Amateur Hour (song)

"Amateur Hour" is a song by Sparks. It was released as the second single from their 1974 album Kimono My House. Bassist Martin Gordon was requested to replace his original bass part (recorded using a Rickenbacker 4001 bass) with a Fender Precision bass, belonging to his subsequent replacement in the band.

A re-recording was produced in 1997 for the retrospective Plagiarism album. This new version was given a complete electronic synth-pop overhaul and was performed with Erasure.

On 25 June 2009, the song "Amateur Hour" was featured in a stunt when UK magician and mentalist Mark Cairns predicted that radio personality George Lamb would choose the Sparks song, in a free choice from a list of 100 tracks that had been recently played on Lamb's BBC Radio 6 Music show.

Track listing

 * 1) "Amateur Hour" – 3:37
 * 2) "Lost and Found" – 3:21

Personnel

 * Russell Mael – vocals
 * Ron Mael – keyboards
 * Martin Gordon – bass
 * Adrian Fisher – guitar
 * Norman "Dinky" Diamond – drums