The Sparks Brothers (5 Stars)

Quite simply, this is the best documentary I've ever seen. It manages to be informative and entertaining at the same time. This is a mixture that most documentaries, even good documentaries, fail to achieve.

Prior to watching the film I had only limited knowledge of the Sparks brothers, Russell and Ron Mael. That means I belong to the film's target audience. Like most people from the UK, I considered Sparks to be a one hit wonder. For many years I only knew them from their hit single "This town ain't big enough for both of us", which reached number two in the British pop charts in 1974. I first saw them performing this song on Top Of The Pops, after which it became a hit.

An aside note about Top Of The Pops, the British pop music programme that was broadcast from 1964 to 2006. I watched it every week throughout my youth, from my early teens until I left England at 22. I didn't like most of the songs, but I considered it essential viewing to keep up with British music culture. It was broadcast on Thursday evening on BBC. At school the next day my friends discussed the programme, and sometimes I threw in my own opinions, which were shouted down. My friends were into pop music, I wasn't. When I was 18 and went to university I still watched Top Of The Pops, and I discussed it with my best friend, Christopher Burton. Sometimes we even watched it together. We had similar tastes in music, so we usually agreed that most of the songs were bad.

But getting back to Sparks. I saw them perform "This town ain't big enough for both of us" on a Thursday evening in 1974. It was a song that I liked. The next day in school all the children were enthusiastic about it. It was one of the rare times that I belonged to the in crowd. I was in the sixth form at the time, and my school had a sixth form lounge. Radio One ran all day, when there were no lessons. Nobody ever changed the channel. I remember Terry Wogan talking about the Sparks performance the next day. He said, "Did you see the man with those eyes?"

After that, Sparks disappeared, as far as I was concerned. The only other song that I ever heard was "Something for the girl with everything", a 1975 single which didn't become a hit. Wikipedia lists a song called "Never turn your back on Mother Earth" as a minor hit in late 1974, but I don't remember it. Maybe they never played it on Top Of The Pops.

I lived in Germany from 1978 to 1997. Then I moved to America. That's where I rediscovered Sparks. Several of my friends were Sparks fans. Huh? So they weren't a one hit wonder after all? I listened to the album "Kimono My House", and I loved it. I borrowed other Sparks albums. I also listened to their early albums. I was surprised to find out that their first album, "Halfnelson", was produced by Todd Rundgren. I was (and still am) a big fan of Todd Rundgren's early music (1968 to 1976). He wasn't a typical record producer. Whenever he produced a record, he took control. He became a non-playing member of the group. I can recognise his style in "Halfnelson".

P.S. I'm convinced that Todd Rundgren plays guitar on "Electrick Gypsies" on Steve Hillage's album "L", even though he isn't credited.

I bought a few of Sparks' albums. In 2000 they were stolen, along with the rest of my CD collection, by Thomas Kuzilla of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. I'm not a believer in Karma, but I'm happy to say that he's now dead. The world is a better place without him. I rebought some of my favourite CDs, but I didn't have enough money to replace all 1800 of them, so I had to make a selection. I didn't rebuy any of Sparks' albums. In retrospect, that was a mistake.

So I forgot Sparks again. This lasted until 2010. At that time I was able to download most albums from the Internet. It was illegal, technically speaking, but I didn't care. I retrieved MP3 versions of at least half of my stolen music collection. I added some new albums. Among others, I downloaded the complete collection of Sparks up to 2010. I enjoyed most of the albums, but not all of them. "Plagiarism" stood out as an album that particularly annoyed me. It didn't remain on my hard drive for long.

Over the next years I've occasionally listened to Sparks, especially their 1970's albums. Now it's become legal. I listen to their albums on Amazon Music, so I don't have to clutter up my hard disc with thousands of MP3s.

Incidentally, from 2010 to 2015 I owned two computers. One of them was used solely for collecting MP3s. I had both computers in the same room. I used to write and chat on one computer while the other was playing music.

Last month I was reminded of Sparks again by the release of "Annette", a musical written by the Sparks brothers, featuring their music. While reading reviews of the film I found out that Edgar Wright had made a documentary about the group. Edgar Wright? Then I had to see it! He's one of my favourite directors. He'd never made documentaries before this, but if he makes a documentary it has to be good.

I wasn't disappointed.

The film filled in my almost non-existent knowledge of the band's history. There was (probably) nothing new for hardcore Sparks fans, of which there was at least one in the cinema audience, based on her Sparks outfit. For me it was new, and there were a few surprises. I never knew that they were lived in England for two periods in their career. From 1973 to 1976 they formed a group that only had British musicians, apart from the two brothers themselves. This sometimes led to the misconception that Russell and Ron Mael were British as well, but No, they're from California. There's a curious anecdote about their first appearance on Top Of The Pops. They were signed up to appear on the show, but when they turned up to make a recording the producer realised they were American, and he told them they couldn't appear because of the rules of the musicians' union. Their slot on the show was given to the Rubettes at short notice. They finally appeared on Top Of The Pops three weeks later after signing the appropriate papers (which probably included joining the British musicians' union, although it wasn't stated).

I was also told that Sparks were popular in Germany in the 1980's. That surprised me. On the other hand, I lost track of the pop music scene while I lived in Germany. There was no German equivalent of Top Of The Pops for me to watch every week.

Sparks isn't the biggest band of the 1970's, or any other era. What makes them stand out is that they've retained their energy for 50 years. Think of any other rock groups of the 1970's. They had big success for a few years, after which they fizzled out. Maybe their albums became samey. Maybe they stopped making albums. Maybe they just spent their years as tired old men on stage performing their greatest hits for older fans. Not Sparks. Russell and Ron Mael, with changing support musicians, have managed to change styles and remain fresh over the decades.

The film's tag line is "Your favourite band's favourite band". That's interesting, and it's a theme that crops up repeatedly when famous musicians (i.e. more famous than Sparks) are interviewed in the documentary. Sparks are a group that's more popular with musicians than with the general public. They were also influential as the first Anglo-American electropop group in the late 1970's, paving the way for groups like the Pet Shop Boys and Human League. Most fans don't even realise that Sparks were the main influence of their favourite bands.

The documentary progresses through Sparks' 25 albums and the stylistic changes over the years. What fascinated me is that they had a six year enforced hiatus from 1988 to 1994. Due to low sales of their previous albums, they couldn't find a company that would give them a recording contract. That would make any other group give up. Any other group would turn to drugs, or simply get new jobs. Not Sparks. For six years they worked hard, writing and recording new songs. They were in their studio every day. I wonder how many albums can be made from this music archive.

How many more years of music can we expect from Sparks? That depends on their health. Ron Mael is 76, Russell Mael is 73. They both seem to be healthy, but it's a critical age. I hope they continue for years while their creativity is at a high point.

One thing that I didn't entirely agree with is the claim that Sparks, unlike most bands, include humour in their music. I don't see that. There's nothing in their songs that makes me laugh. What I see in their music is a subtle irony. Maybe that's what Edgar Wright means.

Where do I go from here? The documentary overwhelmed me. I've decided to listen to all the Sparks albums again, the more recent ones for the first time. I'll listen to each album chronologically, even "Plagiarism". but not just in quick succession. I'll listen to each album several times in order to fully appreciate it.