Playlouder - Music is the Network

By 1979 Sparks were old hat. They’d had their day in the sun and were now relics of a scene now past.  Their last two albums had been half-hearted attempts to recapture their old audience, what they needed was a new direction. So they teamed up with Giorgio Moroder and put out an album that sounded like nothing they’d done before. It was a neat trick, one which would inspire numerous dramatic renaissances in the years to come.

There was nothing quite like No1 in Heaven when it came out. Electro-pop barely existed, nevermind electro-pop done in a Sparksstyle. And even now there is something unique about; it bubbles and chugs away like only those old synth tracks can. When Sparks falter it’s usually because they’re playing up to their reputation as wacky funsters, trying too hard to be funny. But the songs here feel natural, less forced. There’s comedy, but no wackiness. There’s cynicism, drama and even moments of beauty.

Ron arrived sporting a new hair cut, parted then brushed wildly to one side like a crazy orchestra conductor. He looked even more intense than usual, perhaps because, as we would learn, the technology didn’t exist to perform most of these tracks back in the day, so this was a first for him as well as us and without a band behind him, it rested almost all on him.

Tryouts For The Human Race got the evening off to a fine start, but things didn’t connect quite as quickly as before, probably because the music was generated from the keyboards and laptop rather than the full band. Academy Award Performance followed and with a little too much treble. No1 is quite a short album so the length of this one made me wonder whether it was being drawn out to make up the time, but then again, extended mixes are an occupational hazard with dance music.

But if I was letting myself get distracted by niggling complaints, the crowd certainly wasn’t. Once again, they couldn’t have been more excited. And by the time we’d swooped into the cynical La Dolce Vita any doubts I had were shoved aside. Then came Beat The Clock, and the whole audience was up and down chanting along. A fight almost broke out; one guy was going at it too vigorously and was ‘assaulting’ those around him.

The final third was just epic. My Other Voice was stunning, worth waiting almost 30 years for. Then came The No1 Song In Heaven. I’d heard this one live before, seen it done on their DVDs, but never has it been done so beautifully as it was here. It was not abridged, or done in an alternate style to compensate for the available equipment; this was done just as it was on the album, better even. It swept over us, people leapt up and down, opened out their arms to bask in the glory. A stout and hairy homosexual couple, embraced, held each other and kissed as it drew to a close.

Magical.