Big Beat (album)

Big Beat was recorded at Mediasound studios, New York in August 1976. The album was the group's first album without their English backing band. Instead the Mael Brothers used session musicians and hired Roxy Music contributor (Viva!) Sal Maida on Bass, Tuff Darts guitarist Jeffrey Salen and Hilly Boy Michaels on Drums. The release was their final album for Island Records in the UK and their first for Columbia Records in the US. The album employed a much heavier and harder rock sound. Initially the Mael brothers had returned to work with the early Sparks member Earle Mankey. Together they and recorded the song "England"; a song which bore much in common with the jaunty home-made and unusual sound that the three musicians had made together in the early seventies. Conversely, Rupert Holmes and Jeffery Lesser's production was slicker and more direct and the resulting album displayed a more "American" AOR sound. This new "West Coast" sound was deemed a failure as Sparks felt the results were "bereft of personality".^[2]

The final track on the album was a rerecording of "I Like Girls". The song had been a live favourite from their pre-1974 days. Versions of the song had previously been recorded in 1973 and again in 1974, but both takes were deemed unsatisfactory.^[3]

The lead single "Big Boy" and its b-side "Fill-er-up" were performed for a cameo appearance in the 1976 disaster film Rollercoaster, after Kiss turned down the role.^[4]

Release

Big Beat was not a success in terms of chart performance and failed to match the performance of the groups previous three albums. It did not chart in the UK or US.

"Big Boy" and "I Like Girls" were released as singles but neither picked up any significant sales or radio play.

Re-release

Big Beat was re-issued and remastered by Island in 1994 and 2006. The first issue by the Island Masters subsidiary added "Tearing The Place Apart" and Russell Mael's "Gone With The Wind" both of which were recorded during the sessions for the Indiscreet album. The '21st Century Edition' added the non album single "I Want to Hold Your Hand", its b-side "England", "Looks Aren't Everything" and "Intrusion/Confusion". The latter is an early recording of "Confusion". The 1973 recording of "I Like Girls" was included on the 1991 Rhino Entertainment compilation Profile: The Ultimate Sparks Collection.

Track listing

All tracks written by Ron Mael except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Big Boy"	3:30
2.	"I Want To Be Like Everybody Else"	2:57
3.	"Nothing To Do"	3:09
4.	"I Bought The Mississippi River"	2:29
5.	"Fill-er-up"	2:20
6.	"Everybody's Stupid"	3:41

Side two
No.	Title	Length
7.	"Throw Her Away (and Get A New One)"	3:15
8.	"Confusion"	3:27
9.	"Screwed Up"	4:20
10.	"White Women"	3:24
11.	"I Like Girls"	2:58

21st Century Edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Big Boy"	3:30
2.	"I Want To Be Like Everybody Else"	2:57
3.	"Nothing To Do"	3:09
4.	"I Bought The Mississippi River"	2:29
5.	"Fill-er-up"	2:20
6.	"Everybody's Stupid"	3:41
7.	"Throw Her Away (and Get A New One)"	3:15
8.	"Confusion"	3:27
9.	"Screwed Up"	4:20
10.	"White Women"	3:24
11.	"I Like Girls"	2:58
12.	"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)	2:56
13.	"England"	3:18
14.	"Gone with the Wind" (Written by Russell Mael)	3:07
15.	"Intrusion/Confusion"	2:47
16.	"Looks Aren't Everything (Demo)"	3:28
17.	"Tearing The Place Apart (Demo)"	3:38

Personnel

Russell Mael - Vocals
Ron Mael - Keyboards
Sal Maida - Bass
Jeffrey Salen - Guitar
Hilly Boy Michaels - Drums

Rupert Holmes - Production
Jeffery Lesser (for Widescreen Productions) - Production
Godfrey Diamond - Engineering, Re-mix
Bob Clearmountain - Additional engineering
Harvey Goldberg - Additional engineering
Michael Barbiero - Additional engineering

External links

References

^ Allmusic review
^ Easlea, Daryl (July 2003). "Sparks Interview". Record Collector Magazine Issue 287.
^ http://graphikdesigns.free.fr/sparks-big-beat-lp.html Russell Mael : "The song was written at the time of the original L.A. band. On returning to America, after our 1972 European tour, we jetted to Bearsville studios in up-state New York (Woodstock) to record the stage favourite "I Like Girls". Nick James produced the song but it didn't come as well as expected.
^ Black, Johnny (September 2006). "Sparks Interview". Mojo Magazine Issue 154.

Sparks

Ron Mael · Russell Mael Jim Mankey · Earle Mankey · Harley Feinstein · Martin Gordon · Adrian Fisher · Norman "Dinky" Diamond Trevor White · Ian Hampton · Bob Haag · Leslie Bohem · David Kendrick · Christi Haydon · Tammy Glover · Dean Menta

Albums	Halfnelson/Sparks · A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing · Kimono My House · Propaganda · Indiscreet · Big Beat · Introducing Sparks · No. 1 In Heaven · Terminal Jive · Whomp That Sucker · Angst in My Pants · In Outer Space · Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat · Music That You Can Dance To · Interior Design · Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins · Plagiarism · Balls · Lil' Beethoven · Hello Young Lovers · Exotic Creatures of the Deep · The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman

Singles	"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" · "Amateur Hour" · "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" · "I Want to Hold Your Hand" · "The Number One Song in Heaven" · "Beat the Clock" · "I Predict" · "Cool Places" · "Dick Around"

Related	Halfnelson · Giorgio Moroder · Gleaming Spires · Les Rita Mitsouko · Todd Rundgren · Sparks Spectacular · Tony Visconti · Jane Wiedlin

discography