This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us

"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us"
Single by Sparks
from the album Kimono My House
B-side	"Barbecutie"
Released	1974
Format	7", 45rpm
Recorded	1974
Genre	Rock, Glam rock, Chamber pop
Length	3:06 min
Label	Island Records
Writer(s)	Ron Mael
Producer	Muff Winwood
Sparks singles chronology
"Girl from Germany" (1972) "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" (1974) "Amateur Hour" (1974)
Music sample
This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us (1974, excerpt) Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" is a song written by Ron Mael of the American pop group Sparks. It is the opening track on their 1974 album Kimono My House, and was the lead single from the album, reaching number two in the UK singles chart.

The original idea for the song was that after each verse Russell would sing a movie dialogue cliché, one of which was "This town ain't big enough for the both of us". They dropped the idea of having different phrases and instead used only the one in the title.

An acoustic version of the song was recorded in 1985 for the B-side of the Change single.

In 1997, Sparks recorded two new versions of the song. The first was an orchestral reworking produced by Tony Visconti which reinstated a verse Muff Winwood had cut from the original. The other was for their album Plagiarism as a collaboration with Faith No More, which was released as a single and reached number forty in the British singles chart.

Track listing

• 1974 original release.

1. "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us – 3:06
2. "Barbecutie – 3:10

Personnel

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

Chart positions

Original release (1974)

Sparks Vs. Faith No More (1997)

Cover versions

The song has been covered by Siouxsie & the Banshees on their 1987 album Through the Looking Glass, by Heaven's Gate on their 1996 album Planet E, and by Theory in Practice on their 2002 album Colonizing the Sun. British Whale (recording alias of The Darkness singer/songwriter Justin Hawkins) released a version as his debut single in August 2005, which reached number 6 in the UK charts.

The track Arabian Shamuru on the 1991 Bon Voyage album by Japanese band Mahalik Halili ^[1] uses almost exactly the same melody as This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us.

In live concerts, the electro/dance group Justice have performed the track, and Arizona's The Format also cover it frequently, including it on their 2006 EP And Now I Hope You're Alright - Live in California. Portuguese band Humanos in their concerts performed a live version, mashing it with O Corpo É Que Paga^[2] by Portuguese 1980's icon António Variações, which is available on their live DVD^[3].

American alternative metal band Faith No More also covered that song.. The Sparks released an Album called Plagiarism In 1998, which consisted of two collaborations with Faith No More ("This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" and "Something for the Girl with Everything").

The song appears in a dream sequence in an episode of the British sitcom Green Wing. It is performed by two of the characters, Dr. "Mac" Macartney and Dr. Alan Statham, pretending to be Russell Mael and Ron Mael respectively.

References