094: Sparks - Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (1984) - Sparks in the Dark Part 2 - Album Wrapup

We’ve reached the finish line of Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat (1984) with “Sparks in the Dark (Part 2)” — an instrumental that… doesn’t exactly send the album out on a high.

After teasing Part 1 as a short intro earlier on side B, Part 2 doubles down on the same toy-box electronics: a simple melody that hangs around too long, with the overall feel drifting into cheap 8-bit soundtrack / kids’ TV theme territory. The best joke in the segment might be the comparisons — from “bargain-bin Amiga/Nintendo cues” to the Friends moment where Ross proudly unveils his own “music,” which is basically just noises. (“Ross in the Dark” is born.)

From there, the conversation widens into an album post-mortem: despite a strong cover, some great titles, and a genuinely fun (if silly) video for “With All My Might,” the consensus is that the record simply doesn’t deliver on what it was meant to be — the big breakthrough follow-up to In Outer Space. Highlights are easy to name because there aren’t many: “Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat” (the obvious standout, and still bafflingly not a single), plus “Progress” and “Kiss Me Quick” as the other main keepers.

We also touch on the weird world of extended mixes (including a 12-minute “With All My Might” remix existing out there in DJ-service land), and where this album tends to land in fan rankings — often near the bottom — before looking ahead to a quiet 1985 and the standalone single “Change,” then onward to Music That You Can Dance To.