Since their emergence at the beginning of the 1970s, Sparks has been an outsider act. But while commercial success has only struck a handful of times in the course of their twenty-one albums, everyone who grew up during that time seems to know who they are. There’s something about the sight of Ron Mael, the sinister, Chaplinesque accountant stoically rocking out behind the keyboard, that once seen is not easily forgotten. Of all the musicians in the world Paul McCartney could have picked to impersonate in his all-star band for the 1980 Coming Up video, Mael not only made the cut, his Fab doppelganger is easily the funniest and most memorable in the clip. When guys who used to be in the Beatles are making fun of you, you've made it. more ›