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
Balls
More Than A Sex Machine
Scheherazade
Aeroflot
The Calm Before The Storm
How To Get Your Ass Kicked
Bullet Train
It’s A Knockoff
Irreplaceable
It’s Educational
The Angels
CD bonus tracks
It’s A Sparks Show (Opening theme for Sparks live shows. Previously unreleased).
Calm Before The Opera (Reworking of the song ‘The Calm Before The Storm’).
The Angels (Sparks Alternative Version)
More Than A Sex Machine (Sparks Definitive Version – Radio Edit)
The Angels (Tony Visconti version)
The Oblongs (Proposed pilot theme song for the animated TV series The Oblongs. Previously released in Japan).
A Cute Candidate (Opening Theme From In Entertainment We Trust: Music From The Motion Picture A Cute Candidate by Kuntzel+Deygas).
The Race For President (From In Entertainment We Trust: Music From The Motion)
Tracklisting
Lil’ BeethovenSparks/Black vinyl LP & expanded CD
The Rhythm Thief
How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall?
What Are All These Bands So Angry About?
I Married Myself
Ride ‘Em Cowboy
My Baby’s Taking Me Home
Your Call’s Very Important To Us. Please Hold.
Ugly Guys With Beautiful Girls
Suburban Homeboy
CD bonus tracks
The Legend Of Lil’ Beethoven (The story of “Lil’ Beethoven” read by Ron Mael)
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)
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)
Suburban Homeboy (Extended ‘Ron Speaks’ Version)
The Rhythm Thief (Instrumental Version)
Tracklisting
Hello Young LoversSparks/2LP black vinyl and expanded CD
Dick Around
Perfume
The Very Next Fight
(Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
Rock, Rock, Rock
Metaphor
Waterproof
Here Kitty
There’s No Such Thing as Aliens
As I Sit Down to Play the Organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral
CD bonus tracks
We Are The Clash (Originally released on White Riot, Vol.2: A Tribute to The Clash, issued by Uncut Magazine in November
2003)
(Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country (Alternative Lyrics)
Tracklisting
Exotic Creatures of the DeepSparks/2LP Black vinyl and CD
Intro
Good Morning
Strange Animal
I Can’t Believe That You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song
Let the Monkey Drive
Intro Reprise
I’ve Never Been High
(She Got Me) Pregnant
Lighten Up, Morrissey
This Is the Renaissance
The Director Never Yelled ‘Cut’
Photoshop
Likeable
CD Bonus Tracks
Brenda is Always in the Way – (B-side of the 7” single ‘Lighten Up, Morrissey)
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).
Mr. Hulot (Unused theme song written for the documentary The Magnificent Tati)
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)
Where Would We Be Without Books (Main theme song of the radio show Bookworm)
Tracklisting
The Seduction of Ingmar BergmanSparks/2LP Black vinyl and CD
1956 Cannes Film Festival
I Am Ingmar Bergman
Limo Driver (Welcome To Hollywood)
Here He Is Now
Mr. Bergman, How Are You?
He’ll Come ‘Round
En Route To The Beverly Hills Hotel
Hollywood Welcoming Committee
I’ve Got To Contact Sweden
The Studio Commissary
I Must Not Be Hasty
Quiet On The Set
Why Do You Take That Tone With Me?
Pleasant Hotel Staff
Hollywood Tour Bus
Autograph Hounds
Bergman Ponders Escape
We’ve Got To Turn Him ‘Round
Escape (Part 1)
Escape (Part 2)
Oh My God
Garbo Sings
Almost A Hollywood Ending
He’s Home
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By Paul Sinclair
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