$15.00
Vinyl LP (orange vinyl) plus CD plus a digital download of the full album and a 20-track collection of remixes, demos, singles, compilation contributions and live tracks!
MICHAEL SIMMONS (Huntington Beach, CA)
SIMMONS has been a “fringe fixture” – his words, we at Big Stir Records see him in the centre of the spiral! – on the power-pop scene since his band sparkle*jets u.k. made its first splash in 1998 at LA Pop festivals International Pop Overthrow and Poptopia. Two albums, hundreds of shows, and many years later he is still (occasionally) making music, generally to greater and wider acclaim than he's willing to acknowledge. He’s put out a plethora of covers as part of POPDUDES with pop journalist and author John Borack, and in 2014 put together the most unknown pop supergroup ever, YORKTOWN LADS, with Big Stir artist Addison Love and Cameron Lew of GINGER ROOT (a band that’s getting very big indeed… google them!).
Over the years he’s worked as an engineer and producer with many different bands you’ve probably never heard of (or, knowing our audience, you may well own their entire catalogs) He's spent the last 15 years working at a performing arts high school putting on huge concerts and teaching the next generation the importance of JPGR.
Last year he released First Days of Summer, his first truly solo music since his formative years. Since then he has released some Christmas songs, tribute album tracks, and the 2nd ever Big Stir Digital Single. In honor of his birthday, the LP/CD combo (yes, you get both!) is going on sale right here at Big Stir, and we’ve included a few bonus download tracks to sweeten the deal. There are demos, freshly minted remixes, alternate versions, and other oddities. If you somehow missed FDOS upon its release, it's Summer all over again, and this will tide you over while we anticipate what's next from Simmons!
$5.00
Big Stir Records is thrilled to announce the addition of Orange County, CA pop legends SPARKLE*JETS U.K. to our roster with their first new release in 18 years: a limited edition colored 7” vinyl single that's of unique significance to both the band and the label. It's a pair of covers related to BSR's namesake Big Star – the band's classic “The Ballad of El Goodo” and the beloved Chris Bell solo cut “You and Your Sister” – recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Jody Stephens on drums. Both the A and B sides will be available digitally ONLY with the physical 45 (until they're collected on the fourth Big Stir Singles CD in late 2019). The single is officially out Friday, July 26 and can be pre-ordered here:
www.bigstirrecords.com/sparkle-jets-u-k
It's a welcome return for sparkle*jets u.k., remembered as one of the most adored bands in the power pop movement of the late '90s and early 2000s and mainstays of the early International Pop Overthrow Festival years. Their adorably geekly sensibility and their sound – a distinctive marriage of '60s and '70s rock and whimsical guitar pop -- set then apart. Founding members Michael Simmons, Susan West, and Jamie Knight first met in 1995 at a gig for Simmons' band at the time, Virgin 7. Within a year the trio's separate acts had merged into a single entity, which included the first writing contributions from Simmons as well as material from West and Knight.
The group, which was initially dubbed Happy Birthday!, was renamed sparklekets u.k., including the "U.K." tag because the name wasn't nearly wacky enough. The three bandmembers also shared a lot of musical common ground, starting at The Beatles and running through Electric Light Orchestra, Brian Wilson, Teenage Fanclub, Pixies, The Jackson 5. SJUK recorded their 1998 debut In, Through and Beyond and pressed just 1,000 copies. Copies of the disc made it into a single store, where rock journalist John Borack (Goldmine Magazine and the Shake Some Action power pop guidebooks) bought a copy, his decision based only on the cover art and 3.99 dollar price. After passing word onto pop fanatic and International Pop Overthrow organizer David Bash, sparkle*jets u.k. were soon inducted into the close-knit family of Los Angeles-based power pop acts and their fans, then in its fondly remembered heyday.
The delightfully absurd I Love SparkleJets U.K. multi-artist tribute album and the excellent 2001 sophomore album Bamboo Lounge would follow before the group went dormant on the recording front. Simmons would go on play a major role in Popdudes (with Borack, Knight, Robbie Rist, BSR's own Addison Love and many more) and form another multigenerational in the form of Yorktown Lads (also with Love and Cameron Lew). His own solo album First Days of Summer, recently reissued in expanded form on Big Stir, adorned many a Best of 2018 lists. The album, along with occasional and warmly received SJUK reunion gigs, paved the way for the Memphis sessions which yielded the new single.
Along with “El Goodo”, Big Stir Records is making expanded versions of the two proper sparkle*jets u.k. albums available for download, and also offering the 2017 vinyl reissue of Bamboo Lounge in our store. There are rumblings that the much-rumored third LP may see completion and release in the year ahead... stay tuned for further developments, and grab your 45 while they last!
$40.00
All vinyl pack from Simmons and his bands: Michael Simmons "First Days of Summer" LP sparklejets U.K. "Bamboo Lounge" LP Yorktown Lads "Songs About Girls And Other Disasters" LP sparklejets U.K. "The Ballad Of El Goodo" 7" 45
$12.00
The original CD of SPARKLE*JETS U.K.'s 2001 album comes packed with bonus content as CD-ROM content and even a physical cocktail umbrella. Limited supplies remain!
$20.00
Vinyl reissue of SPARKLE*JETS U.K.'s celebrated sophomore release. Comes with a download of the album and a complete full length bonus disc of exclusive rarities!
Ridin' In My Car (Big Stir Digital Single No. 62)
Popdudes
The Big Stir Records’ Digital Single of the Week revolution continues! Presented this week are two sparkling new songs by Popdudes! “Ridin’ In My Car” and “Daytime Nighttime Suffering” drop on Friday, February 28th and are available for pre-order at www.bigstirrecords.com/big-stir-digital-singles now!
Even though no one was aware they went away—or that they were even somewhere in the first place—Popdudes are BACK, baby. Back with what, you may (or may not) be asking? Back with a freshly minted, newly recorded digital single as part of the far-out Big Stir Single Series. These two brand spankin' (ow!) new songs are the first Popdudes recordings since the last ones, and as such shall serve to further the legend of this roving, raving band of misfits from Orange County, CA. Okay, there is no "legend of the band" to further and Michael Simmons and John Borack are far from misfits—they're more like malcontents, actually.
In any event, these two crackin' pop toons—covers of NRBQ's "Ridin' in My Car" and the 1979 Wings B-side "Daytime Nighttime Suffering"—are certain to mollify your tired eardrums. Simmons imbues the Q number with a Beach Boys-tinged loveliness and does his best Macca (and he IS the best Macca doer I know) on the flip side. Borack, who tracked his drums at the Amazing Karen Basset's studio in Hollywood, tries his damndest to stay out of Simmons' way and not foul things up. We hope you love these songs as much as we love lunch at Norm's. If not, we'll be sad.
xo, John Borack Proud Popdude since 2000