Russell Mael

Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948 in Santa Monica, California) is an American singer and songwriter who, with his elder brother Ron, formed the band Sparks in 1971, which was renamed from Halfnelson. He is also the co-founder of Lil' Beethoven Records.

Biography

Early life

The Mael brothers grew up in Pacific Palisades - a relatively affluent suburb of Los Angeles - with their father, Meyer Mael (of Russian and Austrian Jewish descent), who was a graphic designer and caricaturist for the Hollywood Citizen-News, and their mother, Miriam (née Moskowitz), a librarian. After being educated at Palisades High School (where Russell, in the "Class of '65" alongside Michael Medved and David Wallechinsky, played as quarterback for the Palisades High School Dolphins), both brothers enrolled at UCLA; Ron began a course in Cinema and Graphic Arts in 1963 while Russell studied Theater Arts and Filmmaking between 1966-1968.

Sparks

Well known for his wide vocal range, Russell's most notable vocal trait is a far-reaching falsetto, especially evident on songs such as "Equator" from Sparks' Kimono My House album. He is also known for his flamboyant and hyperactive stage presence.

Read more
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Russell_Mael

Podcasts:

Famous quotes by Russell Mael:

"And this is Ron,"
"[However, it is true that they had to record the Kimono My House LP in a Britain plagued by power strikes in 1974.] They told us that we could work from, like, noon to four - but after that there was no power. And then they said, 'Well lads, even if the record does get finished, there may not be enough vinyl to go around,' ... That wasn't part of our dream of conquering Britain."
"Even before we moved to England we thought we were like a British band. We wanted to be The Who and I kind of admired Mick Jagger, ... We used to play the Whiskey-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles. I would be wheeled on stage in a little ocean liner we made out of wire and papier-mâché, waving hello to the crowd of four or even five people. That's when we realised maybe we were not going to be The Who."
"We were so naïve that we didn't think of the consequences,"
"We sold everything we had - 'no reasonable offer refused' - and moved to England, not knowing what to do if it hadn't worked. Fortunately Ron had a wet Sunday afternoon in Clapham Junction and wrote This Town."
"Ours is a less obvious relationship conflict than Ray and Dave Davies or the Oasis brothers, ... They just punch each other."
"We've met with the band a few times in Los Angeles. The original idea was to gather a dozen or so Sparks songs as sort of a stamp of approval of our band. And they want to do one or two songs where we write and perform them together. We hope it will happen as soon as there is a gap in both bands' schedules."
Email this Page Play all in Full Screen Show More Related Videos
PLAYLIST TIME:

Roswell 47

by: Hypocrisy

Their freedom was taken away as they crashed to be a project of search
The experiment will make sure it won't last, all expect starlight once
The ascent alien ship was shot at because national security was in jeopardy
They say a weather balloon crashed, so we know it's bullshit
We have the right to know what really happened in,
Roswell 47!
Shipping back pieces hangar, to slowly put it together
To find new weapon technology, and maybe answer our dreams forever!
The fatal afraid of spread disease, chaos and confusion.
The energy physics long will be worth, the information may be worthless?
that's why we have the right to really know what happened,
Roswell 47!
They picked him as the offers in play
might try to really happen




Latest News for: russell mael

Edit

Morrissey Calls Sparks “Savages Who Threw Their Old Friends Into Hot Molten Lava”

Stereogum 26 Mar 2025
The final photo in the carousel is not of Morrissey, but of a letter he apparently received from Ron and Russell Mael, his old buddies in Sparks ... The next year, Russell Mael described being “disillusioned” by Moz following those remarks ... .
Edit

Morrissey calls Sparks “headless Palisades savages who threw their old friends into hot molten lava ...

NME 25 Mar 2025
“A nice note from Ron and Russell Mael – before they turned into headless Palisades savages who threw their old friends into hot molten lava for sexy kicks.” ... to Russell Mael.
  • 1

Article Search

tools
×
×
×
×