. iPhone
12. The Existential Threat
13. Nothing Travels Faster Than the Speed of Light
14. Please Don’t Fuck Up My World


Photo by: PHILIPPE MAZZONI, courtesy Big Hassle Media

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