Customer Reviews

Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing' is the album that introduced me to Sparks way way back in the early 70's.
A progressive radio station at the time (WBCN-Boston) played several cuts from this album
( Beaver O'lindy, Whippings and Apologies, Here Comes Bob) on heavy rotation.
I had to find out who they were and everthing I could about them. This is probably one of
Sparks weirder recordings and I'm thrilled it's finally been released on cd.
All the tracks are unique, popish, some are rave-up rock a couple are downright strange. One of my fav cuts is "Beaver O'lindy " with it's rapid drum rolls, crashing guitars
and demented chorus spelling out B-E-A-V -E-R. The song is about a transvestite rock singer.
Another fav is 'Whippings and Apologies which kind of sounds like Alice Cooper meeting
Tommy James and the Shondells. 'Batteries Not Included' is a cute little joke with the title as punchine.
This is an enjoyable sophomore recording from one of America's most unique bands.

"Woofer" is a perfect example of just how interesting and innovative rock can be, and how utterly uninterested and unresponsive the U.S. listening public is.

Coming after their terrific debut as Halfnelson, on a record that already laid out the "classical" influences that would dominate "Lil' Beethoven" some thirty years later, "Woofer" shows the group in peak form. Bearsville had repackaged the band as Sparks, and released this one-of-a-kind album only to see the market's inability to comprehend this music literally send Sparks flying, in this case to comparative fame and instant acclaim in the U.K, with a real and symbolic bullet. Ah, the things you go through for art.

And as brilliant as the follow-on "Kimono My House" is, "Woofer" turns out to be the one that got lost in the transition. Yet "Woofer" is a front-to-back delight. Great writing and playing, high in style and satire, it remains one of the most definitive releases by the Mael brothers. Here they explore the lingering threat of Nazism, unfulfilled Hillbilly longings, high kultur, the unbridled joy of a sadist finding a masochist and an expression of the deepest, warmest longing for beef ever performed. Not to mention the transvestite fumblings implied by the album's title, a crying game that's all for laughs. Looking back at this nearly forgotten gem, one can only ask, is nothing sacred?

Apparently not. It's way past time you got yourself a copy.

It's hard to believe that the music contained on this CD was recorded in 1972. Talk about being ahead of its time! Take, for example, the closing track "Whippings and Apologies" (great title, by the way). This brilliant composition could be right at home with any post-punk/new wave era track lyrically, musically and production wise. Imagine what the adventerous and/or unprepared listener must have thought upon first encountering this song 30 plus years ago: "These guys have got to be nuts!" In fact, Sparks' Hitler moustache-sporting mastermind Ron Mael and his frizzy headed operatic voiced younger brother Russell were and are a bit "off", so to speak, which explains the unforced eccentricity and inventiveness of their music. Highlights include the very catchy "Underground"-which somehow manages to pay homage to Brit Pop of the past while foreshadowing the Stranglers, Ultravox, Wire, Swell Maps, et al.)-"The Louvre", sung almost entirely in French and, again, at least five years ahead of its time, and the wonderfully demented "Beaver O' Leary" ("The girl in your head and the boy in your bed"). "Woofer" and its self-titled predecessor are not only for any self-respecting Sparks fan's collection, but also for any lover of smart, unique and influiential songwriting.

Ron and Russell Mael are amazing in the scope of music they have produced since the early 70's. My first encounter with Sparks was the "Kimono My House" album, which I loved from the minute I first bought it. I discovered "Woofer..." a few years later. "The Louvre" is one of the best moments, with wonderful piano from Ron, and "Whipping and Apologies" almost could be considered a precursor to punk with its jagged guitar riffs and Russell's vocals. Nothing quite sounded like this in 1972, and this album is an undiscovered treasure in the Sparks catalog. Also, check out their latest "Hello Young Lovers", one of the best albums of the last year!!

The music here is definitely 5-star material, but this is a disappoining reissue.
Back in the late 80's, the first 2 Sparks albums were reissued on a single CD. But, to get all the music to fit on one disc, they remastered the last 4 songs of "Woofer/Tweeter" at a slightly heightened speed.
I was hoping with this resissue, that they would restore the original speed on those 4 songs. When I popped the CD into my player and saw the total playing time at 39:27, I thought "Uh, oh - this doesn't look good".
Those hearing those songs for the first time in this incarnation, won't notice the difference; but - as one who had the original Bearsville LP in the 70's - I found those songs to be even more twee in this edition.

play 'woofer' followed by 'exotic creatures'(spark'latest) and enjoy the evolution of their wit and music, while marvelling at how sparks has stayed true to their original sound and vision.

If you compare this CD with the original Bearsville L P starting at side 2 (Do-Re-Mi), the CD gradually speeds up linearly all the way to the end. This is obviously a mastering error and perhaps there is a version out there which has been corrected like the Japanese one. I remastered and corrected my own. The album is excellent but the recording is a good wierd kind of drab produced by Todd's engineer because he had to go promote his own act which was starting to take off. Excellent album Defective mastering.