NBD '65 blonde Höfner Senator bass

[uwe]

I think they were being ironic - they often are.



They emphasized the cheesy aspects of the song (and I Want To Hold Your Hand has a few of those, I never thought it the strongest early Beatles composition - they were still very much in Everly Brothers mode then - I prefer Eight Days a Week or She Loves You any day). But they disowned their own version years later, saying they had completely missed what the Beatles had evoked.

As for the Twitter guy, I'm sure he must be a closet Sparks fan too ...

[slinkp]

I didn't know who they were, but they were indelibly lodged in my memory via this song in the 80s movie "Valley Girl".  I was about 13, so anything with (even partial) nudity that I could surreptitiously watch multiple times on HBO made a big impression on me.  Plus, it was a memorably weird vocal intro.


For the same reason, I will always vividly remember "Moving in Stereo" by The Cars, though I didn't even know it was a Cars song ...  because it plays during the pool scene in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High".   Ah, the single-mindedness (mindlessness?) of youth.

[uwe]

There are no doubt parallels between the Sparks and The Cars even though they came from opposite coasts! They both had that penchant for almost grotesque tunefulness/catchiness coupled with a certain lack of warmth/sweat/earthiness in their music (you couldn't imagine them doing Foghat's Slowride and keeping a straight face about it). Both were Yanks too, yet sounded British.

The Mael's lyrics are more acerbic though (very much West Coast Jewish middle class observant wit of two brothers growing up in the 50ies and 60ies who didn't quite fit in/weren't allowed to). And they sure were ahead of their time.

[daan]

I had no idea they still existed.

THey put out a record a couple years ago, with the "Franz Ferdinand" guys, it's fun to listen to.

[daan]

This is such a great picture, I kinda want a nice, framed copy in my music room! I'm a sucker for non-beatle-bass Hofners, and modern design, so this hits all my buttons. Awesome!

[uwe]

Considering it's German design, it's not that dreadfully hässlich.