Sparks celebrate landmark anniversary of two major albums

This from the two brothers who first caught our attention in 1974 with a smash hit This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Us, the first of a string of hits that included Amateur Hour and Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth. They had been recording since 1967 in their homeland back in Los Angeles but only came to fame after relocating to the UK and helped by two appearances on TV.

The Old Grey Whistle Test not only helped establish their album Kimono My House on Island Records but their imagery of the manic energy of long hair Russell Mael contrasted sharply with the sober, menacing brother Ron who would stare at the camera through horn rim specs and Chaplin moustache almost motionless behind his keyboards.

This week the band announced a special release in time for the US Record Store Day and the 45th anniversary of two albums. Number One In Heaven and Is There More To Life Than Dancing by Noel will be released on white and green vinyl through Lil’ Beethoven Records on April 20th with the CD version with bonuses coming out a month later.

Seeking out revolutionary producer Georgio Moroder after hearing how he had transformed Donna Summer’s I Feel Love two years earlier, in Number One In Heaven together they developed new synth pop on a 33-minute album that became a masterpiece. This upbeat keyboard/vocal electronica would then be adopted by The Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Yazoo, Soft Cell, New Order, Communards and more.