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Franz ferdinand band 20022/27/2024 ![]() Their debut album was released on Bearsville Records in 1971 with the line-up consisting of college friend Earle Mankey on guitar, Mankey's brother James on bass, Harley Feinstein on drums and Rundgren producing. ![]() įorming Halfnelson, named after a wrestling hold, in 1968, they soon came to the attention of producer Todd Rundgren, at whose urging Albert Grossman signed the band to his Bearsville record label. Russell plays pan flute on "A Quick Thought". Of all four songs, "Computer Girl" was the least traditional. The other three tracks were entitled "The Windmill", "A Quick Thought" and "As You Like It". The songs were pressed on two acetates and have never been released, apart from the track "Computer Girl", which was featured on a CD included with the Japanese semi-biography from 2006 and more widely released on the Past Tense greatest hits album in 2019. He also played the tambourine and harmonica. Ron was considered the lead guitarist and Russell was the singer. Other members of the band were 16-year old drummer Raymond Clayton and 22-year old Harold Zellman on bass guitar. Four tracks were recorded with married couple Fred and Ronna Frank, who were close friends of the Maels at the time. ![]() Their very first recordings were made under the name of "Urban Renewal Project", on January 14, 1967, at the Fidelity Recording Studios in Hollywood. Detesting the folk music scene, which they considered "cerebral and sedate and we had no time for that", they developed a particular taste in English bands of the time such as the Who, Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, the Kinks and the Move, which led to their description of themselves as "Anglophiles". Both attended UCLA, Ron studying cinema and graphic art and Russell, theatre arts and filmmaking. īoth Ron and Russell Mael are seen in the audience during the Ronettes' section of the concert film The Big T.N.T. club scene, when the Doors, the Standells, and Love played the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip and the Beach Boys played in the late afternoon at Teen-Age Fair at Pickwick Recreation Center in Burbank, California. History Inception īrothers Ron and Russell Mael grew up in Pacific Palisades, in west Los Angeles County, California, during the "Golden Age" of the L.A. The band's latest album, The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte, was released on May 26, 2023, via Island Records. In 2021, Sparks were involved in two films: the Leos Carax musical film Annette for which they wrote all songs (winning the César Award for Best Original Music), and the Edgar Wright documentary The Sparks Brothers recounting the history of the band. 7, as did their next album, A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, released in 2020, bringing their tally of UK Top 10 albums to four. In 2017, returning to a rock-group format, Sparks released Hippopotamus, which entered the UK Albums Chart at no. In 2015, the band released an album with Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, as the supergroup FFS, titled FFS. The 2002 release of Lil' Beethoven, the duo's self-proclaimed "genre-defining opus", fused repetitive song structures with orchestral arrangements, and brought them renewed critical success. 60 in May 19 single " Cool Places" with the Go-Go's rhythm guitarist and vocalist Jane Wiedlin, and " When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way' ", which was the top airplay record in Germany for 1994. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1974 the disco hit " The Number One Song in Heaven" in 1979, resulting from a collaboration with Giorgio Moroder and marking a stylistic shift towards new wave/ synth-pop " When I'm with You", which made the Australian and French Singles Charts in 1980 the single " I Predict", which provided Sparks' first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. Ĭareer highlights include " This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", which reached No. Their frequently changing styles and visual presentations have kept the band at the forefront of modern, artful pop music. Russell Mael has a distinctive wide-ranging voice, while Ron Mael plays keyboards in an intricate and rhythmic style. The duo is noted for their quirky approach to songwriting their music is often accompanied by sophisticated and acerbic lyrics-often about women, and sometimes containing literary or cinematic references -and an idiosyncratic, theatrical stage presence, typified by the contrast between Russell's animated, hyperactive frontman antics and Ron's deadpan scowling. Sparks is an American pop and rock duo formed by brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals) in Los Angeles.
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