Album · Sparks
Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat by Sparks
Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat is an album by Sparks, released in 1984. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 3 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Pretending to be Drunk”, on 2 lists with a best position of #52.
Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat, the thirteenth studio album from Ron and Russell Mael's Sparks, came out on Atlantic in June 1984, hot on the heels of the commercial success of In Outer Space. It keeps that record's light synth-pop gloss but lets a little more darkness creep in around the edges, with the lyrics circling Ron Mael's favourite subject, relationships, and Russell's wide-ranging voice doing the acrobatics up top.
Behind the brothers stood the band of the day, Bob Haag on guitar and Leslie Bohem on bass, both singing backup, with David Kendrick on drums. "Pretending to be Drunk" and the title track show that the Maels' acerbic wit hadn't gone anywhere, but the album didn't go down well, and the momentum In Outer Space had built fizzled out.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretending to be Drunk | 2 | #52 | – | 1984 | |
| 2 | Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat | 1 | #71 | – | 1984 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.