SPARKS: From Taco Bell To Fish 'n' Chips

“Doris Day’s Sons In Town To Play Concert” read the dynamic headline in Copenhagen. “There was this rumor going around Europe that we were Doris Day’s sons. We don’t know how it got started. Anyway, the Danish Press wrote up this headline,” explains Sparks’ curly-haired Mael brother, Russell. “Later we got a call from Doris Day’s publishing company saying that they had a lot of money for her and would we like to come arourid and pick it up.” Well, the brothers did own up to their true identities. (The mustachioed Ron adds, “Honesty is the best policy.” Good, Ron.) But it is comforting to know that a lot of other people are also confused about Sparks and the mysterious Mael brothers.

Until recently, I was under the common misconception that Sparks embodied a strictly English brand of oddness. You know.. .they just looked, it. The fact of the matter is that, .while their supporting players are all English, the Mael brothers are as Southern California as taco stands. They are U.C.L.A. graduates—Ron majoring in graphic arts, Russell in drama, and were residents of Pacific Palisades until they moved to England two years ago. Goaded on by “pushy” parents, the boys were even child models for the good ol’ Sears catalogue. Their psychic roots are strictly Amerjcan, specifically Californian, and they’re proud of it. They maintain that, even now, the music they first pursued as a hobby in college is* absolutely borne of the ’60’s Los Angeles scene.