098: Sparks - Music That You Can Dance To (1986) - Fingertips

With “Fingertips,” Music That You Can Dance To takes a sharp left turn. Sparks revive a young Stevie Wonder hit and rebuild it as bright, synthetic mid-80s pop — complete with Russell Mael pushing back up into falsetto and the arrangement gradually opening out into something bigger and stranger than it first appears.We talk about how unexpected this choice is, both as a cover and as a placement on the album. After the cool glide of “Rosebud,” this one arrives with a very different energy: lighter, more playful, more obviously rooted in older soul and pop. That shift makes it a slightly divisive track for us, but also part of what makes it interesting. It feels a little random at first, then starts to make sense once you hear how comfortably Sparks fit it into the album’s electronic, dance-oriented world.There’s also a lot of discussion around the arrangement. The fake live atmosphere, the sudden return of Russell’s high register, and the late-arriving live guitar all give the song a distinctive shape, even if it can feel a touch long for such a simple groove. It’s not the deepest song on the record, but it is one of the clearest reminders that Sparks could take almost anything — even an early-60s R&B number — and make it sound unmistakably like themselves.