Amateur Hour (song) - Misplaced Pages

This article is about the 1974 song by Sparks. For the 2022 song by Eels, see Extreme Witchcraft.

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1974 single by Sparks

"Amateur Hour"

German 7" single

Single by Sparks

from the album Kimono My House

B-side

"Lost and Found"

Released

1974

Genre

Bubblegum

Length

3:37

Sparks singles chronology

"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us"
(1974)

"Amateur Hour"
(1974)

"Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth"
(1974)

Licensed audio

"Amateur Hour" on YouTube

"Amateur Hour" is a song by Sparks. It was released as the second single, released by Island Records, 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.

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.

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.

v t e Sparks
Ron Mael Russell Mael Jim Mankey Earle Mankey Harley Feinstein Martin Gordon Adrian Fisher Norman "Dinky" Diamond Trevor White Ian Hampton Bob Haag Leslie Bohem David Kendrick Christi Haydon Tammy Glover Dean Menta
Albums	Halfnelson/Sparks A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing Kimono My House Propaganda Indiscreet Big Beat Introducing Sparks Nº 1 in Heaven Terminal Jive Whomp That Sucker Angst in My Pants In Outer Space Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat Music That You Can Dance To Interior Design Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins Plagiarism Balls Lil' Beethoven Hello Young Lovers Exotic Creatures of the Deep The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman Two Hands, One Mouth: Live in Europe Hippopotamus A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte
Singles	"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" "Amateur Hour" "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" "I Want to Hold Your Hand" "The Number One Song in Heaven" "Beat the Clock" "When I'm with You" "I Predict" "Cool Places" "With All My Might" "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" "When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing)" "Now That I Own the BBC" "Dick Around" "Johnny Delusional"
Related	Giorgio Moroder Telex Sex (Telex album) Noël Gleaming Spires Les Rita Mitsouko Devo Todd Rundgren Sparks Spectacular Tony Visconti Jane Wiedlin FFS (self-titled album) The Sparks Brothers Annette
Discography

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