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Sparks vinyl and CD reissues

Catch up with the ‘new millennium’ albums

By Paul Sinclair

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In the coming months, BMG are to reissue five Sparks albums originally released between 2000 and 2010, on both vinyl and CD.

The albums in question are Balls (2000), Lil’ Beethoven (2002), Hello Young Lovers (2006), Exotic Creatures of the Deep (2008) and The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (2009).

Four out of five of the Sparks album reissues are 2LP sets (click image to enlarge)

All five albums have been remastered for these reissues and with the exception of Lil’ Beethoven all are issued as 2LP vinyl packages. The vinyl is all album-only while the CDs all boast rare bonus tracks (except for The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman).

The albums will be reissued in two waves: the first three on 29 April and the final two on 27 May 2022. Once reissued, all seven Sparks albums of the new millennium (including 2017’s Hippopotamus and 2020’s A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip) will be in print.

Most of the CD reissues come with rare bonus tracks (click image to enlarge_

Tracklisting

Balls Sparks / 2LP black vinyl & expanded CD

      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
      CD bonus tracks
      1. It’s A Sparks Show (Opening theme for Sparks live shows. Previously unreleased).
      2. Calm Before The Opera (Reworking of the song ‘The Calm Before The Storm’).
      3. The Angels (Sparks Alternative Version)
      4. More Than A Sex Machine (Sparks Definitive Version – Radio Edit)
      5. The Angels (Tony Visconti version)
      6. The Oblongs (Proposed pilot theme song for the animated TV series The Oblongs. Previously released in Japan).
      7. A Cute Candidate (Opening Theme From In Entertainment We Trust: Music From The Motion Picture A Cute Candidate by Kuntzel+Deygas).
      8. The Race For President (From In Entertainment We Trust: Music From The Motion)

Tracklisting

Lil’ Beethoven Sparks / Black vinyl LP & expanded CD

      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
      CD bonus tracks
      1. The Legend Of Lil’ Beethoven (The story of “Lil’ Beethoven” read by Ron Mael)
      2. 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)
      3. 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)
      4. Suburban Homeboy (Extended ‘Ron Speaks’ Version)
      5. The Rhythm Thief (Instrumental Version)

Tracklisting

Hello Young Lovers Sparks / 2LP black vinyl and expanded CD

      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
      CD bonus tracks
      1. We Are The Clash (Originally released on White Riot, Vol.2: A Tribute to The Clash, issued by Uncut Magazine in November
        2003)
      2. (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country (Alternative Lyrics)

Tracklisting

Exotic Creatures of the Deep Sparks / 2LP Black vinyl and CD

      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
      CD Bonus Tracks
      1. Brenda is Always in the Way – (B-side of the 7” single ‘Lighten Up, Morrissey)
      2. 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).
      3. Mr. Hulot (Unused theme song written for the documentary The Magnificent Tati)
      4. 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)
      5. Where Would We Be Without Books (Main theme song of the radio show Bookworm)

Tracklisting

The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman Sparks / 2LP Black vinyl and CD

      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

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