The Greatest Show in Earth!

Who doesn't love Sparks? For some reason the US! This album was a big hit in France, but of course, as it was the group's second produced by Italo-Disco guro Giorgio Moroder. Though it has less of Moroder's influence than No. 1 in Heaven, this one is almost as strong and definitely rockier, as "Rock 'n' Roll People in a Disco World," would imply. The sound precedes a lot of the New WAve pop that would dominate the charts both sides of the Atlantic in subsequewnt years. The Brother Mael's sense of humor is as prevalent on earlier stuff, much more than the predecessor and as much as it's less Moroder tracks like "Noisy Boys" and "Young Girls" make it perhaps and even better party record. "Stereo" is one of their finest moments, I think, thoughb admittedly this album is more of a grower than a lot of Sparks' other masterpieces. Either way it's pretty hard to come by and I was lucky enough to find it on CD at Ameoba in San Francisco last January, so here it is:


Sparks (with Giorgio Moroder) - Terminal Jive (1980)