Bubbling Under: Sparks- "Wonder Girl"

The Early Years

Welcome to Bubbling Under. Each edition I cover an artist that charted outside the Hot 100 on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart. This week: Sparks

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Back in October there was a Substack meme where writers were encouraged to name bands they never get sick of in their notes. I made a huge list and forgot to include Sparks. A month previously, I excitedly shared a creative prompt list for September, 2024 involving Sparks that I came across on social media. Because September was such a blip on the radar, it suddenly hit me halfway through the month that I’d forgotten to post anything in my notes.

I’m going to rectify this situation belatedly starting now by making Sparks my Bubbling Under focus this week.

Sparks famously consists of two brothers, Ron and Russell Mael, who were raised in Los Angeles. Russell is the colourful lead vocalist, while Ron, the elder of the two, generally sits on keyboards, looking moody and almost comatose.

The duo has been performing together since the 1960’s, becoming immersed in the L.A. music scene and the British Invasion. Nearly sixty years on, they show no signs of slowing down.

Their earliest known recordings date back to January 14, 1967 when they recorded four tracks as “Urban Renewal Project”. Only one of these tracks, “Computer Girl” has seen the light of day:

After this, they became Halfnelson. It was as Halfnelson that the brothers caught the attention of a young Todd Rundgren, who got them signed to Albert Grossman’s Bearsville label. They recoreded more demos in 1969 including the very Kinks-sounding “Roger”. A self-titled debut album produced by Rundgren came and went in 1971.

Following a final name change to Sparks, the album was reissued in 1972 with “Wonder Girl” as a single. The track is prime Sparks, there’s bizarre key changes, a chugging melody, and Russell’s bizarre yet endearing vocals. It’s a great track, but unfortunately only stalled out at #112. My takeaway is that North America just wasn’t ready for Sparks and that they hadn’t quite realized just at that moment where their true audience was waiting.

A second album, A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing, followed in 1973. The album didn’t feature any singles upon it’s initial release, but "Girl from Germany" was belatedly released in the UK following Sparks initial success there.

A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing sunk like a stone. However, the band did land a UK tour. While reaction to the band there was initially mixed, they did land a cult following. Sparks fit right in with the emerging glam rock scene. The Mael brothers had found their true audience at last. Deciding to relocate, the pair signed to Island Records and set about working on their next album, 1974’s Kimono My House. Their career after 1973, however, is a story for another week.

Wednesday: Part Two.