Californian pop-rock duo Sparks — fresh off their recent resurgence in popularity since being the subject of Edgar Wright's documentary The Sparks Brothers — have unveiled upcoming reissues of five of their albums as part of the 21st Century Sparks Collection via BMG.
The first three — Balls, Lil' Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers — will be released on April 29 with the remaining two, Exotic Creatures of the Deep and The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, set for release on May 27. Rounding out the collection are their two most recent releases, Hippopotamus and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. A press release states that some of these albums "have been out of print for years and [are] sought after by Sparks collectors."
These reissues (minus the radio play The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman) will contain reams of previously unreleased bonus material, including "It's a Sparks Show," the band's introduction song during their live shows in the 2000s, which now has its own video.
Watch the visualizer video for "It's a Sparks Show" below, where you'll also find the reissue's extensive tracklisting.
The reissues are available for pre-order here.
21st Century Sparks Collection:
Balls:
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
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:
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
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:
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
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:
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
Bonus Tracks:
14. Brenda Is Always in the Way [B-side of the 7-inch 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:
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:
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:
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
The first three — Balls, Lil' Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers — will be released on April 29 with the remaining two, Exotic Creatures of the Deep and The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, set for release on May 27. Rounding out the collection are their two most recent releases, Hippopotamus and A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip. A press release states that some of these albums "have been out of print for years and [are] sought after by Sparks collectors."
These reissues (minus the radio play The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman) will contain reams of previously unreleased bonus material, including "It's a Sparks Show," the band's introduction song during their live shows in the 2000s, which now has its own video.
Watch the visualizer video for "It's a Sparks Show" below, where you'll also find the reissue's extensive tracklisting.
The reissues are available for pre-order here.
21st Century Sparks Collection:
Balls:
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
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:
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
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:
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
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:
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
Bonus Tracks:
14. Brenda Is Always in the Way [B-side of the 7-inch 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:
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:
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:
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
