Great piece on a favorite band, Mark! I didn't realize they recorded demos in the '60s, but they must've shopped them...that may end up being how Bearsville found them! At the time, I had both the Halfnelson and re-issued/newly-printed Sparks debut. I wish I still had the Warner Bros. Records Circulars....I'd be able to find the real-time "explanation" of that name change and re-issue release...as you know, the man who would be Dr. Demento, Barry Hansen, was doing copy-writing for The Bunny, and their weekly, promo, in-house info piece, Circular, had all that fascinating low-down (and, Dad brought 'em home regularly)!
In case you missed it, one of my first 'Stack articles mentioned my first foray into radio in the fall of '73 at N. Texas State U.'s radio station (I was 18). I used a snippet from "Woofer"s "Batteries Not Included" (the name I chose for my weekly, pre-taped, half-hour show that aired on KNTU).
About the time of your Part 2 (which I look forward to reading!), Sparks loses one of my favorite of their "graduates"....guitarist, Earle Mankey. He spent a lot of the '70s as a producer of new and upcoming power pop bands (many on tiny, indie labels), and engineered at least a few of The Beach Boys' records. So, a lot of his output ended up in my collection!
Thanks Brad! I read your piece a while ago and enjoyed it. Will definitely restack. Part 2 picks up in the 80's but there is lots on what they were doing from 1977 on. I will focus a fair amount on their videos also.
Great piece on a favorite band, Mark! I didn't realize they recorded demos in the '60s, but they must've shopped them...that may end up being how Bearsville found them! At the time, I had both the Halfnelson and re-issued/newly-printed Sparks debut. I wish I still had the Warner Bros. Records Circulars....I'd be able to find the real-time "explanation" of that name change and re-issue release...as you know, the man who would be Dr. Demento, Barry Hansen, was doing copy-writing for The Bunny, and their weekly, promo, in-house info piece, Circular, had all that fascinating low-down (and, Dad brought 'em home regularly)!
In case you missed it, one of my first 'Stack articles mentioned my first foray into radio in the fall of '73 at N. Texas State U.'s radio station (I was 18). I used a snippet from "Woofer"s "Batteries Not Included" (the name I chose for my weekly, pre-taped, half-hour show that aired on KNTU).
I used mostly Warner Bros-released product, plus news and tidbits from those Circulars to pad my 30 minutes! Anyway, If you and your readers are curious, here's the link to that article with the YT audio of the song: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/behind-the-mic-a-personal-peek-into?utm_source=publication-search. Thanks!
About the time of your Part 2 (which I look forward to reading!), Sparks loses one of my favorite of their "graduates"....guitarist, Earle Mankey. He spent a lot of the '70s as a producer of new and upcoming power pop bands (many on tiny, indie labels), and engineered at least a few of The Beach Boys' records. So, a lot of his output ended up in my collection!
Thanks Brad! I read your piece a while ago and enjoyed it. Will definitely restack. Part 2 picks up in the 80's but there is lots on what they were doing from 1977 on. I will focus a fair amount on their videos also.
I did not know they went back to the 60s!
Was surprised too. I'd never heard of any 1960's recordings.