A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing

{{Infobox album

| name = A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing

| type = studio

| artist = Sparks

| cover = A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing - Sparks.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1972{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = {{flatlist|

ID Sound at La Brea
Walley Heider Studios{{cite web|author= Xavier Lorente-Darracq | title=SPARKS "A Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing" second Lp album on Bearsville Records | work=graphikdesigns.free.fr | url=http://graphikdesigns.free.fr/sparks-a-woofer-tweeters.html | accessdate=2011-12-02}}

}}

| genre = {{hlist|Glam rock{{cite web|work=AllMusic|title=Sparks biography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sparks-mn0000009084}}|pop rock{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: S|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=S&bk=70|accessdate=March 13, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}}}

| length = 39:56

| label = Bearsville

| producer = Thaddeus James Lowe

| prev_title = Sparks

| prev_year = 1971

| next_title = Kimono My House

| next_year = 1974

| misc = {{Singles

| name = A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing

| type = studio

| single1 = Girl from Germany

| single1date = June 1974

}}

A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing is the second studio album by the American rock band Sparks. It was released in 1972 and includes the single "Girl from Germany". It was the last release by the original five-member incarnation of Sparks.

The album was recorded and mixed at ID Sound at La Brea and Walley Heider Studios, and produced by Thaddeus James Lowe, then Todd Rundgren's engineer and former lead singer of The Electric Prunes, receiving mixed to positive reviews.{{Citation |last=participant. |first=Wright, Edgar, 1974- film director, film producer. Park, Nira, film producer. Hencken, George, film producer. Richardson, Laura (Producer), film producer. Mael, Ron, on-screen participant. Mael, Russell, on-screen participant. Beck, on-screen participant. Myers, Mike, 1963- on-screen |title=The Sparks brothers |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1266532116 |access-date=2022-01-21 |oclc=1266532116}}{{Time needed|date=April 2024}} The artwork was photographed by Larry DuPont and Ron Mael.

Release

A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing was released in 1972. It was not very successful and did not reach the Billboard 200 in the US. After the group's surprise success in the UK, "Girl from Germany" was belatedly released as a single there but did not chart.

The album did, however, lead to a tour of the United Kingdom, including a residency at the Marquee in London,Answer by Russell to "Had you had [...]" on p. 63 of: {{cite magazine |last=Easlea |first=Daryl |date=July 2003 |title=Record Collector Interview: Sparks |journal=Record Collector |pages=60–72 |issue=287 |issn=0261-250X}} which, despite much heckling during performances, helped them to secure a significant cult following.{{Cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199726363 |edition=4 |chapter=Sparks |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001/acref-9780195313734-e-26463}} An appearance on the BBC Television's Old Grey Whistle Test led to wider interest, regardless of a cold reception from the show's host Bob Harris.{{cite web|title=Sparkography on allsparks.com|url=http://www.allsparks.com/|accessdate=2006-04-15| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20060416075605/http://www.allsparks.com/| archivedate= 16 April 2006 | url-status= live}}

Re-issue

A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing has been re-released numerous times since 1972. It is often packaged with its predecessor Sparks. One such re-issue was released in 1975 to capitalize on the group's success in the UK. This version was titled 2 Originals of Sparks and was packaged as a double-LP in a gatefold sleeve with a 14-page booklet.

In 1988, the album was first issued on CD, again in tandem with the first Sparks album, but in order to fit both programs within the constraints of a single disc, the last four tracks of the album were mastered at a higher speed than on the original LP, shortening the running time to 39:27. Though the album has subsequently been reissued in a standalone format, including the most recent reissue on Rhino Encore, released in 2008, the sped-up master has continued to be used.

Reception

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r18583|pure_url=yes}}|title=Allmusic review|publisher=allmusic.com|accessdate=2011-12-02}}

}}Patrick Gillings of the now-defunct alternative magazine Syracuse New Times was highly favorable of the record, noting its "imagination and humor" and remarking that Sparks "are a band to put a huge shot of adrenalin in a gasping form of art."{{Cite news |last=Gillings |first=Patrick |date=September 16, 1973 |title=Sparks: Tweeter's Clothing |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=snt19730916-01.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=March 6, 2025 |work=Syracuse New Times |pages=49–50 |issue=140}}