Indie pop

Big in Europe, dance band tries to get Sparks flying at home

Sparks talks Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins   NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator March 30, 1995 Credited as the inspiration for British electronic dance pop combos Depeche Mode, Erasure and Pet Shop Boys, Sparks is a modern music anomaly: a California duo that is revered in Europe, but ignored in their own backyard. With the release tomorrow of their 16 th album, Gratuitous Sax And Senseless Violins, Sparks linchpins Ron and…


Ron Sexsmith reveals his Secret Heart

NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator Thursday, March 2, 1995       “Secret Heart What are you made of? What are you afraid of?”   — from “Secret Heart”, written by Ron Sexsmith, © 1995 Ronboy Rhymes Inc./Interscope Pearl Music/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., BMI.   French fries. When I first met Ron Sexsmith, his two favorite foods were French fries and Yorkshire pudding — mainly because they were British. At the time,…


Tori in the Pink

Published in the Hamilton Spectator on Thursday, November 3 1994 in advance of a November 5 concert at Hamilton Place   TORI IN THE PINK   NICK KREWEN   Tori Amos has a hard time keeping a secret from anyone these days. “They know everything, these kids,” she is saying from New Jersey, another stop in a grueling 10-month world tour that brings the London-based singer and songwriter to Hamilton…


Kate Bush: Will She or Won’t She?

  Nick Krewen One question has followed Kate Bush during the 15 years since she released her first album and captured hearts everywhere with her elegant voice: Is she ever going to tour in North America? Until now, the British singer’s response has always been “no.” In a Toronto interview with Canadian journalists, the normally media shy Bush said she may change her ways to promote her new album, The Red…