SPARKS RULE!!!!

[markydefad]

I just recently got the "Lil' Beethoven" cd by the wonderfully irreverent Sparks. It's not "music that you can dance to" ....but it's quite wonderful.

My fave so far... "Suburban Homeboy" :D


I am a suburban homeboy with a suburban 'ho right by my side
I am a suburban homeboy and I say yo dog to my pool cleaning guy
I hope I'm baggy enough for them
I play my Shaggy enough for them
I'll pop a cap up some fool at the Gap
'Cause I'm a suburban homeboy

I am a suburban homeboy with a suburban ho right by my side
I am a suburban homeboy and I say yo' dog to my detailing guy
I bought me cornrows on Amazon
I started listening to Farrakhan
My caddy and me he looks just like Jay-Z
And I'm a suburban homeboy

I am a suburban homeboy with a suburban ho right by my side
She's known as Miss Missy Tannenbaum and she's one freak bitch, ain't no lie
She's from the projects in St. Tropez
She looks like Iverson in a way
She yo yo's me and I yo yo her back
And I'm a suburban homeboy
She yo yo's me and I yo yo her back
And I'm a suburban homeboy
She yo yo's me and I yo yo her back
And I'm a suburban homeboy

We are suburban homeboys
With our suburban ho's right by our sides
We are suburban homeboys and we say yo dog and we mean it, by God
We've got an old school mentality
Oxford and Cambridge mentality
Props to our peeps and please keep your receipts
And we are suburban homeboys
Props to our peeps and please keep your receipts
And we are suburban homeboys
Props to our peeps and please keep your receipts
And we are suburban homeboys
Props to our peeps and please keep your receipts
And we are suburban homeboys

Is this flat-out funny or what? Also, it's sort of a Gilbert & Sullivan-ish pastiche with a sythesized string quartet arrangement. Too cool. :D If I get "Yo Yo, Bro-ed from one more white guy , I'm gonna p-p-p-puke!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Here's the AMG review:

Lil' Beethoven
Date of Release Nov 26, 2002
AMG Rating
Genre Rock
Tones Elegant, Brash, Playful, Boisterous, Humorous, Energetic, Lush, Light
Styles Pop/Rock
Product Purchase Click here to buy this album

Anybody looking for Sparks to return to the timeless lushness of "Under the Table With Her" or the sonic indiscretions of "Change," the disconcerting dynamics of "Equator," or the pulsing repetition of Number One Song in Heaven is going to recognize Lil' Beethoven almost immediately. But anybody holding any of those ideals so dear that they cannot see past their superficial tensions is going to be left in disarray. Lil' Beethoven is the (or, more appropriately, a) summation of everything Sparks had been promising for the past 30 years. It is also quite unlike anything they have ever delivered before. The classical pretensions of the title are mirrored exactly in the music. Strings, acoustics, piano, and chorales are the album's primary assets, layered on with such guile that their essential simplicity is absolutely disguised. Lyrically, Lil' Beethoven is sharper than Sparks have sounded in a while — at least since the best bits of Gratuitous Sax, with the closing "Suburban Homeboy" a brilliant summary of every rich kid booming rap from their mother's SUV ("I say 'yo! Dog' to my detailing guy"). One song, though, is constructed almost wholly around a joke that is older than dirt ("How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?" — "practice, man, practice"); another takes the bulk of its lyric from a stubborn voice-mail system ("Your Call Is Very Important to Us — Please Hold"). But, while the repetition itself can grow...well, repetitive, on an album that stakes out its parameters by introducing "The Rhythm Thief" ("oh no, where did the groove go?"), then letting him steal every beat off the record, the mantras themselves become a pulse of sorts, around which the orchestrations take the wildest flights. There are breaks. The exquisite "I Married Myself" is as lush a loving ballad as Sparks have ever wrapped their more Beatlesque aspirations around, and that despite the entire song stretching out over the kind of prelude that other people might have reserved for a pretty prelude alone. Later, "Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls" is less a lyric, more a son-of-"Change"-style diatribe, but the greatest shock comes when you realize just how easily conditioned you were by the rest of the album. Thumping beat and wired guitar leap out with such resolute energy that it feels like you're listening to another record entirely — every time you play it. And that is the magic of Lil' Beethoven. It takes a few plays to understand and a few more to appreciate. But how many times can you listen to it through and still be discovering new things to admire? That's a question that time alone can answer. — Dave Thompson

1. The Rhythm Thief (Mael/Mael) - 5:18

(this one cracks me up too ....I would guess it's about "sampling"...stealing beats off other people's records...:

"I am the rhythm thief....Say goodbye to the beat.....Oh no, where did the groove go? You'll never get it back...the rhythm thief has got it and you'll never get it back." :evil: :evil: :evil: :lol: :lol: :lol:

2. How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall? (Mael/Mael) - 3:50
3. What Are All These Bands So Angry About? (Mael/Mael) - 3:32
(A spoof of the pissed-off punk wannabes)
4. I Married Myself (Mael/Mael) - 4:59
5. Ride 'Em Cowboy (Mael/Mael) - 4:20
6. My Baby's Taking Me Home (Mael/Mael) - 4:42
7. Your Call's Very Important to Us. Please... (Mael/Mael) - 4:11
8. Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls (Mael/Mael) - 7:07
(think ugly guy Ric Ocasek of the Cars marrying gorgeous model Paulina Porizkova) :P
9. Suburban Homeboy (Mael/Mael) - 2:58

Sue Harris - Charge D'Affaires
Ron Mael - Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Orchestration
Russell Mael - Arranger, Programming, Vocals, Producer
Dean Menta - Guitar
John Thomas - Engineer, Mixing
Dónal Murphy - Video

If that sounds interesting to ya, it's highly recommended by me. :D :D :D

[Bernie]

Marky,

I laughed my ass off on this one and did something I've never done before...
spent .99¢ for the download!

Brilliant lyrics. Thanks for letting me know about this and that Sparks is still around.

[markydefad]

Glad you enjoyed it Bernie!!!! This cd sorta slipped under the radar. Luckily, I found a promo copy for cheap.

the phrase..."she yo yo's me & I yo yo her back, I'm a Suburban Homeboy"...keeps repeating in my brain!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[NickNack]

The lyrics are funny as all get out. I'm curious: Is this the same Sparks that did "Beat The Clock" in 1979? :o

[markydefad]

Yep it's the same old Sparks (the Mael brothers: Ron & Russell)....but NOT in the dance mode started by their association with Moroder through all those new wave hits in the early-mid 80s. (Beat The Clock; Tryouts For The Human Race; The Number One Song In Heaven; When I'm With You; Modesty Plays; All She Wants To Do Is Dance; Cool Places; Dance Goddamit; Music that You Can Dance To, etc.)

This cd has the sound they started with in the mid-70s....sorta Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" classical pretensions mixed with quirky humor mixed with rock mixed with Beatle-esque ballads. There's nothing remotely danceable on this cd...just clever writing & perfoming.

[nrgbeat]

Gee, first "Hey Ya" and now "Surburban Homeboy" next thing you know you'll be wearin dreads and baggy pants. :D

[markydefad]

Not much chance of that. :lol:

This is satire. It's sung as if in a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta back by a string quartet.

Imagine Monty Python doing Hip Hop without the beats. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[sfbeary]

sparks are genius and have never lost their edge in over 30 years. i don't think i could say that of any of their contemporaries, let alone most groups who've been around for half that time.

when i interviewed franz ferdinand, i gave them a sealed sparks 8-track, and we were immediate friends.

[Videoskooter]

I remember hearing them the first time on radio with "This town ain't big enough for the both of us". That was a weird record!

I especially like "Singing in the shower" which they did with French band Les Rita Mitsouko.

Great band/brothers.

[SandraDee]

Sparks have got to be one of the most influential acts EVER! People like Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Soft Cell, Blur, OMD & many others often sited Sparks as a major influence on their work.