060: Sparks - Angst in my Pants (1982) - I Predict

On the second track from Angst in My Pants, Sparks step away from the twitchy synth-pop of the title song and head straight into lean, driving rock’n’roll with “I Predict” – the album’s main single and their first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100. Built around a simple, punchy riff that faintly echoes “My Sharona,” the track rides a heavy drum groove and “woolly,” slightly lo-fi production, with Russell’s dry, upfront vocal sitting on top.

In this episode we talk about why this, rather than the now-more-famous title track, became the lead single, and how its repetitive musical structure is kept alive by Ron’s barrage of predictions: some obvious (“you’ll walk in the rain and you’re going to get wet”), some absurd (“Lassie will prove that Elvis and the Queen had a fleeting affair”), and some weirdly timeless (“are my sources correct?”). We also enjoy the brilliant meta-ending where Russell repeatedly promises the song will fade out… and then it slams to a dead stop instead.

We dig into the song’s chart performance and cult status – from reaching #60 on the Billboard Hot 100, to heavy KROQ support and a key Saturday Night Live performance in 1982 – and its long life as a live staple, complete with Ron occasionally recreating his striptease routine on stage. Finally, we look at the famously misattributed “Lynchian” music video, its late-night MTV restrictions, and a couple of tribute-album covers that try their hand at Sparks’ mix of rock drive and sly, prophetic humour.