Amateur Hour (song)
"Amateur Hour" is a song by Sparks. It was released as the second single from their 1974 album Kimono My House. Bassist Martin Gordon was requested to replace his original bass part (recorded using a Rickenbacker 4001 bass) with a Fender Precision bass, belonging to his subsequent replacement in the band.[2]
| "Amateur Hour" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() German 7" single | ||||
| Single by Sparks | ||||
| from the album Kimono My House | ||||
| B-side | "Lost and Found" | |||
| Released | 1974 | |||
| Genre | Bubblegum[1] | |||
| Length | 3:37 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ron Mael | |||
| Producer(s) | Muff Winwood | |||
| Sparks singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Amateur Hour" on YouTube | ||||
A re-recording was produced in 1997 for the retrospective Plagiarism album. This new version was given a complete electronic synth-pop overhaul and was performed with Erasure.
On 25 June 2009, the song "Amateur Hour" was featured in a stunt when UK magician and mentalist Mark Cairns predicted that radio personality George Lamb would choose the Sparks song, in a free choice from a list of 100 tracks that had been recently played on Lamb's BBC Radio 6 Music show.[3]
Track listing
- "Amateur Hour" – 3:37
- "Lost and Found" – 3:21
Personnel
- Russell Mael – vocals
- Ron Mael – keyboards
- Martin Gordon – bass
- Adrian Fisher – guitar
- Norman "Dinky" Diamond – drums
Chart positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 7 |
| German Singles Chart | 12 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 19 |
References
- Shade, Chris (2005). "Sparks - Kimono My House". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 324.
- "Kimono My House Sessions * Martin Gordon". Martingordon.de. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
- "BBC Radio 6 Music - George Lamb". Bbc.co.uk. 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
