HURRAH for the 21st Century. The Press late with the news? Nah. A Sparks lyric, perhaps? Possible, but again no. The affirmation of ardour is for the 21st Century Re-Masters of four Sparks albums of razzle-dazzle eminence.

The quality quartet is drawn from Sparks' productive association with Island Records when Californian brothers Ron and Russell Mael burst into the British charts in the mid-1970s blazing with invention.

Extras include bonus tracks, memorabilia and essays on the Sparks phenomenon. Prodigious they were, and still are. This spring the Mael-strom released their 20th album, Hello Young Lovers, which is a candidate for the best of 2006.

These CDs glisten greater than gold encrusted with diamonds. Scintillating songs abound - Hasta Manana Monsieur, Equator, Thanks But No Thanks, and I Bought The Mississippi. That's not even considering a battery of singles headed by the immaculate This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us. Nostalgia sometimes is what it's cracked up to be.

Win the CDS

Courtesy of UM3/Island, The Press has two CDs of each of the four Sparks re-issues to be won.

Question: Who is Sparks' lead singer?

Send your answer with your name and address, on a postcard, to Charles Hutchinson, Sparks Competition, The Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN, by next Friday. Usual rules apply.