Listening Post: Sparks - Kimono My House

Sparks- Kimono My House - 1974

Someday I'm going to get around to doing the Listening Post for the year 1974. A watershed year, I think. So much music really came into it's own: Metal, Glam, classic Rock, it was a grand time.
Sparks' 3rd album, the extraordinary merry-go-round of lunacy Kimono My House, which came out that year, is at once an epic of singular fun while at the same time picking up the mantle of Beatle glam and Queen sass and running wild.
Russell has embraced his anglophilia while brother Ron, writing epics of dubious nature (The exquisite epic glam waltz/lullaby "Falling in Love with Myself again" for example) and operatic genius ("This Town....") has truly found his voice.
The first side of Kimono is relentless. "Here in Heaven" is haunting and grandiose, worthy of Broadway. The breathless "Thank God it's not Christmas" calls to mind a 70s movie car chase with a vocal that calls to mind Freddie Mercury at his falsetto best.
The lost traveler opener of the second side, "Hasta Manana, Monsieur" is cute with it's obvious, cheeky, fish out of water lyrics, but it's not up to the par of the rest of the record. But it rights itself quickly with the bouncy Kinks pop of "Talent is an Asset", a terrific 3rd person tale of overindulgent parents and their prodigy. Reminds me of "Making Plans for Nigel" or any of the myriad songs in this idiom from English rock. It's quite brilliant. And on a record of great songs, it's a standout as is the equally jaunty "Complaints".
I could go on, song by song (well I guess I have) but the bottom line is that Kimono My House is one of the best top to bottom records of it's kind, an explosive yet bizarre (Sometimes macabre) glam pop rock relic of the mid-70s. If you think you know the era but you haven't heard this, you are not as educated as you think. It's a must.

Grade: A
ASide: This Town Ain't Big Enough for the both of Us, Amateur Hour, Talent is an Asset
BliindSide: Falling in Love With Myself Again, Here in Heaven, Thank God it's Not Christmas, Complaints, In My Family
Downside: Equator