Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

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Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

Yes
7
18%
No
32
82%
 
Total votes: 39

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leesmapman
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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#31 Post by leesmapman »

^ That's exactly a scene from the Sparks Brothers movie which was the reason for this topic

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#32 Post by Nickname »

It's part of the docummentary when Vince Cklarke talks about the aesthetic of PSB. For him, it's a copy and paste of the Sparks Brothers.

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#33 Post by Eleven »

Wow I never known The Sparks except for their single MY WAY, which is a copy of the PSB sound and for that I like it a lot then and now but seeing the documentary its plain clear Neil and Chris adopted their aesthetic, if you see their first tv appearances you see they are still not formed in their role, I guess they saw themselves on tv and felt ashamed then quickly look for some role to adopt.
I dont really like any other song from Sparks and I can sing you any PSB b-side you name but what is real is real and they took their aesthetic from the Sparks.
The thing about Neil saying to their tour manager "You are naughty" and walking away says more bad things than good about themselves.
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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#34 Post by truthbetold »

Don't keep your pet heads up your pet arses. Yes Sparks indeed influenced any electronic band of the early 80s (including PSB though for whatever silly reason they won't admit it) as did Kraftwerk. End of discussion. Whether Neil and Chris copied the aesthetic, maybe. Who cares? But there would be none of the electronic music we enjoy today without Sparks and Kraftwerk pushing the sound to the mainstream in the late 70s.They put in the initial effort, creative thinking and risk to bring new sounds to the mainstream's ear. Then scattered boys in that listening audience grew up a few more years and took tthe sound to its next evolutionary level. Sparks gets much more credit than PSB for sticking to experimentation and reinvention. I love the PSB as much as any other good pet head but can step back and see the correct perspective.

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#35 Post by Disco. »

Does it really matter ? Maybe to Spark fans. But Neil has stated that they were influennced by Kraftwerk, never heard him mention
The Sparks.

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#36 Post by jules »

The only similar things i see is their look on the "when i'm with you" video (actually) and the "balls" album, for the cover (super) and the song "the calm before the storm" (undertow).

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#37 Post by Patrick Bateman »

truthbetold wrote: Sat 01 Jan 2022, 6:55 am Don't keep your pet heads up your pet arses. Yes Sparks indeed influenced any electronic band of the early 80s (including PSB though for whatever silly reason they won't admit it) as did Kraftwerk. End of discussion. Whether Neil and Chris copied the aesthetic, maybe. Who cares? But there would be none of the electronic music we enjoy today without Sparks and Kraftwerk pushing the sound to the mainstream in the late 70s.They put in the initial effort, creative thinking and risk to bring new sounds to the mainstream's ear. Then scattered boys in that listening audience grew up a few more years and took tthe sound to its next evolutionary level. Sparks gets much more credit than PSB for sticking to experimentation and reinvention. I love the PSB as much as any other good pet head but can step back and see the correct perspective.
Kraftwerk I understand, but Sparks weren't electronic purists. It made sense for PSB to acknowledge Soft Cell as an influence recently as they've always remained a synthpop duo. Sparks have been all kinds of things.

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#38 Post by Drico One »

Sparks were a glam-rock band before Giorgio Moroder transformed them into something cool. They weren't even a duo. It's not Sparks who influenced Pet Shop Boys - it was Moroder. Sparks were largely crap before Giorgio and, let's face it, largely crap after him. The Number One Song in Heaven is genius, but then it was produced by the man with the genius level body of work. That track's similarities with Donna Summer's I Feel Love and The Runner by the Three Degrees - both produced by Moroder - tell its own tale.

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#39 Post by telys »

Well, compare the album covers and the album titles. PSB and Sparks have nothing in common there.
And Ron behind the keyboard is acting. Chris behind the keyboard is being himself.
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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#40 Post by OakeyDokey »

Propaganda and Kimono My House are fantastic albums by Sparks from the 70s and had little to do with "the boys" sound.

And there's no "The" in front of the word "Sparks"!

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#41 Post by Mr Madness »

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, so apologies if it has, but there’s an interesting comment from Neil RE: Sparks in The Word’s ‘Word in your Ear’ podcast, episode 170, from 2011.

Long story short, Sparks had given an interview in Q Magazine where they’d basically said “There are actually Pet Shop Boys songs that we’ve written”. Neil was annoyed by this and wrote a letter to Q, which was published the following week.

By complete chance, on the week of his letter being published, Neil bumped in to Sparks at a rehearsal studio and they were very apologetic about it all.

You can hear the comments here from 1:50: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0MjGaR ... hE9w&t=111

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Re: Do you think PSB took their aesthetic from The Sparks?

#42 Post by Sandy Shaw »

Mr Madness wrote: Tue 04 Jan 2022, 11:13 am Not sure if this has been mentioned already, so apologies if it has, but there’s an interesting comment from Neil RE: Sparks in The Word’s ‘Word in your Ear’ podcast, episode 170, from 2011.

Long story short, Sparks had given an interview in Q Magazine where they’d basically said “There are actually Pet Shop Boys songs that we’ve written”. Neil was annoyed by this and wrote a letter to Q, which was published the following week.

By complete chance, on the week of his letter being published, Neil bumped in to Sparks at a rehearsal studio and they were very apologetic about it all.

You can hear the comments here from 1:50: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0MjGaR ... hE9w&t=111
Thanks. I think the Boys in the latest Literally really have summed it all up including this incident and drawn a line under some speculation about a supposed influence of Sparks on PSB.
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