Is There More to Life Than Dancing?

In 1979, Ron and Russell Mael as Sparks released their eighth album No. 1 in Heaven. Later, their label at the time, Virgin Records, released a record attributed to a singer known mononymously as Noël, written and produced by the Mael brothers. Their first album as producers, Is There More to Life Than Dancing? shared stylistic similarities with the disco elements of No. 1 in Heaven.^[4]

While promoting the single "Dancing Is Dangerous" in an interview for Cash Box, Noël revealed that the Maels discovered her while she was playing keyboards in a band in Los Angeles.^[a] The song charted on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart on no. 91.^[6]

On April 20, 2024 (Record Store Day), Sparks re-released both No. 1 in Heaven and Is There More to Life Than Dancing? as a double LP set.^[7] On May 17 of the same year, both were also released on CD containing various bonus tracks, where the latter's liner notes were written by Noël.^[8]

Long considered lost was a music video for "Dancing Is Dangerous". According to an interview with Noël conducted by Ambar Navarro, who would later direct music videos for Sparks such as "Drowned in a Sea of Tears",^[9] after the documentary The Sparks Brothers created a renewed interest in the band (and by extension Noël), the Mael brothers sought to re-release both the album and the video, but the director, Micky Dolenz, did not possess the master tape. In actuality, Noël owned the tape.^[5] Coinciding with the album's release on streaming services, Sparks released the video, which was the first time it was shown to the public.^[1]

Notably, although it did not chart upon its original release, the re-release of Is There More to Life Than Dancing? briefly entered the UK Independent and Scottish albums charts at no. 32 and 74, respectively.^[10]

Retrospective ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Classic Pop	[11]

A contemporary review of Is There More To Life Than Dancing? in the Canadian magazine RPM said "the tracks might seem tedious at first and take some time to develop, but what lies within is curiously captivating and warrants a good objective listen."^[2]

Upon the album's re-release in 2024, Ian Wade of Classic Pop magazine called the album "A genuine curio – and one that you dance to", singling out "The Night They Invented Love" and "Au Revoir" as songs that could fit onto Sparks' No. 1 in Heaven.^[11]

Credits are adapted from the CD liner notes.^[12]

• Noël – vocals
• Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters – backing vocals
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion
• Michael Brecker – saxophone
• Ron Mael – synthesizers

Technical and design

• Ron Mael, Russell Mael – production
• Bob Stone – engineering
• Gary Chang – synthesizer programming
• Jack Lorenz – photography
• Malcolm Garrett – commercial art