sparks' last album was released in 1988, and while it scored a couple of club hits in the us, had not been commercially successful. critically the group had been receiving mixed reviews since their 1984 album "pulling rabbits out of a hat". while promoting "interior design", sparks banded together with the french duo les rita mitsouko and released the single "singing in the shower" which was a moderate hit in france. sparks then went on a temporary hiatus while the brothers spent the late 1980s and early 1990s concentrating on film-making, particularly an attempt to make a japanese comic strip, "mai, the psychic girl", into a movie. they had hoped to have tsui hark direct with the actress-musician christi haydon voicing the lead character. russell mael had initially met haydon when he admired her look while she was working on the cosmetics counter of a department store . haydon's only experience at the time had been as a long running extra of the tv show "". despite interest from tim burton and six years' work on the project, it came to nothing.