Interior Design (album)
1988 studio album by Sparks
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Interior Design is the fifteenth studio album by the American rock duo Sparks, released in August 1988 by Fine Art Records.
| Interior Design | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 26, 1988 | |||
| Studio | The Pentagon Studio (Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop | |||
| Length | 44:25 (LP) 67:44 (CD) | |||
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| Producer | ||||
| Sparks chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Interior Design | ||||
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Release
Interior Design did little in the way to reverse the commercial fortunes of the duo, and did not appear on the album charts in the US or the UK. The singles "So Important" and "Just Got Back from Heaven" did better, both of which reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart at No. 8 and No. 7 respectively.[1] "Just Got Back from Heaven" also appeared on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart at No. 24.[2]
CD versions of the album included a number of bonus tracks including three versions of the album's final track "Madonna", a remix of "So Important" and the short instrumental "The Big Brass Ring".
Re-release
In 2008, Sparks' own record label Lil' Beethoven Records reissued the album in a digipak sleeve retaining the bonus tracks.
Alternate titles
For unknown reasons, Interior Design has been re-released multiple times in various European territories as a budget CD or cassette. The most common retitled version is Just Got Back from Heaven. However, many other versions have been released often utilising images of the mid-seventies Island-era iteration of the band. Other releases marketed the album as if it were a greatest hits album.
| Title | Label(s) |
|---|---|
| Gold | Gold |
| Heaven and Beyond | WZ Tonträger Vertriebs GmbH |
| Just Got Back from Heaven |
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| Madonna: So Important | Victoria |
| The Magic Collection | ARC |
| So Important |
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| The World of the Sparks / Madonna | Trace Trading |
Critical reception
Craig Jacks of the Summer Trojan, the summer edition of the University of Southern California student newspaper the Daily Trojan, regarded the "subtle, yet very noticeable" presence of guitars as a "refreshing change," in contrast to Sparks' previous studio album Music That You Can Dance To.[4]
Tour
Interior Design was the first Sparks album since 1979's Nº 1 in Heaven that wasn't supported by live performances. However, they staged a promotional event called Love-O-Rama at the Tower Records store in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles on September 15, 1988.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Ron Mael and Russell Mael.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "So Important" | 4:33 |
| 2. | "Just Got Back from Heaven" | 4:09 |
| 3. | "Lots of Reasons" | 3:47 |
| 4. | "You've Got a Hold of My Heart" | 4:58 |
| 5. | "Love-O-Rama" | 4:44 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "The Toughest Girl in Town" | 4:16 |
| 7. | "Let's Make Love" | 4:45 |
| 8. | "Stop Me If You've Heard This Before" | 3:41 |
| 9. | "A Walk Down Memory Lane" | 4:53 |
| 10. | "Madonna" | 4:39 |
| Total length: | 44:25 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Madonna" (French Version) | 4:39 |
| 12. | "Madonna" (German Version) | 4:39 |
| 13. | "Madonna" (Spanish Version) | 4:39 |
| 14. | "The Big Brass Ring" | 2:20 |
| 15. | "So Important" (Extremely Important Remix) | 7:02 |
| Total length: | 67:44 | |
Personnel
- Russell Mael – vocals; production
- Ron Mael – keyboards; production
- Spencer Sircombe (Shark Island) – guitar
- Pamela Stonebrooke – backing vocals
- John Thomas – keyboards; engineering
Charts
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