[Grace Kao] Sparks profess their love of J-Hope and G-Dragon

Legendary group Sparks (brothers Ronald and Russell Mael, ages 80 and 77, respectively) may be the most important pop music group you’ve never heard of. In a documentary, Taylor Swift producer Jack Antonoff said, “All pop music is rearranged Sparks.” I also recently learned that Russell Mael, lead singer of the group, has professed a love of K-pop, especially J-Hope and G-Dragon.

This group of two brothers may be one of the few who have gotten along for more than the 54 years they’ve played together. They began recording as teens. By 1971, they called themselves Halfnelson, but by 1972, they were known as Sparks. They were discovered by producer and singer Todd Rundgren (famed singer of the 70s classics “Hello It’s Me” and “I Saw the Light”). However, their style of music did not appeal to the Los Angeles scene of the early 1970s.

Eventually, they were beckoned to England by a record label, and it was there that they found success. In 1974, their single “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” went to No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. On Top of the Pops, the iconic music show in the UK, audiences got to see the lively Russell Mael dance around while singing incredibly high notes, while Ronald sat at his synthesizer with a Charlie Chaplin-esque mustache, looking quite bored. This proved to me how ahead of their time they were: Their 1974 song anticipates many essential characteristics of 1980s British New Wave.

Since then, they have been known for their innovative music that traverses numerous genres, although admittedly, they were more popular in Europe than in the US. This is one of those groups from which other pop groups drew inspiration. They produced euro-disco tracks with famed producer Giorgio Moroder — notably 1979’s “Number One Song in Heaven.”

Moroder is another prolific artist known for Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” and Blondie’s “Call Me.” Many of these songs appeared on Soundtracks such as “Top Gun,” “American Gigolo" and “Scarface.” Moroder also composed and produced the 1988 Seoul Olympic Opening Ceremony theme, “Hand in Hand” (performed by Koreana). He worked with Sistar on “One More Day” (2016).

Later, Sparks' tracks moved away from and then back toward synth-driven sounds, but their lyrics are consistently innovative and witty. I always felt bad for Russell for having to hit extremely high notes, even in his late 70s.

I discovered them relatively late — they collaborated on an album with Franz Ferdinand and formed the supergroup FFS (Franz Ferdinand Sparks) and produced one of my favorite albums of all time. “Call Girl” sounds like the perfect 1980s song, and the album takes the best of both artists.

Most recently, Sparks wrote the story and music for the musical film “Annette” featuring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. They are currently collaborating with Hong Kong director John Woo (yes, that John Woo) on their next musical film.

I was able to see them perform last week in Brooklyn, New York. They have produced 28 albums in their career, and they show no signs of stopping. While reviewing their songs and rereading articles about them in preparation for the concert, I vaguely remembered that Russell Mael had said something about liking K-pop.

In fact, it was much more than that. In a 2023 interview with “The Line of Best Fit,” Russell was asked about his nine favorite songs of all time. Again, he is 78 and has been in the music business since his 20s. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music.

He named a song by Elvis, another by Fats Domino, a song from the soundtrack of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and a song by Procol Harum. These are songs from his youth.

Suddenly, the list included Korean artist Chang Kiha. He then listed BTS’s J-Hope’s solo song, “More.”

Russell stated, “He played at Lollapalooza in Chicago this year, he went and performed as a solo artist, it was a very strong performance, and very striking. Again, you can kind of say, ‘Gosh, he’s talking about BTS,’ and that kind of music will have certain connotations for people, or they have an idea of what it’s about. I think if you investigate it and approach it in a neutral sort of way, just listening to this particular song from J-hope especially and then seeing the performance he did of it at Lollapalooza, it's as compelling as anything else coming out right now. It’s up there with the best of modern pop music.”

Just three months ago, Russell Mael was interviewed by the program “What’s in My Bag,” where celebrities are interviewed about what they would grab from the famous Amoeba Records in Los Angeles. One of Russell Mael's picks was G-Dragon’s newest album, "Ubermensch." He explained, “If you want to catch up on your K-pop history, you have to pass through Big Bang and G-Dragon.”

Will the new Sparks musical directed by John Woo feature a collaboration between Sparks and J-Hope or G-Dragon? One can only hope.

Grace Kao

Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.