SPARKS

Re-Sparked · Groupie Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 180 Location: London

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=b8p8PYV86wo&NR=1

Check out the girl in the Mauve jumper at 2.27. Just a glimpse but she probably laughs at Ron (not a bad thing) leering/glaring & she epitomizes the kind of positive approach people seemed to take to seeing Sparks perform that I remember, even if they didn't like the music. It was just so FRESH.
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rwolf'68 · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:02 am Post subject:

I love Ian rockin the bass!

Missy · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:55 am Post subject:

sin-is-quite-the-thing · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 6:35 am Post subject:

He had a missing tooth for years when they first started, obviously had dental work done now.

"'I have a tooth missing and that goes over really well,' said Russell proudly. 'You see in the States, most of the English groups that come over appeal because there seems to be something about English teeth. 'We haven't yet found the exact solution to the problem, but English teeth appear to be different from American. Something happened to one of mine, and when I went on stage and smiled, they said, "God the guy must be English."'

'The secret of English bands is having rotten teeth,' added Ron, baring his perfect molars. Everybody thinks it's their boots or some mystical heritage. But it's definitely not the boots. If you ever have a better dental service than the English balance of payments will be in a lot worse shape, because none of the English bands will be making it.'"

http://www.alwynwturner.com/glitter/bright_sparks.html
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Annika · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:23 pm Post subject:

I don't think he is missing a tooth, it just looks like they are crooked on his left side. I always liked his teeth looking like that, it made him look sexier to me :)
To bad he got them fixed (unless they gave him problem)
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sjadey · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:51 pm Post subject:

In that video, you can see that he used to do an Elvis-style lip-curl above that tooth (which looks as though it leaned back into his mouth). Does he still do that? He leaps around more than he ever used to, so these days it's difficult to get a stationary close-up of him while singing!
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Re-Sparked · Groupie Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 180 Location: London

They certainly didn't do his image any harm. As Bowie's didn't at the time & he also has his alien eye.
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jill · Sub-Deity Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 1281

I enjoyed the video too. Who knows, maybe they really liked the music!

And yet, reading the comments (here and there and not only on Youtube) I'm increasingly surprised how many people see Ron as a Hitler lookalike or as a scary character. Believe me or not, it never crossed my mind to think about him this way. Never ever. Chaplin, vintage American movies, yes, but definitely not Hitler! It's enough to look at his EYES - but it seems that the moustache always steals all the attention.
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TommyGun · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject:

well i thought about hitler when i first saw it (i guess hardly any german would think of chaplin first

) but i didnt think it was offensive or scary, i thought it was very amusing, expecially combined with his stiff movements and his looks into the camera

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Re-Sparked · Groupie Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 180 Location: London

No getting away from the Hitler moustache connection. That was the character bought to mind at the time in the U.K. No-one mentioned Chaplin as I recall. Chaplin was the 20's, Hitler the 40's & had a much more memorable effect on the world than Chaplin (I much preferred Laurel & Hardy & Harold Lloyd). I know Ron said it was a tribute to Chaplin but he's an intelligent guy & must have realised that most people would have instantly connected the moustache with Hitler.
It was still, after all a little less than 30 years since the end of WW2. Anyway, even with that connection which could've rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way, it didn't & as far as I recall, people laughed about it & found them genuinely amusing which obviously led to a certain affection for them & definitely fixed them in peoples memory's.
As for the Lady in Mauve, she may well have been a Sparks fan but I'm just saying that people who weren't still seemed to get pleasure from watching them perform.
Although I've had my latest pair of spec's tinted in a rather fetching hue of Rose.

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jill · Sub-Deity Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 1281

It's fair to say that I only saw Sparks for the first time in 1994 on tv, knowing nothing about their background.
I doubt though that Ron was thinking about such a connection when he was at the UCLA film school and in the Halfnelson/Sparks epoch.
Europe, of course, was another world, and it's worth seeing Ron recall how surprised he was about the reaction of the French:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=b9Yr7C7QDls
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Re-Sparked · Groupie Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 180 Location: London

You're no doubt right about Ron. Good interview. I absolutely love that first TOTP's appearance. Russell's reaction to the top of the mic' popping off is priceless & just add's to the 'classicness' of that appearance. I don't know if I actually saw that performance when it was first aired. We used to watch the programme at the youth club every Wednesday so I may well have.
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Annika · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject:

That was a great interview :)
It looks like Russell still has that crooked tooth even though it is not a noticeable as before, like it :)
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Missy · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject:

sin-is-quite-the-thing · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:48 am Post subject:

rileyrempel · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 7:23 pm Post subject:

You know, I think that chick has something in common with me. When I see something that I really like for the first time, I start giggling uncontrollably. I don't want to insult the band, but I just can't help it. She looked like she was enjoying herself, for sure.
About Russell's teeth - I liked em better when they were a bit crooked. I found myself in a dentist's chair once, and she filed one of my front teeth down cause they didn't match. Man, if I could go back and do it again, I'd keep my old front tooth. Perhaps I'll get them capped one day to look more like they did before.

Re-Sparked · Groupie Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 180 Location: London

Oh, I just went to watch that Ron interview again & it's gone. Shame!
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