(Island Records, 1974)
'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us' is the opening track on Sparks' album ‘Kimono My House’, and was the lead single from the album, reaching number two in the UK singles chart.
Ron Mael explains how he created this classic Sparks track:-
"Russell and I moved to England after two unsuccessful American albums. Our parents were living in England, and on Sundays I would take a bus to Clapham Junction; there was a piano in their flat. One Sunday something happened with that song (i.e. This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us). At first I didn't think of it as special: the song was called "Too Hot To Handle" or something inane. The line "this town ain't big enough for the both of us" is a movie cliche, a challenge from one gunfighter to another. But having a song that was the opposite of a cliché, but used a cliched line, really interested me. The vocals sound so stylised because I wrote it without any regard for vocals and Russell had to adapt". (Source : The Guardian).
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