Biography
In tandem with his brother Russell on vocals, composer and keyboardist Ron Mael shaped the off-kilter pop intelligence and sardonic lyricism that defined the cult act Sparks. Born on August 12, 1950, in Culver City, California, Mael passed his early years posing in young men’s clothing for mail-order catalogs. While enrolled at UCLA in 1970, he and Russell launched their initial band, Halfnelson. Although Todd Rundgren oversaw the self-titled 1971 debut, the group’s eccentric, tongue-in-cheek art pop found no audience at first. Once their manager persuaded the Maels to adopt a new name, however, Sparks came close to the Hot 100 via the single “Wonder Girl.” The sublimely odd 1972 release A Woofer in Tweeter’s Clothing solidified the band’s cult standing and delivered another near-hit, “Girl From Germany.” After the Maels moved to England, the glam-bubblegum masterpiece Kimono My House climbed to the U.K. Top Five in 1974 and yielded two major British singles, “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us” and “Amateur Hour.” Under disco producer Giorgio Moroder, the synth-driven dance-pop album No. 1 in Heaven restored the group’s British fortunes in 1979 through the hits “The Number One Song in Heaven,” “Beat the Clock,” and “Tryouts for the Human Race.” Sparks in Outer Space, issued in 1983, introduced the delightful duet “Cool Places” with the Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin; the track nearly cracked the U.S. Top 40 and became the band’s strongest domestic success. The ill-fated 1984 effort Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat ended whatever chart progress they had made, and 1988’s Interior Design preceded an extended break. Apart from scoring a film for Hong Kong action maestro Tsui Hark, Sparks stayed quiet until the 1994 arrival of Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins, with Plagiarism appearing four years afterward.