On the occasion of Ron Mael's 74th birthday today, we at The Shit take a trip back to the year 1974, when, after two unsuccessful attempts at rock & roll fame & fortune in the U.S, the brothers Mael found their way into the Top 5 in the UK.
All the band had to do in order to completely change the trajectory of their career was to fire the only band they'd ever known, part ways with the only label they'd ever known, and leave the only country they'd ever called home.
Of course, if you'd found out that the style of music that your band was playing to a crowd of only twelve people in the U.S. was being adored by thousands and thousands in dreary old England, you'd probably do precisely what the brothers Mael did when Island Records invited them to the UK to partake in the country's exploding glam movement.
The band's first single upon settling in Great Britain was none other than "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us", which rocketed into the Top 10 with a ferocity the duo had never experienced before and made Sparks a household name.
In hindsight, it might seem like the band knew they had a sure-fire hit on their hands prior to the song's release, but it would take Elton John's willingness to bet producer Muff Winwood that the song would reach the UK Top 3 to convince both band and producer that they were truly onto something and that Elton knew exactly what he was talking about.
While the song's success makes it a perennial British pop favorite, ripe for occasional covers by British acts such as Siouxsie & The Banshees and British Whale, the song never found a footing in the U.S., which proves yet again that U.S. radio programmers have long acted more as censors than providers of quality entertainment.
If not for specialty radio shows like "The Dr. Demento Show", the song would have received no measurable U.S. airplay at all.
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happy birthday ron mael