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ron and russ in the late 60’s

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as @taintmansion said, “they do have feet”

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I HAVE LOCATED A VIDEO OF RON WITH HIS HAIR DOWN AT 21X21

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my five year plan is running around like divine in female trouble while listening to the discography of sparks. currently working this position on a volunteer basis, but i hope to be going pro soon

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i'm starting to think these nano genres don't make much sense. what do you mean pet music ???

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sparks performances from the 90s are so funny because its like. dude in his pajamas. somebodies grandfather. beautiful woman in a gown with an insane bob. and theyre all best friends

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Heartwarming: Ron briefly holds space for his friend, the lyrics of defying gravity, as they attempt to locate important item within their tote bag

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Yes we did it, good work everyone! With all this streaming revenue coming in, Ron can now finally get himself that nice handful of loose candy from the corner store he's been eyeing!

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i'm having an amusing sort of revelation right now. there's few things more familiar (and frankly, precious) to kids who were raised Christian in the 90s and 00s than Veggietales, and honestly, Veggietales is good enough on its own that I've even seen those who have converted or outright renounced their faith still share their fondness for it.

some of my earliest memories related to music besides new wave bands like Depeche Mode and The Human League playing from my parents' stereo were the Silly Songs With Larry portions of the show, which would be complete breaks from the regular story just to do a fun musical number. i've been nostalgic for some of them recently and in my listening, not only have I found that they're much more musically robust than I ever noticed before, but my god some of these songs just sound like Sparks.

this began when I posted the Manatee Song (one of my favorites) a few days ago and a couple of friends pointed out that it sounded like something Sparks would do, imagining Russell taking over for Barbara the Manatee's high vocal parts and alternating (with himself? with Ron? who knows). i could hear it immediately, and even the string arrangement feels like something ripped out of Indiscreet.

but it turns out, the biggest culprit was right under my nose the entire time, being possibly the most famous song to come out of Veggietales: The Hairbrush Song. please, I implore you to listen and tell me this doesn't sound like something from the Lil' Beethoven trilogy: think Photoshop, Ride 'Em Cowboy, etc. theatrical, ascending vocals set to a highly melodic piano line (that varies delightfully as the song progresses), tricky key shifts, and above all else, the dramatic, emotionally-charged approach to a mundane, familiar subject matter, which is Sparks' bread and butter. i have no idea if Mike Nawrocki or Kurt Heinecke had any familiarity with Sparks or if it's just a matter of drawing upon similar influences, but i still thought this was too funny not to share.

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Whoa.

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Remember, remember, the 14th of November!

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50 years of Sparks Propaganda.

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Exclusive interview with weirdos Sparks: "We don't want to be a pop band who only strives to meet expectations"

The original interview in Lithuanian can be found here. I have translated it to English to share with fellow Sparks fans.

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Their music has been heard in the biggest art galleries, popular films and TV shows – the Sparks duet, who have conquered such a wide audience, will be playing again in Lithuania. Two brothers, widely known for their unlimited imagination , will begin their European Tour in Vilnius on October 4. The vocalist Russell Mael talked with us about eccentricity in pop music, „ridiculous Lady Gaga“ and the vodka commercial their music was used in.

„How drunk do you have to be to understand what the hell they are doing?“ – my friend exclaimed once after an in depth discussion about pros and cons of Sparks music. The comment would have amused Ron and Russell Mael – brothers who have been breaking the limits in pop music for almost 40 years.

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