Sparks join Simon Mayo for an exclusive chat about new music, UK tour and musical movie
They're looking set for a UK Number 1 album
Last updated 29th May 2025
Sparks have come a long way since their first Top of The Pops performance, more than 50 years ago. Having released UK Top 10 hits such as 'This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us' and 'Amateur Hour', along with their Top 5 album 'Kimono My House', the band have been releasing music since the early 70s.
With a new album heading towards Number 1 in the UK chart, the duo made up of brothers Ron and Russell Mael, joined Simon Mayo for a chat on Greatest Hits Radio.
The band first performed on Top of The Pops back in 1974, and opened up about how the performance transformed their popularity in the country. "I think it was more just the after effect," they explained.
"We were never used something having such immediate nationwide kind of attraction. The day after we were on Top of the Pops, all of a sudden we were kind of recognised by a lot of people and it was a shock to us, because we had kind of very, very little following in Los Angeles before we moved to the UK and the first TV show we did."
'MAD!'
Speaking about their new album 'MAD!', the pair explained why they think it appeals to a new audience: "We try really hard to not sound like a band that has had a 28-album long history," they explained.
"Because for us, you know, we're proud of the past, but we're even more proud of being able to do music that we think is urgent and compelling, now, in this day and age.
"And if someone were to pick up the new Sparks... I mean, they have no knowledge of the band, that they wouldn't hopefully think it sounds like it's a band with a 28-album long history."
'My Devotion'
Speaking about their current single, which is featured on their album 'MAD!', the brothers explained about the unusual sound.
"We're bringing it (whistling) back and we think it's the next big thing in music... whistling," they half-joked.
"A lot of times, people kind of think that they enjoy what Sparks does, but it's not being done from a sincere kind of stance, and this song was really an attempt to write a sincere love song, you know, it isn't something to be ashamed of and to do it in a way that you know we think is really a quality song, but with no kind of winking at all, in the song. And people sometimes get suspicious of us."
Sparks are not only enjoying success with their new music, the band are set to go on a European tour, including several dates across the UK, and there is a musical movie in the works, with none other than critically acclaimed film director John Woo joining the brothers.
Musical movie
During their chat with Simon, the pair revealed how they managed to get John Woo to direct their upcoming musical movie. The pair had previously worked on another musical movie called Annette, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, and enjoyed the process.
"That was a project that we wrote, we wrote the screenplay and all the music," they explained, speaking about Annette. "It was just a really fun thing for us to be able to channel what we do musically, but in another form, and so we were kind of so enamoured with that whole process that we done another movie musical that's not yet been shot.
"It's called X Crucior and it's going to be directed by John Woo, who's the legendary Hong Kong action director. And it's so unlikely that he would be the director of a Sparks musical, but we had read in the LA Times an interview with him and he said the one thing that he hasn't yet done in his career, that he wants to do, is a movie musical.
"And we're looking for a director, and we said, ‘Oh my God, we got to contact John Woo’ we’re such fans of his films and within a couple of days we had him sitting in our studio in LA and he listened to the whole two hours of this project with the screenplay and said this is amazing. I want to direct it so..."
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