Favorite "Town" Songs #8 - "This Town ain't Big Enough for Both of Us"

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You better get out of here, mister! I am counting down my favorite songs with "Town," "City," "State," and "Country" in the title, and this is the "Town" portion. We are at #8: "This Town ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" by Sparks. Go ahead, ask @FourWalls or @JohnRoberts about the genius that is Ron (keyboards) and Russell (vocals) Mael, the brothers behind the Los Angeles rock band Sparks (you might remember Sparks' collaboration with Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin, "Cool Places," which was a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1983.) There is an interesting story behind "This Town ain't Big Enough for Both of Us," the first single from Sparks' fantastic 1974 album, Kimono My House. The song itself was an international success, in Europe, anyway (here in the States, the sound of crickets sold better,) reaching Top 5 status in four countries (#2 in the UK,) #7 in Switzerland, and #15 in France. The original story was that producer Muff Winwood bet Elton John that the song would reach the UK Top 5, with Sir Elton taking, and losing, the bet, a tale apparently started by the Mael brothers themselves. Winwood, however, states that after he played the song for his friend, Elton bet him a hundred quid that the tune would hit the Top 3. On a hot streak, Elton John then took that hundred quid to Monte Carlo and turned it into a small fortune during a Chemin de fer marathon. (Ok, I just made that last part up.) Siouxsie and the Banshees, a group that really knew their way around a cover song, did a great job on the tune for their 1987 covers album, Through the Looking Glass. The song has also been covered by the death metal band's Heavens Gate and Theory in Practice. Not too shabby for a group that is essentially only appreciated by a cult following, critics, and other musicians. (Info verified by Wikipedia)