“Mayfield and Franklin relied on the authenticity of the black gospel vision to create an indispensable masterpiece of deep gospel-rooted soul for generations to come. Sparkle is so woefully misguided and feckless about the realities of the music industry it miserably fails to hit even a base level of mediocrity that would make it as passable B-grade tripe with a C-grade script and budget to boot. “I’d personally like to think that Sparkle succeeded most profoundly on the basis of its rich musical and cultural value,” Brandon Ousley reflected in his 40th Anniversary tribute to Sparkle back in 2016. On the strength of memorable fare like “Something He Can Feel,” “Hooked on Your Love” and the theme song “Sparkle,” Sparkle reinvigorated Franklin’s commercial might following the lackluster performance of With Everything I Feel in Me (1974) and You (1975), while giving Mayfield yet another gem in his string of 1970s soundtracks alongside Super Fly (1972), Claudine (1974) and Let’s Do It Again (1975). It presents the story of a musical girl group that ends up breaking apart due to individual issues each member faces. What motivated me to compare these two versions of the same movie was ultimately two things: 1) I have very strong opinions pertaining both films but 2) I ordered 1976 version from Amazon. With a plot inspired by the history of The Supremes, Sparkle is a period film set in Harlem, New York during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In this post, I will be comparing the 1976 version of the musical drama Sparkle to the so called new and improved 2012 version of Sparkle. This contemporary group made a video of their cover and in it, recreated the famous scene of Sister and the Sisters, sensuously dancing in red evening gowns and matching gloves. ![]() ![]() Pairing the Queen of Soul with musical visionary Curtis Mayfield-who wrote and produced all of these compositions-proved to be a savvy and ultimately rewarding move. Sparkle is a 1976 American musical drama film directed by Sam O'Steen and released by Warner Bros. Sparkle gained a cult following, especially by the early ‘90s, when R & B group, En Vogue, covered the film’s greatest hit, Something He Can Feel. To keep a coat she hasn't satisfactorily been thankful enough for, Sister is ordered by Satin to crawl. No matter that Aretha Franklin’s versions of the eight songs that comprise the Sparkle soundtrack-originally sung by Irene Cara-were never actually featured in the film. One very disturbing scene in the film is when Sister and her boyfriend Satin are lying together on a bed.
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