Whomp That Sucker is the tenth album by the American rock band Sparks, released in 1981. The album marked Sparks' return to a rock sound after their previous two disco efforts.[1]

History

Sparks had recorded No. 1 In Heaven and Terminal Jive with Giorgio Moroder. Both had been relatively successful, but the brothers had found the electronic equipment they had adopted for their new sound too cumbersome to tour with. Whomp That Sucker was consequently recorded without Giorgio Moroder at Musicland Studios, Munich but still in association with Giorgio Moroder Enterprises. The next four albums were recorded as part of the same partnership. The producer for the album was Mack, who had recently produced Queen's album The Game.

To complement the Mael Brothers, the backing band Bates Motel was hired, consisting of guitarist Bob Haag, bassist Leslie Bohem, and drummer David Kendrick; this line-up would record the next four Sparks albums concluding with Music That You Can Dance To in 1986.[3] In an 2014 interview for Dangerous Minds, Leslie Bohem explains how Sparks met them:

I had been going to the Belgian Waffle stand at the Farmer’s Market on Fairfax for years to have coffee. ... Then, in the Bates days, a whole bunch of us would go in the afternoons and we would see Ron and Russell, who hung out there most afternoons. ... After a while, we developed one of those nodding relationships. One day, I went over to their table. We were trying everything to get signed and I thought that maybe they’d produce us. I said, “You guys are supposed to be the fathers of New Wave, how about you come see your kids,” or something equally lame and gave them a flyer to a show we were doing at Blackies, a club in Santa Monica. They came. They did not want to produce us. They asked us to be their band.[4]

Haag, Bohem, and Kendrick concurrently recorded on their own under the name Gleaming Spires, making three studio albums in the 1980s and having a minor radio new wave hit, "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?", in 1981.[3]

Release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Record Mirror (1981)[5]
Rolling Stone (1981)[6][notes 2]

Whomp That Sucker was released by a number of different record labels: RCA in the US, Underdog in France, Ariola/Oasis in Germany and in the UK by the short-lived Why-Fi Records. The album was not a success in the UK but did fairly well in France coming as it did off the back of their 1980 French hit "When I'm with You". In the US the album reached No. 182 on the Billboard 200, becoming their first since Indiscreet to chart there.[7]

"Tips for Teens" and "Funny Face" were released as singles. In France "Funny Face" was the lead single, whereas in the UK "Tips for Teens" was chosen as the lead single with "Don't Shoot Me" as the B-side.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ron Mael and Russell Mael.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Tips for Teens"3:33
2."Funny Face"3:24
3."Where's My Girl"3:14
4."Upstairs"3:40
5."I Married a Martian"5:12
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."The Willys"3:58
7."Don't Shoot Me"3:56
8."Suzie Safety"3:57
9."That's Not Nastassia"4:57
10."Wacky Women"2:47
Total length:38:38
Imperial Records (Japan) bonus tracks (2009)
No.TitleLength
11."Love Can Conquer All" (Metallic Clang version)4:27
12."The Oblongs"0:59
13."Love Can Conquer All" (Smooth version)4:34
Total length:48:38

Charts

Whomp That Sucker
Chart (1981) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[7] 182

Personnel

Notes

  1. ^ The title of the review misspells the record label Why-Fi as "Why-Fri".
  2. ^ Although the online copy of the album review lists the rating as four stars out of five, the original physical print of the edition of Rolling Stone gave Whomp That Sucker three-and-a-half stars.

References

  1. ^ a b c Raggett, Ned. "Sparks – Whomp That Sucker". AllMusic. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  2. ^ Buck, David (June 18, 2021). "The 2021 Sparks Spectacular". Tedium. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Deming, Mark. "Gleaming Spires – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  4. ^ Drain, Heather. "Sparks, Christian Girls, Drugs & Lemon Meringue Pie: Meet Obscure New Wavers Gleaming Spires". Dangerous Minds. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  5. ^ Total, Mark (May 23, 1981). "Sparks: 'Whomp That Sucker' (Why-Fri Who 1)". Record Mirror. United Kingdom. p. 20.[notes 1]
  6. ^ Puterbaugh, Parke (October 29, 1981). "Album Reviews: Sparks – Whomp That Sucker". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Sparks Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whomp_That_Sucker
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