Sparks reissuing their five '00s albums on vinyl, share rarity "It's a Sparks Show"
Sparks are reissuing their five ’00s albums — 2000’s Balls, 2002’s Lil’ Beethoven, 2006’s Hello Young Lovers, 2008’s Exotic Creatures of the Deep, and 2009’s The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman — this spring. All have been remastered and will be available on vinyl and CD, and come with loads of (CD and digital) bonus material. It will also be the first time Balls has been pressed on vinyl.
You can check out the tracklists for all five of the reissues below, and Sparks just shared “It’s a Sparks Show,” which the band currently uses as their intro music on their tour, below.
The reissues of Balls, Lil’ Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers are out April 29, and you can preorder them on vinyl in the BV shop. Exotic Creatures of the Deep and The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman are out May 17.
Sparks’ tour just hit NYC this week for two nights at The Town Hall.
SPARKS REISSUES TRACKLISTS
Balls
(2022 remaster – originally released in 2000)
* First Time on Vinyl *
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:
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
(2022 remaster – originally released in 2002)
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:
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
(2022 remaster – originally released in 2006)
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:
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
(2022 remaster – originally released 2008)
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:
14. Brenda is Always in the Way [B-side of the 7” 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
(2022 remaster – originally released in 2009)
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”
Check out photos from Sparks’ first Town Hall show.
