I'm waiting for the man . . .

[stockhausen]

The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.

A documentary has been made about The Velvet Underground and will presumably be limited to broadcast by one of the streaming services - certainly initially.

There are various other retrospectives of bands that never seem to reach a wide audience (e.g. Carol, I'm Not There, Summer of Soul) and it does seem somewhat sad that this happens - in a perfect world, they would all be available on iPlayer.

But SPARKS? Who on Earth has ever heard of Sparks

 

[stockhausen]

Sparks were one of my favourite bands and I still listen to Kimono My House, Propaganda & Indiscreet.
I have 20 albums by them and seen them live several times.

Well I nevah - 20 albums As @Greebo says "Underground".

In fairness, I have heard "This town ain't big enough for the both of us" but had never heard of Sparks before today.

 

[stockhausen]

Not heard of Sparks or Velvet Underpants.

But then I'm not 65.

But living under a rock must make you remarkably unaware and look a whole lot older

 

[stockhausen]

Oh, my head is full of conversations, discussions, papers I've read, theories I'm exploring, studies I'm planning etc - it's non stop. I even have active debates with myself, sometimes to such an extent that I argue my self out of a previous position I have held on a subject. I usually always have some kind of scientific podcast or documentary playing when I'm in the car, travelling or working at the computer etc.

There is purported to be a link between those who struggle with social bonding who are also on the autistic spectrum. I think there might be something in this as I am autistic and don't have close friends, rather acquaintances. I'm very comfortable in my own company and people in general just annoy me. Music therapy is commonly prescribed for autistic people, but in this instance it wouldn't help and could even have an adverse effect.

That all sounds very worrying . . . perhaps the one relief is that you don't hear voices . . . you don't hear voices do you? Please say you don't



I have heard of the Velvet Underground, of Andy Warhol, of The Factory and recently I have listened to a few Sparks tracks - I am still unconvinced.

 

[stockhausen]

Out of curiosity, I looked at "The 100 Greatest Pop/Rock Bands" according to IMDB.
The Velvet Underground appeared at number 11.
I also looked at the Rolling Stone Magazine ranking which rates them as #19.
Sparks appeared at . . . nowhere . . . on either list.

Now I accept that two listings may not be representative but I still think that Sparks are a somewhat "niche" duo despite their having churned out 20 albums - opinions may vary.

I have heard of Lou Reed, I have heard of John Cale and I have heard of Nico; until the other day I had never heard of the Mael brothers - other people's experience may differ.