Sparks - When I'm With You

JUL 01 1980 · 12:00

Sparks - When I'm With You (1980) Director: Brian Grant Era: Post-Disco New Wave / Early Music Video Era (1980) - A transitional moment when promotional film clips were becoming a mainstream pop marketing tool, predating MTV's 1981 launch; Sparks and Giorgio Moroder's Euro-disco-new-wave fusion captured a uniquely cosmopolitan, synth-driven late-1970s-into-1980s sound. High curatorial value as a confirmed pre-MTV promotional artifact directed by one of the foundational figures of the British music video industry. Sits at the intersection of Moroder's disco-to-electro production lineage and Sparks' decades-spanning art-pop catalogue. The video's existence as a featured clip in Edgar Wright's 2021 'The Sparks Brothers' documentary confirms its recognized status as a historically significant piece of the band's visual legacy. Tier 1.5 due to confirmed director, verified year, documented chart impact in France, and cultural intersection with major production and artistic lineages. Context: Released in 1980 as a single from the album 'Terminal Jive,' 'When I'm With You' was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Harold Faltermeyer, placing it within the Munich-based Euro-disco production ecosystem that also yielded Donna Summer and the emerging synth-pop sound. The track fused Moroder's mechanized disco pulse with Sparks' trademark art-pop eccentricity and new wave guitar textures. It achieved significant European success, reaching number 1 in France for six weeks, but made no impact on US charts, illustrating the persistent transatlantic asymmetry in Sparks' reception. The promo clip was made in the pre-MTV era when British production companies like the nascent Millaney Grant were pioneering the promotional video as an art form for European television outlets, particularly French and UK broadcasters. Director notes: The 'When I'm With You' video (1980) is credited to both Brian Grant and Scott Millaney on IMVDb, consistent with the early Millaney Grant production partnership that preceded the formal founding of MGMM. It was produced for Warner Music Group and has a runtime of approximately 3 minutes per IMDb. The video is noted as appearing in the 2021 documentary 'The Sparks Brothers.' The warm tungsten palette, theatrical staging, and moderate cutting pace are consistent with Grant's early pre-MGMM production style, controlled, performance-forward, and reliant on practical stage lighting rather than elaborate in-camera or post-production effects. This video predates MTV's August 1981 launch, placing it firmly in the European promotional clip tradition.