All You Ever Think About Is Sparks

08/23/2025

Latest episode of my Sparks podcast! It's episode 50! Thanks for a great chat, Chris Sutton!

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 journ...

07/21/2025

New episode with author Chris Sutton, of On Track: Sparks 1969-1979 is "in the can," waiting for a release, when I get back from holiday in a week or so!

04/28/2025

We're back! Just wrapped an interview with Monte and Chris Sutton, all about (oh, I know you all asked for it) that lost 1984 classic: Bad Manners soundtrack (1984)! Plus, a shout out to a few other stray mid-80s Sparks recorded for films around that time.

03/21/2025

Part two of our celebration of all things Hilly - Michaels, that is! Check it out, and once you're done, go listen to his personal collection of unreleased songs on his YouTube channel! Monte Mallin and I are eternally grateful for Hilly's participation in this project.

Howdy, Sparks fans! As promised, here's another episode all about New Haven's finest, the inimitable Hilly Michaels! Monte Mallin and I wax poetic for a bit about just what made Hilly's powerhouse work on the skins so special on 1976's Big Beat. After that, I clock out, and pass the baton over to Mo...

02/09/2025

I nearly orbited the sun since I dropped the last episode, but have no fear, Sparks are not lost In Outer Space! Here's the wrap-up of our chatter about Sparks in Outer Space (1983), with msyelf and Monte Mallin... recorded together in the same room for once!

This one has been in the vault for a while now! Monte and I mix things up by occupying the same geocoordinates as each other for this episode. It's Sparks In Outer Space! Side B. Or 2, if that's your jam. This one was a ton of fun, y'all! We've got another one I'm sticking in the podcast oven to war...

08/22/2024

New All You Ever Think About Is Sparks podcast episode dropped! Go wake the neighbors! Thanks again, Monte Mallin!

Part 2 of our 3-parter on Sparks' 1983 LP In Outer Space! We get through the rest of side A! Plus, a brief history of the Linn Drum! Lucky me, lucky you! Monte's Sparks-themed YouTube channel at: Monte Mallin - YouTube And Paul Barrett's MetaSparks at: MetaSparks - YouTube Drop me a line at podcasts...

08/12/2024

Happiest of birthdays to Mr Ron Mael! You showed me, and to continue to do so, that you don’t need permission to follow your muse, no matter how “weird” or outside the parameters of mainstream expression it might be. Beyond that, I’ll always admire Ron’s dogged persistence, his constant thirst for the new and different, his peerless talent as a songwriter and composer… and his defiant middle finger to that great thief, Father Time. Thanks for everything, on your 79th birthday, Ronald!!

PS. If you’re ever interested in my own amateur scholarship on Ron and Russel Mael, here’s a project I’ve been working on over the past five years: www.sparkspodcast.podbean.com
Great for long flights and train rides! ;)

06/10/2024

This was a great birthday. Time marches forward, entropy is unavoidable, and we're all getting older and slower all the time. Usually I'm a bit morose and depressed around this time, full of thoughts like those. But it's IMPOSSIBLE to be sad when I have such amazing, loving, generous and inspiring people in my life! I'm a lucky guy. Big, warm hugs to my friends and family!! This is what life's about, folks.

05/10/2024

Episode 44: Sparks in Outer Space part 1 is just about ready for the world! Just need to take some splicing tape and a razor to a few more parts, and we'll be good.

04/21/2024

Record Store Day 2024 special! Monte Mallin is onboard with me again, and joining us is Sparks megafan - and sometimes DJ - Ad Rebirth. Ad joins us from Leeds, UK and arrives armed with thoughtful insights into the two Sparks vinyl re-releases for RSD '24: Number One in Heaven and Noël: Is There More to Life Than Dancing?, both originally released in 1979.
Lots of great Sparks-related fan material to cross-promote on this momentous day! Monte's Sparks: Entertainment and Art, Paul Barrett's MetaSparks, and Larry Graves' Canadian Studmuffin channel all have RSD-themed episodes out this week (Monte and I make appearances on the Larry Graves' one, too).
Drop me a line at [email protected]

04/20/2024

Here's my Record Store Day 2024 episode! Thanks to Mr. Ad Rebirth from Leeds for joining Monte Mallin and myself!

Record Store Day 2024 special! Monte Mallin is onboard with me again, and joining us is Sparks megafan - and sometimes DJ - Ad Rebirth. Ad joins us from Leeds, UK and arrives armed with thoughtful insights into the two Sparks vinyl re-releases for RSD '24: Number One in Heaven and Noël: Is There Mo...