Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins is the 16th album by American rock band Sparks. It was released in 1994, after an absence from the music industry of 6 years, and marked the duo's transition into a more techno/Eurobeat-influenced sound, which earned them popularity in Germany.
Sparks' previous album was released in 1988, and while it scored a couple of club hits in the US, had not been commercially successful. Critically the group had been receiving mixed reviews since their 1984 album Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat. While promoting Interior Design, Sparks banded together with the French duo Les Rita Mitsouko and released the single "Singing in the Shower" which was a moderate hit in France. Sparks then went on a temporary hiatus while the brothers spent the late 1980s and early 1990s concentrating on film-making, particularly an attempt to make a Japanese manga series, Mai, The Psychic Girl, into a movie. They had hoped to have Tsui Hark direct with the actress-musician Christi Haydon voicing the lead character. Russell Mael had initially met Haydon when he admired her look while she was working on the cosmetics counter of a department store.[9] Haydon's only experience at the time had been as a long running extra of the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. Despite interest from Tim Burton and six years' work on the project, it came to nothing.[10][11]
In 1993, Sparks returned to the studio and released the stand-alone single "National Crime Awareness Week", and wrote and produced the single "Katharine Hepburn" for Christi Haydon. Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins followed in November the next year. It was produced by the duo without an additional backing band.[2] The album had a sound that returned towards the European-synthesizer orientated sound of No. 1 In Heaven.[citation needed] However, the songs retained an emphasis on pop song structure and a sound that was only slightly removed from that of Pet Shop Boys.[citation needed]. The album was toured with Christi Haydon complementing the brothers on drums, as well as appearing in videos for the group. The a cappella title track "Gratuitous Sax" looked back to the equally brief opener of the band's 1974 album; Propaganda.[citation needed] "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" makes reference to Frank Sinatra's signature-tune "My Way".
Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins became Sparks most successful album in Germany reaching #29 and scored three hits on the German Singles chart.[12] While the album only reached #150 on the UK Albums Chart, the singles did well enough to return the group to the Top 40, the first time since "Beat the Clock" in 1979.[13] The lead single "When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" made #7 in Germany[14] and #38 in the UK (it was re-released in May 1995 and peaked at #32).[15] The second single "When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing)" reached #61 in Germany[16] and #36 in the UK.[15] The final single "Now That I Own the BBC" did less well making #81 in Germany[17] and #60 in the UK.[15]
"When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way'" and "When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing)" managed to chart across Europe, and recommenced Sparks' popularity on the US BillboardHot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where they reached No. 9 and #24.[18]
Japanese editions of the album included a new mix "When I Kiss You (I Hear Charlie Parker Playing) by Bernard Butler as a bonus track. The album was re-released as the first album in the series Sparks – The Collection in 2006 on the groups' own record label Lil' Beethoven Records. This re-release featured new artwork, additional sleeve-notes and was packaged in a digipak-sleeve. The album was re-released again in 2019 by BMG Rights Management, in which the original album was remastered and included an additional 31 tracks.[19]
Mark Stagg (for Pro-Gress and D.E.F.) – additional production on "(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing", "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car" and "Let's Go Surfing"
Alan Fisch – engineering on "(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing" and "I Thought I Told You To Wait in the Car"
Linus Burdick – additional production on "Now That I Own the BBC", "Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil" and "Let's Go Surfing"
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