SPARKLE*JETS U.K.

Writing something about this double album has been quite the project. Best Of Friends is a double album with 19 excellent tunes that run for one hour and six minutes. That’s longer than most albums and thus took more listening time. Another factor that made this longer than my average blog is that I had never heard of them before, so I had to listen to their back catalogue to hear where they came from. And to top that, I was unfamiliar with the artists that sparkle*jets u.k. were paying tribute to, so I also had to listen to their material. All of these factors meant that I was busy getting around to blogging Best Of Friends.

SPARKLE*JETS U.K., beloved icons of the Turn-of-the-Century Southern California guitar pop scene, are most assuredly back. BIG STIR RECORDS is proud to announce not only the June 30 release of the band’s first album in over 20 years, Best Of Friends, on 2-LP Vinyl and CD in record stores everywhere and streaming worldwide but a veritable multimedia renaissance for the band throughout 2023. Bringing back not just the vibes of the scene that birthed them but the songs as well, SPARKLE*JETS U.K.’s jaw-dropping new double album is both a love letter and a tribute to the artists with whom they shared stages and a thrilling revelation of those lost sounds to those who missed them the first time around. People like me!

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Track List and Original Artists: 

1. Hold On Tight (Clevenger)

  Originally recorded by Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings

2. He’s Coming Out (D’Amico / Mychols)

  Originally recorded by The Masticators

 3. No One Rides For Free (Anderson)

  Originally recorded by The Andersons

 4. One Summer Sunday (Chicoine)

  Originally recorded by Kompost

 5. Are We There Yet? (Bartnof)

  Originally recorded by Cosmo Topper

 6. Ludlow 6:18 (Marsland)

  Originally recorded by Cockeyed Ghost

 7. Battle Song (Daniel)

  Originally recorded by Adam Daniel

 8. I Want A Pony (Jenio / McGough / Sessa / Woods)

Originally performed by Candypants

 9. Till We Meet Again (Magill)

  Originally recorded by The Dons

 10. Come Down Now (Rodewald / Stewart)

  Originally recorded by The Negro Problem

 11. Automatic (Hromadka)

  Originally recorded by Double Naught Spies

 12. Who Really Can Know? (Flora)

  Originally recorded by Florapop

 13. Sunshine Tonight (Rotenberry)

  Originally recorded by The Shazam 

It’s a full-circle return for the Long Beach-based trio, consisting now as then of vocalist-guitarist Susan West, bassist Jamie Knight, and singer/multi-instrumentalist Michael Simmons, who also takes most drumming duties for the current edition of sparkle*jets u.k. (with Joel Valder sitting in on three tracks). The band has hardly been dormant for the decades since releasing their two widely admired albums, In, Through And Beyond in 1998 and 2001’s Bamboo Lounge, nor have they ever gone their separate ways. In addition to Michael Simmons’s continuing output as a solo artist (the acclaimed 2018 album First Days Of Summer) and with Popdudes, sparkle*jets u.k. joined the Big Stir Records family in 2019 for a special 7″ tribute to Big Star recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Jody Stephens on board. And all three ‘jets have been a part of creating the extraordinary (and very much pop-rock-oriented) music program at Huntington Beach High School. The band’s 2023 renaissance is something more significant, and this new collection is just the start, with an entire album of sparkle*jets u.k. ‘s originals already completed for release next year.

But we’re here to talk about BEST OF FRIENDS, whose mission is right there in the double meaning of its title: it consists of songs by sparkle*jets u.k. ‘s friends from the late ’90s and early 2000s in the L.A. pop scene, and it serves as a veritable “Best Of” collection for those unfamiliar with that era’s delights. Destined to have a reach beyond its impact as a superb pop-rock record, BEST OF FRIENDS is more of a multimedia event than a simple album release. Along with the singles and their inevitable companion music videos, the album’s publicity campaign incorporates a weekly podcast (also entitled BEST OF FRIENDS) which captures sparkle*jets u.k. in a candid conversation with the artists covered on the album, bridging the gap between the fondly remembered adventures and recordings of yesteryear and the fresh, bracing versions on the new L.P.

https://sparklejetsuk.bandcamp.com/album/bamboo-lounge

BEST OF FRIENDS is just the beginning of a new lease on the musical life for sparkle*jets u.k., and they can still write them just as well as they can play them. For now, though, turn it up loud as sparkle*jets u.k. prepares for blastoff, shattering the sound barrier between yesterday and tomorrow and paying loving tribute to their BEST OF FRIENDS.

Album Credits: 

Michael Simmons: Lead and Backing Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Drums. Bass on Are We There Yet 

Susan West: Lead and Backing Vocals

Jamie Knight: Electric Bass, 12-String Acoustic Guitar on Are We There Yet? & Hold On Tight

Joel Valder: Drums on I Want a Pony, In and Around Greg Lake, & Fantastic Pantsuit 

Tisha Boonyawatana: Vocals and Keyboard on Fantastic Pantsuit

Anthony Grisham: Lead Guitars on Hold on Tight & The Right Idea

Blake Martin: Horns on Are We There Yet?

Nick Frater: Some handclaps

Michael Simmons produced and engineered it, 08/21-03/22 at Crab-Apple-On-Sea, Long Beach, CA. except for Fantastic Pantsuit, recorded 10/05 at Crab Apple West, Fullerton, CA. 

Graphic design by Michael Simmons

Photographs courtesy of bands, and a few stolen from http://www.perry.com. Back cover painting by Rene Rodriguez 

Thanks to: every artist represented here, most of whom elected to waive their royalties to allow this project to progress. We cannot thank you enough for your friendship and general awesomeness. Thanks to Christina and Rex at BIG STIR RECORDS for all they do. Thanks to our families, all the sparkle*jets u.k. past and present, all the D.J.’s, journalists, and John B.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PQn8mTl1Q4
I

I am watching their video on YouTube as I type this, good stuff. The more I listen to BEST OF FRIENDS the more I like it and the more I listen to sparkle*jets u.k. the more I appreciate them.

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