Synopsis

Sparks and Jane Wiedlin perform their buoyant new wave duet in a deliberately artificial pop-video fantasy. Russell Mael and Wiedlin trade vocals and dance through brightly staged settings, while Ron Mael maintains his deadpan presence with sinister magic tricks and eccentric physical comedy. Blue-screen backdrops, exaggerated gestures, and deliberately cheesy visual effects turn the song's invitation to visit "cool places" into a playful parody of early-1980s music-video escapism.

Factoids & Trivia

• Jane Wiedlin was a longtime Sparks fan and had reportedly run an unofficial Sparks fan club before joining The Go-Go's. Her admiration for the band helped lead to the collaboration.

• Wiedlin selected "Cool Places" from several songs Sparks presented to her. She also sang on another track from the same album, "Lucky Me, Lucky You."

• The video was produced by Whifler-Nimmer Productions and shot at Cine Rent West in San Francisco.

• Ron Mael's magic tricks and a previously unrecognized contortionist routine were specifically noted in contemporary trade coverage of the production.

• "Cool Places" became Sparks' highest-charting US single, reaching No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Dance Club chart in 1983.

• The clip marked a meeting between Sparks' art-pop eccentricity and Wiedlin's visibility as a member of one of America's most successful new wave bands. It helped expose Sparks to a broader MTV-era audience.