Sparks are one of my favorite bands and I was so excited for this movie - saw it in the theater right when it was released. The problem was that it was just plain B-O-R-I-N-G! That was quite a feat considering how interesting of a band they are. What was the point of this project? They surely won't pick up any new fans with this; none will even make it through! And for big fans like me - we already know the albums. Going through them (all 25) one by one was torture. I wanted to know more about Russ and Ron, and had the same unanswered questions that you did.
Huge missed opportunity in my opinion.
Rich Madow
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Really great points; even as a Sparks fan, I agree with all of them. I was disappointed with the Velvets doc for different reasons, though both had a similar “designer chips bag” quality.
Probably dating myself here, but the last two truly great rock docs I recall seeing are New York Doll and Mayor of Sunset Strip. The latter plays (more?) creepily in the wake of the Fowley business, but it’s still quality film nonetheless. As is Doll, which has all the bathos and will to triumph that great artist stories are built on, plus Mormons!
It’s not a rock documentary, but to me, Zwigoff’s Crumb is the gold standard for capturing warts-and-all creative genius.
Good stuff,
Casey Rae
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I gotta think the $ in the off US years was Europe & Japan. I thought it was better than the VU doc (too art monster) but the last 45 min dragged heavily.
Steve Tipp
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now do “Annette” :)
Marius de vries
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I've been a Sparks fan for eons... While in college I took a class in French literature...(no I'm not that smart) and required reading was the French comedy writer of the 1600's... Moliere... I connected the dots and realized that Sparks were rock and roll's answer to a French comedy.. Moliere!!! I loved the movie.. and yes it was a bit laborious at the end.. going over every album in chronological order coincides with their oddness. I thought the movie showed a great relationship of family... and that after 50 years brothers can still get along and love life..
Jeff Laufer
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I'm a fan of Sparks so I loved it besides the director Wright being brilliant telling their story in a unique exciting way for the youth of today. At the theatre there were more kids working behind the counter asking my friends and I about the band than in the seats. Cult band that even I admit am not crazy about half the records they made. Similar to the Zappa documentary I really dug the early period. Everyone should cut it off earlier like the Zeppelin one coming out. I know there is an agenda with the Sparks legacy living on but at this point is it still really to an average movie goer or 70's/80's fan of the band ? That is the 10,000 dollar question. I think we already know the answer.
Peter Gianakopoulos
The Old School Records
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The Sparks Brothers Movie is just way too long. With a 90 minute film you’d have got a taster and wondered how Sparks passed you by. At 140 minutes you’ve heard it all and are not surprised they never made it big. Edgar Wright is still a genius though. Last Night in Soho is a belter.
Andrew Harting
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I just watched the trailer. Are you sure it’s not a joke? With all those people pretending they were a big deal? (It certainly sounds like it’s a joke.) I’ll have to watch!
Jeffrey Ainis
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Tell me this Bob - why should everyone else be denied the chance to see a movie on a huge theater screen, just because YOU don't want to? Millions of people still like to go to the movies. The fact you're not one of them is probably the fault of the substandard theaters in your area (and Covid), not the movie theatre industry as a whole.
A film gets a buzz out of a theatrical release that it will never get from a straight to video release.
Mike Blakesley
(A theater owner)
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We did a sneak peek screening last June, where Chad Smith and GE Smith introduced the film. This was when nobody was going to theaters, but they came out for this.
It’s a one-of-a-kind film. Especially if you fancied yourself a stay at home music historian.
D
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I liked it but WAAAAAY too long.
Karen Bliss
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Sparks are the future of rock. A niche act with a small but totally loyal fanbase. No piles of gold, just being able to have a modest but very lovely life playing music for decades. What more can you ask for?
Sara Joseph
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Love your review. I actually enjoyed the movie and agree with one interviewee's view of their ability to age elegantly in the pop music business. Still, I had some carps of my own.
Though he owns up to the silliness of his literal visual, making them meta doesn’t make them any less silly.
The film does address the money issue by saying that when they were flush they saved their money rather than putting it up their nose or buying flashy cars and big houses, but I too would have liked more personal background.
While I was left with admiration for their ambition, independence, and stick to it attitude, I don’t find their music any more interesting than I did at the time.
Be well
Michael Ross
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……I loved every minute of it!
Tommy Allen
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Boy do I think you have this wrong. At first I thought this another attempt at another Spinal Tapesque movie.
But I was an avid listener at the time and I had never heard of them. The documentary was about fascinating quirkiness. It doesn’t really answer any questions maybe because the point is to leave you wondering about everything.
Now that I have seen the documentary would I’d be interested if they were on your podcast? Oh yeah, they left you with hours of questions.
Marc Menchel
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The Sparks Brother movie is the prequel to Annette by Leos Carax. When watched one after the other it makes both movies better.
Mathieu-Gilles-Lanciault
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You ask the same questions I do. How do they exist when they don't have jobs? And nothing about their personal lives. I watched out of curiosity because I first became aware of them via the Rollercoaster film. And Paul McCartney imitation of Ron in the Coming Up video.
They're a total cult band.
Peace
Tim Clary
P.S. And you're right about it being on Netflix. I had no idea either.
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Loathe them more than Helen Reddy .... stay bright, Andrew Loog Oldham
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You have asked the ultimate question, everyone wonders. “How do/did you survive”? That would be a documentary. Bands/artists work hard to have that moment, that success continuing success (Cash Flow) for most it never happens. It’s the elephant room. It goes against the rock star image the fans want. A day job is too normal not cool. Fans don't want to see "Rock Stars current or past" bagging Groceries or selling you life insurance. Better staring in a documentary.
You never said the run time of the film. By your review, it sounds like Gone with The Wind/ Another Peter Jackson Trilogy or at feels like it. I will go see it and drink coffee before I attend just in case.
Dave May
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Hey Bob - I really enjoyed the Sparks movie! Yeah, it’s a bit completist and longer than it needs to be, but I had never really got Sparks’ music, and after seeing this, I picked up a couple of their albums, including a triple vinyl best of, that really covers all the bases. I thought the fact that it covered every album was part of the neurotically humorous charm - I mean, The Bee Gees doc skipped their Sgt. Pepper disaster, instead blaming racism against disco for their career receding in the ‘80s, when I would argue overexposure combined with a couple questionable career decisions were to blame.
Jim McGuinn
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thanks for the review but i respectfully disagree, in a big way.
in spite of being a former professional musician (who quit due to financial non success), a big music fan and having worked for a BMG affiliate early in my career, I had never heard of Sparks.
i watched at the recomendation of a data scientist music loving colleague.
This is the best music doc i have ever seen. i was absolutely riveted for the entire movie.
I too wondered how the band survived financially, but honestly it’s non of my business- the fact
is they somehow afforded to make such amazing art for 20+ albums, and the art is what i wanted to learn about. not if a rich uncle left them money to live or if they invested in apple and that funded their band.
i don’t actually like a lot of their songs, but i respect the hell out of their ability to never stop making music that they wanted to make. ANd, the movie shows they beautifully.
thank you for reading.
Peter Oriol
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I never heard of them.
Mike Donahue
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Gary Stewart was my first boss when I got out of college. I worked at Rhino from 1982-1984. Gary did try to recruit me into the Sparks fandom, but it was not my thing. I watched this documentary and had a flood of emotions watching my earliest mentor wax poetic on a band I never really understood. I went to nearly every "Losers Christmas Party" Gary threw. The last one I clearly remember the Mael brothers standing 3 feet away from me talking to mutual friends. I have never been a fan of the band, but any friends of Gary's...
Marc Platt
Radio Candy
Los Angeles, California
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One glaring question remains unanswered by this film......
Why do people keep giving these guys RECORD DEALS!?
Their early work, as technically proficient as it is, is just too campy..It's like they heard "Sweet Transvestite", and said, " Yeah! Let's base a career around THAT!"..
The guy is singing out of his range, and it sounds strained and unpleasant..The piano playing is fluent, but unfocused..
Their 80s records are not bad..The synth work is tasteful, and the vocals are palatable..They should've cracked the code and been MTV stars..The hooks just weren't there..
But their biggest claim to fame was always, and always WILL be the keyboard player's onstage schtick..
I was kinda' hoping to discover some cool older tunes to dive into..NOT!
James Spencer
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Despite being big in Britain I'd never taken any notice of them Bob - I viewed This Town Ain't Big Enough... as a gimmick single, but after reading your review I decided to spin
a few later live vids on youtube and was pleasantly surprised - this performance with the excellent Catherine Ringer is great, but others without her are too + the audiences
are really pumped.
Singing in the Shower
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqhEvPGdv4Q.
regards
Linden Coll
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Great review, spot on. You put into words what I could not.
A podcast episode would be phenomenal. Please do find out how they paid/pay the bills! And are they married? Do they have kids? Where do they live? Do they own or rent?
The doc was made by self-described 'fanboy' Edgar Wright and lacked anything critical. Even when talking about booting out band members they then cut to the members themselves who talked about how it's just fine and made sense and how they have no resentment?!? That is not what we want and c'mon!
Thanks
Josh Feingold
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i was a fan since hearing 'Big Boy' in 'Rollercoaster'. this 'docu' comes out and they tour. tix here in dc are $100. pass.
Gary W. Mendel
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When I was in High School, or maybe College, The only thing I knew about Sparks was seeing the adds for
Propaganda on our local tv channels. I thought it was odd since these were adds on our local stations and not on the networks.
A Friend of mine is a Sparks fan and asked me to go and see the documentary with him.
I did think it was a bit odd that there wasn't much personal info about their lives. I also thought the movie could have been at least 45 Minutes shorter, or they could have given us mor info about their lives etc.
I did find some of their music to be interesting and certainly well done.
Bill from MN.
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And the moral of this story is.. we older gentlemen have no business watching the 150 minute Sparks doc on a lovely fall afternoon. Life is now officially too short. Pretty sure you wouldn't have overlayed your career in music onto your review if, perhaps, you settled into your sofa late in the evening, with this doc being the cherry on top of a satisfying day. Angles, perspective, mindset. As every storyteller has muttered, '...you shoulda been there...'
Nick Brokenshire
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After twenty -five albums that were released during my most inquisitive period, I can't name ONE tune of theirs off the top of my head. They did help rehabilitate the Hitler look. They had a gimmick that didn't sustain as far as I'm concerned
Ralph Spillenger
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While I knew the name, I couldn’t remember any of the music but I enjoyed the Sparks doc…but I love all music docs for the most part. I couldn’t however get through the one on The Bee Gees
Kenneth Williams
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Agree with you about the movie Bob. And I hope you do get them for a Podcast: that would be fun and we might get a few of these interesting questions answered. (I know you’ll get them asked.)
But I wanted to make a couple observations:
What’s hard to communicate — even in a hagiography as thorough and committed as The Spark Brothers — is just how great their best stuff is.
From many years of reading your letter, I think I’ve twigged your preference for honesty in songwriting, and for plain-spoken poetry about the struggle of living, loving, and loss.
I think Sparks come from a different place altogether — essentially, the opposite end of the spectrum. They’re never about a one to one connection to the listener. For Ron (I think), that’s too much.
Instead, Sparks are about the group. Songs as secret messages sent out to those who will get them — and, as they have developed their art — do the work to get them. Yes, you’re absolutely right the movie is a fans-only vehicle. But in that regard it is fully in step with everything they’ve ever done. I think the biggest problem with it is the way it exposed how desperately they (or the director, at least) want(s) them to be loved.
That’s a card they’ve never shown before. And I find myself wishing they hadn’t.
But no movie or overly-fond review can ever reduce their peak achievements. Kimono My House, for my tribe anyway, was a portal to a completely different world, one where we absolutely belonged.
Like Bowie’s best stuff, it provided a kind of beacon. Always will, I imagine. Netflix clunker or no….
Steven Lindstrom
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It’s Amazing how two people can watch the exact same film
and have a COMPLETELY different experience
I’m Not an Uber Fan
But I would say the Sparks brothers are not a band
The Sparks brothers are not even a duo
They are an Melodically Infused enigma
That is a wonderful representation
and extension of the eclectic artistic nature
that expresses its self regardless of that Super Stardom’s Missing ingredient
and that’s what this movie celebrates
Not pop hits
not a competition
to try to be the most successful act of all time
They were/are focused on creating their melodic flamboyancies
How refreshing to watch a doc
not dripping in gooey gossip
which I know
The Alanis Morissette doc will certainly take care of ALL of that!
How refreshing to see two brothers
that don’t spend their time fighting and breaking up.
One of the more bonded creative brother connections in music history
the end
But I digress
The movie actually does answer the questions you’re asking
how did they live?
how did they survive ?
they continued to create regardless if they had distribution
The continuous exploration of artistic expression that has thrilled hundreds of thousands of people around the world ??!
May there be more Sparks Brothers
Morley Bartnoff
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I don’t know if I’m moved to watch the doc now, or to completely shelve it. I’m leaning towards intrigue. I’ll be revealing here, when I saw the promos and music friends post about Sparks, I was like, “Who?”. Not familiar at all. The slick produced promos made me question myself, ‘how could you miss this music phenomenon?’. After reading your review, I don’t feel so bad. Not to take away from Sparks notoriety and success, I just felt I missed something in my music timeline. Especially with all these ones in the music industry that I’m fully aware of singing Sparks praise of influence. I guess I’ll watch it.
Alex Hart
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I think Sparks are an extremely rare example of Musician’s who didn’t get caught up in excesses. Which in someways makes them all the more eccentric. And when they had an influx of cash (cuz they have had some hits in different spots of the globe) made a few small, wise real estate investments,.. most likely in the 1970’s/80’s. They’ve worked with a very small team of people at least since I’ve known them starting around ‘03 and they’re not afraid to do much of the heavy lifting themselves, having self recorded most of their records in the past 20 years.
They have stayed married to their craft. They are consistent and persistent. Hard to fathom in the world of impatient dreamers we inhabit.
They’ve done it this way and have continued to make it work. In fact their most recent record went top 5 (I believe?) in the UK. And right now are perhaps enjoying their greatest period public acceptance, in the US. Their 2 shows at the prestigious Disney theatre in Los Angeles this coming February have been sold out for months.
From what I’ve read of your letter, you mostly write about big mainstream players. You talk about artist’s cultural relevance and industry matters like how Taylor Swift’s business decisions might set trends moving forward, and what have you. Making predictions for us folks trying to squeeze a living out of this here racket. A super valid role to play in this crazy speculative thing we’re all in on.
And their story doesn’t exist completely outside of that stuff,… but in many ways it is independent of it. I get the sense though all you really want to know is “who’s really paying for this?” Like they secretly have the same sugar daddy that pays for Angeline’s billboards.
I think they’ve done it their own way, and they deserve praise for it. Maybe they haven’t made a whole bunch of industry types rich,.. but they probably have made a smart publisher a few bones, as they’ve slowly amassed an impressive catalog of GREAT SONGS that make thousands around the globe really happy. I’m proud to say I got to witness this close up playing bass for them for 5 years from 2004-2009.
So yeah I’m biased, you can discount what I have to say. But I think you should reconsider why their story is unique, important and yes even for those who mostly pedal in mainstream players, RELEVANT.
Much love to ya Bob,
Steven McDonald
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