Double Dose: Sparky Music Bios Go-Go-Go

(Double Dose is two films from the same director, writer or star...or genre or theme...pretty simple.  Today: two music biographies)

The Sparks Brothers - 2021, d. Edgar Wright - rental
The Go-Gos - 2020, d. Alison Ellwood - HBO

There seem to be an endless supply of music documentaries proliferating.  Does every musician have a unique story to tell?  By nature, a successful singer or band will have achieved success through their  uniqueness, and any even modestly popular artist will have fans who are interested in their story.  But what about the people who aren't fans?  

Is a successful music documentary one that can entice viewers even if they don't really care about who is being profiled?  

And should be the objective of a music documentary?  Is it to tell a unique story, or is it to "sell" the audience on the band, or both?

The Sparks Brothers is, hands down, the music documentary of the year.  This is not to say it is the best music documentary this year, just that it's the highest profile, and by far the one I've had the most conversations about. 

There's a singular reason for that: Edgar Wright

The director of Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim..., and Baby Driver is major figure in both the world of cinephiles and indie music.  His films always feature music heavily (often with scenes built around songs) and his soundtracks make for a great mixtape.  That he's actually dipped his toe into documentary filmmaking is a bit of a surprise, as there was never any indication the inkling was there, but then, it's the subject matter that clearly elates him.

Presented to me as "the new film from Edgar Wright" I saw the trailer for The Sparks Brothers and I immediately thought "mockumentary".  I thought this was Wright's stab at a modern This Is Spinal Tap.  I also know I was far from the only one who thought this.

It is remarkable that the subject of  The Sparks Brothers, the band Sparks, has been around for over 40 years, produced 25 albums, has been a huge influence on a multitude of musicians, artists, filmmakers etc over the years, and still toils in a niche obscurity.  The list of talking heads here, musicians, writers, actors, directors  -- Beck, "Weird" Al, Flea, Mike Meyers, Patton Oswalt, Fred Armisen,Amy Sherman-Palladino, Neil Gaiman, Jason Schwartzman, among many many others -- could be mistaken for the exact type of people you might find in a mocumentary about an obscure, eclectic band, but it makes just as much sense that they love what Sparks is all about.

The California-born brothers Ron and Russel Mael are a very dryly humoured duo, with sharply angular faces, one that for the better part of his life aligned with the conventions of beautiful androgyny, the other for decades sported a Hitler (*cough* Charlie Chaplin/Michael Jordan[?]) mustache (and in more recent decades a pencil thin lip-topper ala John Waters).  Stylistically they had a visual schtick, Ron was the pretty, fashionable one, Russel was the odd one with the "schoolteacher" garb who would stare down the lens of the camera, eyes bulging.

Their musical style constantly evolved, year over year from british invasion to poppy psychedelia, to proto-punk to early eurotronica, often in advance of those waves catching on.  Whether they were the influence or just ahead of the curbe is hard to say, but they did produce 15 of their 25 albums in a 15 year span, an incredibly prolific output.

A key element of their music, as pointed out in the film, is the playful lyrics and song structures.  If there's a reason why they're perhaps disregarded by the masses, it's this.  The masses treat humour in music as "novelty", but it's clear from the sheer breadth and volume of output that Sparks is anything but novel.  

The film is very focused on the music, the output and the trials and tribulations of assembling.  Its opening minutes give a quick and dirty recap of Ron and Russell's upbringing and family life, but very quickly it dovetails into what, clearly, Wright is interested in: what influenced their music, and the influence their music had (or didn't have, as it were).  It's a very specific focus, that cuts out any real manipulative band drama in favor of just reveling in the tunes, man.   It goes album-by-album, which, when covering 25, really accounts for the 2 hour and 20 minute run time.   

The film also examines the near-misses and regrets, as they had the dream gig of working with Jaques Tati and David Lynch (real artsy filmic types) on separate film projects, only to have them fall through for one reason or another (this year they finally got their movie in the form of the Cannes-lauded Leos Carax-directed musical Annette).

The talking heads all seem enthusiastic to discuss Sparks (Wright even puts himself on camera, obviously at a point where he's just not getting the quote he wanted) and there's just an infectious energy to the whole thing that is as much Sparks as it is Wright's directorial skill.  It's a playful documentary, full of chuckles and a few big laughs.  It may not make every viewer a fan but at least now you'll know Sparks by name.

Knowing The Go-Go's isn't really a problem unless you're a Millennial or Gen-Z'er, but even then it's hard to think that even they haven't encountered "Our Lips Are Sealed", "Vacation" or "We've Got The Beat".  As the documentary reminds us a few times, the Go-Gos were the first, and only all-female band to have a number 1 debut album on the Billboard chart, but their story begins years before their 1981 debut "Beauty and the Beat".

I had no idea that The Go-Go's formed as a punk band in the burgeoning L.A. scene.  An all-girl act of teen punks was a novelty, but beyond that factor they also clearly had...something.  Talent was not it, at least not at first, but it came rather swiftly.  It took some band member changes (definitely some hurt feelings along the way) but their success showed the power of commitment.

They wound up being local-famous on the punk scene, but it was opening for Madness and The Specials and other UK acts that brought them out to England in 1980 for a punk/ska road tour that battle hardened them, but also became their proving ground that, in a sense, prepared them for stardom (as much as you can ever be prepared for such a thing).

As their fame grew, so did the pressure.  During a grueling tour opening for The Police, their album topped the charts and the attention they garnered intensified.  A hastily made music video on nascent MTV exploded, and the demand for a follow-up album, amid touring and press, meant their follow-up, 1982's "Vacation" wasn't quite as well received nor as well regarded (within and without).  

The doc has a wonderful narrative arc charting their rise but also their all too typical calamitous fall.  Egos, money, credit and drugs all played a hand in their sisterhood becoming acrimonious. Dividing lines fell between those who were the songwriters (thus getting the largest royalty stake) and the band members without credit.  The management decision to force shared credit across the who band caused soft-spoken Jane Wiedlin to loudly quit the band in '84.  Within ayear the band was done, Belinda Carlisle going solo, bringing Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine with her.  

The talking heads mostly consist of the band members (including former band members) and associated talent from their early days.  It's the involvement of the band members that bring the doc to life, as they narrate over volumes of old footage and photographs.  By far drummer Kathy Valentine is the most winning personality on screen, no bullshit and fully sardonic.  Love her.  But all the members were very engaging in their own right.  Caffey's battle with drugs is a very prominent throughline but it's shocking how it took a newcomer to the band (following Wiedlin's departure) to basically intervene and point the way for her to get help. 

The story after they broke up in '85 is glossed over pretty quickly, with the perfunctory look at their various short-lived solo projects and ultimately their nostalgia-capitalizing reunion(s), and maybe new material (Club Zero, released in 2020, is their first track since a 2001 album "God Bless The Go-Go's - tellingly omitted from the doc - itself their first album since 1984).

It's a solid and entertaining doc, even for non fans.  The punk connection may be a surprise to most, considering how modern day they're considered to be farily prototypical saccharine 80's pop.  But upon closer listen those punk edges can be found all throughout their music.  Did they sell out?  Of course they did, and the doc leaves the question lingering "what if they didn't?"  There's a strong case that had they stuck a bit more to their punk roots they would have had a longer, more prolific career.  But even though they blazed bright and burnt out fast, it's hard to deny what they contributed to music, the culture of the era (Carlisle single handedly made shrug-shoulder sweaters a thing), and to female performers who have come since.