All You Ever Think About Is Sparks

A deep dive into the biography and discography of the 50-plus year career of Ron and Russell Mael

All You Ever Think About Is Sparks is a music podcast hosted by Christian Huey, with 56 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Christian Huey hosts All You Ever Think About Is Sparks, a music show with 56 episodes published.

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  Episode #53

  Episode 53: Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (part three)

  Jun 5, 202651 min

  Monte and John Ashdown join me for the second part of our pow-wow about Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat. Hear them spins yarns of hipper times, better dance clubs, cheaper beer, and young love! Always fascinating to hear what being a Sparks fan was like in 1984, from both sides of the Atlantic. Monte's YouTube channel Sparks: Entertainment and Art continues to be THE premiere Arts and Crafts Spectacular as pertains all things Sparks! Check it out here ! Meanwhile, John's alter ego Christ on a Bike has new beats to drop, but it all goes down like comfort food. Check out his album Child's Play 3 (not affiliated with murderous dolls) on streaming services errrrrvrywherrrr! Feast on the MOTION PICTURE VERSION of Episode 52 on YouTube here ! Will I do another? Hmm? Drop me a line at podcastsparks@gmail.com Buy my wife a diamond ring! Venmo: @christian-huey-1

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  Episode #52

  Episode 52: Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (part two)

  Jun 4, 202658 min

  Christian tells more of the story of the making of 1984's Pulling Rabbits Out a Hat, nerds out more on the Fairlight CMI, wonders whatever happened to the "arch" style of pop singing, and makes a compelling case for Madonna's "Like a Virgin" owing its whole existence to one track on this album. But the bigger news is this is the first full video episode of the podcast! Christian may as yet be working with a humble set of tools, but he thinks you'll like his little movie. What are the kids calling it? Ewe choob? Until he ponies up for an audio AND video RSS feed, you can find the video version of Episode 52 here: https://youtu.be/9m_FGqMM1PU https://youtu.be/9m_FGqMM1PU Drop me a line! podcastsparks@gmail.com Buy my wife a diamond ring! Venmo: @christian-huey-1

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  Episode #51

  Episode 51: Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat part one

  Jan 4, 20261h 20m

  Welcome to the rise of the machines! Ron and Russell Mael are at a bit of a crossroads with this 1984 LP, and briefly offer the reigns to producer Ian Little (Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Roxy Music's Avalon), who in turn puts in the driver's seat that omnipresent mid-80s behemoth, the CMI Fairlight. It was the first time computerized, visual, grid-based composing was possible, and reduced the amount of friction between idea to product. Monte Mallin is riding shotgun again, and Mr. Christ-on-a-Bike John Ashdown returns to offer a fresh perspective on one of Sparks' lesser-loved albums.

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  Episode #65

  Episode 50: Interview with Chris Sutton

  Aug 22, 20251h 45m

  Chris Sutton has appeared on this podcast before, and likewise Monte Mallin's YouTube channel Sparks: Entertainment and Art. This time, Chris and Christian go mano a mano in an interview about his (Chris') latest book On Track... Sparks 1969-1979 We chat about what it's like being a rock music journalist, and just how he managed to track down so many Sparks luminaries for his project. Also, if you happen to be in the neighborhood of Smethwick, just a bit west of Birmingham, stop by the Smethwick Heritage Center and say hello to the museum's Manager-cum-Editor of the museum's magazine! He just may look (or sound) a tad familiar!

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  Episode #60

  Episode 49: Bad Manners (aka Growing Pains) soundtrack (1984)

  Jun 5, 20251h 52m

  Tally ho! We're going deep into the vaults today for this one, with an in-depth look at the never-officially-released soundtrack to the obscure 1984 teen gross-out film Bad Manners... Or is that Growing Pains? It seems Sparks didn't even know, so they recorded two theme songs, using both titles! After we flap our yaps about both the movie and the soundtrack, we take a little bit of time to explore the unusually high number of soundtrack-only songs Ron and Russ recorded in 1983-1984. The great Monte Mallin returns, and I'm happy to introduce Mr. Chris Sutton to the show this time out! Besides being a true Sparks ride-or-die, Chris has written several books about various music legends. And his latest one is called On Track... Sparks 1969-1979. (PSST. YOU CAN BUY IT HERE: ) Monte's Sparks: Entertainment and Art series is here:

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