Propaganda

Propaganda came out on Island on 11 November 1974, half a year after Kimono My House. It reached number nine in the UK and number 63 on the Billboard 200, which remains the band's highest US peak. Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth reached number 13 in the UK and Something for the Girl with Everything number 17. In the US the only single was Achoo. Ron Mael wrote the songs, with Russell co-writing Reinforcements, Thanks But No Thanks and Bon Voyage. The last two appear briefly in the 2021 film Annette.

The sleeve image, titled Welcome on Board, shows the brothers tied up and gagged and was taken by Monty Coles. The director Leos Carax has said he stole a copy at fourteen because he liked the cover. Dave Connolly of AllMusic called the album one of Sparks' brightest achievements, while Robert Christgau, writing in 1981, could not endure its contradictions. Island reissued it in 1994, adding the B-sides Alabamy Right and Marry Me, and again in 2006.