Sparks & Todd Rundgren reteam after 50 years for new single "Your Fandango"
Way back in 1971, Sparks released their debut album, which they originally released under the name Halfnelson and made with producer Todd Rundgren. Fifty years later they’ve reteamed for new collaborative single “Your Fandango.” It came when Edgar Wright interviewed Rundgren for upcoming documentary The Sparks Brothers. “I was interviewed for a documentary about Sparks, and when it was over, they had secreted the Mael brothers in the next room, & we had a reunion on camera for the first time in nearly 50 years,” Rundgren told MOJO. “That was a lot of fun, and that’s what precipitated this collaboration.”
Rundgren then told Salon, “They sent me this song that sounded substantially like a finished product, except for the fact that I think there was some placeholder stuff that was meant to be developed a little further and they just never got around to it. I started just dressing it up and adding some vocal parts, writing some lyrics for it. And, in the end, you know — they sent me the track, I sent back what I did to them. We were both happy with it.”
“Your Fandango” is as giddy and over-the-top as you might expect from Sparks and Rundgren in 2021, operatic rock on the grandest scale. You can watch the very fun video, directed and starring Liisa Vääriskoski, below.
“Your Fandango” is out as a 7″ single on July 30. Preorders are available now.
The song is part of a series a collaborations Rundgren is putting out that will culminate in new album Space Force that features previous singles with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo (“Down With The Ship”), Muslim hip hop artist Narcy (“Espionage”), and more to come.
The Sparks Brothers documentary will be out June 18. Shortly after that, Annette, the movie musical Sparks made with director Leos Carax, will open the 2021 Cannes Film Festival (and will be available on Amazon not long after).
In a recent @MOJOmagazine interview with @toddrundgren, he describes his upcoming collaborations album:
“The Sparks collaboration is called Fandango, and Rundgren [met] Ron and Russell Mael, for the first time since he produced ‘Halfnelson’, their debut album, in 1971 in L.A.” pic.twitter.com/T7LOFuJLml
— S P A R K S (@sparksofficial) September 22, 2020