Song:Cool Places
Album:Profile: The Unlimited Sparks Collection
Cool Places was probably the most commercial song ever released by Sparks. But it wasn't all that successful and they remained a cult band. Sparks are basically Russell & Ron Mael. They would add other musicians but they wrote all the songs. They grew up in Pacific Palisades, CA and were part of the late 60s Los Angeles club scene as Halfnelson. Todd Rundgren spotted them and talked Albert Grossman into signing them to Bearsville. The name Sparks is a goof on The Marx Brothers. After their first album tanked, they switched to Warner Bros. and moved to England in 1973 and signed with Island Records. Their 1974 album Kimono My House gave them a #2 hit on the British charts with This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us. They never really broke through in the US the way they wanted so they moved back to Los Angeles in 1976 and tried for a more "American" sound. They also appeared in the 1976 film Rollercoaster. By the late 70s they became friends with producer Georgio Moroder and veered into disco territory. But with Cool Places, Sparks returned to the kind of quirky pop songs they were known for and it reached the top 50. And Go Gos singer guitarist Jane Weidlin was a Sparks fan so she even toured with them. The song also turned up in the popular film Valley Girl. They turned their attention to film in the late 80s but Sparks returned to music in 1994 and continue to release CDs on their own label. This 2CD comp from Rhino is out of print but you should be able to find a copy. Cool Places isn't on any single CD comps. Here's the video for Cool Places by Sparks featuring Jane Weidlin.
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