For the English sportsman, see Grahame Parker.
Graham Parker
(born 18 November 1950 in London, England) is a British rock singer and songwriter who is best known as the lead singer of popular British New Wave band Graham Parker & the Rumour.
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GRAHAM PARKER TICKETS
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Early career (1960s-1976)
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham Parker sang in small-time English bands such as the Black Rockers and Deep Cut Three while working in dead-end jobs like a glove factory and a
petrol station. In 1975, he recorded a few
demo tracks in London with Dave Robinson, who would shortly found
Stiff Records and who connected Parker with his first backing band of note,
The Rumour. Graham Parker had one track, "Back to Schooldays", released on the compilation album,
A Bunch of Stiff Records
for Stiff Records.
In the summer of 1975 Parker joined forces with ex-members of three British pub-rock bands to form
Graham Parker and the Rumour
. The new group consisted of Parker (lead vocals, guitar) with
Brinsley Schwarz (lead guitar) and
Bob Andrews (keyboards) (both ex
Brinsley Schwarz),
Martin Belmont (rhythm guitar, ex
Ducks Deluxe) and
Andrew Bodnar (bass) and
Steve Goulding (drums) (both ex-
Bontemps Roulee). They began doing the rounds of the British pub rock scene, often augmented at times by a four-man horn section known as The Rumour Brass: John "Irish" Earle (saxophone), Chris Gower (trombone), Dick Hanson (trumpet), and Ray Bevis (saxophone).
The band's first
album,
Howlin' Wind
, was released to acclaim in 1976 and was rapidly followed by the stylistically similar
Heat Treatment
. A mixture of rock, ballads, and reggae-influenced numbers, these albums reflected Parker's early influences (
Motown,
The Rolling Stones,
Bob Dylan,
Van Morrison) and contained the songs which formed the core of Parker's live shows -- "White Honey", "Soul Shoes", "Lady Doctor", "Fool's Gold", and his early signature tune "Don't Ask Me Questions", which hit the Top 40 in the UK.
Parker and the Rumour built a reputation as incendiary live performers: the promotional album
Live at Marble Arch
was recorded at this time and shows off their raw onstage style. Like the
pub rock scene he was loosely tied to, the singer's
class-conscious lyrics and passionate vocals signaled a renewal of rock music as
punk rock began to flower in Britain.
Parker as 'Angry Young Man'
In terms of establishing a recording career in early 1976, Parker preceded two other "
new wave" English singer-songwriters to whom he is often compared:
Elvis Costello and
Joe Jackson. (Costello's first single was released in 1977, and Jackson's first solo single was issued in late 1978.)
Early in his career, Parker's work was often compared favorably to Jackson's and Costello's. For decades afterwards journalists would continue to categorize them together, often labelling them with some variation of "Angry Young Men", even long after the artists' work had diverged. Characteristically, Parker would not hesitate to criticize this habit with caustic wit.
A New Direction (1977)
Critical acclaim for the first two albums was generally not matched with
LP sales. Graham Parker and the Rumour appeared on
BBC television's
Top of the Pops
in 1977, performing their version of
The Trammps' "Hold Back the Night" from
The Pink Parker
EP, a top 30 UK hit in March 1977.
At this point, Parker began to change his songwriting style, reflecting his desire to break into the American market. The first fruits of this new direction appeared on
Stick To Me
(1977). The album broke the top 20 on the UK charts but divided critical opinions, particularly with numbers like "The Heat in Harlem" -- the band's longest song at the time.
Nick Lowe's production also came under fire: some critics complained that the band sounded thin and Parker's voice was mixed down, when in fact a studio mishap had compromised the original recordings and forced the group to remake the album on short notice.
Although ignored by local commercial radio at the time, Parker and the Rumour gained a dedicated following in
Australia thanks to the support of Sydney independent rock station
Double Jay (2JJ) and the ABC's weekly pop TV show
Countdown
, which gave the group nationwide exposure in Australia. They made their first tour there in 1978, where they spotted rising Australian band
The Sports, who subsequently supported Parker and the Rumour on their early 1979 UK tour
[1]. The group made a second Australian tour in late 1979, when Parker appeared on
Countdown
as a guest presenter
[2]
Squeezing Out Sparks (1978-1979)
An official Graham Parker and The Rumour live album called
The Parkerilla
, issued in 1978, saw Parker in a creative holding pattern. Three sides were live, with no new songs and with versions of previously released songs that added nothing to the prior studio cuts. Side four was devoted to a "disco" remake of "Don't Ask Me Questions". The 2-disc record was regarded by some as a ploy to fulfil Parker's contractual commitment to Mercury records, and as a ripoff for fans. Others think it one of the better live albums of the 70s on a par with
Thin Lizzy's
Live and Dangerous
.
Parker had long been dissatisfied with the performance of his US record company,
Mercury Records, finally issuing in 1979 as a single B-side "Mercury Poisoning", a public kiss-off reminiscent of the
Sex Pistols' "EMI".
Energized by his new label,
Arista Records, and the presence of legendary producer
Jack Nitzsche, Parker followed with
Squeezing Out Sparks
, widely held to be the best album of his career. For this album, The Rumour's brass section, prominent on all previous albums, was jettisoned, resulting in a spare, intense rock backing for some of Parker's most brilliant songs. Of particular note was "You Can't Be Too Strong", one of rock music's rare songs to confront the topic of
abortion, however ambivalently.
Squeezing out Sparks
is still ranked by fans and critics alike as one of the finest rock albums ever made.
Rolling Stone
named it #335 on
their 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In an early 1987
Rolling Stone
list of their top 100 albums from 1967-1987,
Squeezing Out Sparks
was ranked at #45, while
Howlin' Wind
came in at #54 . The companion live album
Live Sparks
, sent to US radio stations as part of a concerted promotional campaign for Parker, showed how well the songs worked on stage, and included another snapping r&b cover, the
Jackson 5's "
I Want You Back".
The jettisoned brass section, incidentally, would continue to play on other people's records credited as The Irish Horns (on the album
London Calling
by
The Clash) or The Rumour Brass, most notably on
Katrina and the Waves' 1985 hit "
Walking On Sunshine".
The End of The Rumour (1980)
Bob Andrews left The Rumour in early 1980, and was not officially replaced. However, in studio sessions for the next album,
Nicky Hopkins and
Danny Federici (of
The E Street Band) sat in on keyboards.
Although marginally less intense than its predecessor, 1980's
The Up Escalator
was Parker's highest-charting album in the UK and featured glossy production by Jimmy Iovine and guest vocals from
Bruce Springsteen. Significantly, the front cover of the album credited only Graham Parker, not "Graham Parker and The Rumour".
The Up Escalator
would prove to be Parker's last album with the Rumour, although guitarist
Brinsley Schwarz would reunite with Parker in 1983 and play on most of the singer's albums through the decade's end. As well, bassist Andrew Bodnar would rejoin Parker from 1988 through the mid-90s, and drummer
Steve Goulding would play on Parker's 2001 album
Deepcut To Nowhere
.
Commercial Success (1981-1990)
The 1980s were Parker's most commercially successful years, with well-financed recordings and radio and video play. Over the decade, the British press turned unkind to him, but he continued to record and tour the world with top backing bands. His followup to
The Up Escalator
, 1982's
Another Grey Area
, featured noted session musicians Nicky Hopkins and
Hugh McCracken in the backing band; this album charted at UK #40 and US #51, and spun off a top 40 UK single in "Temporary Beauty".
1983's
The Real Macaw
, featuring drumming by
Gilson Lavis of
Squeeze and the return of
Brinsley Schwarz to the guitarist's spot didn't fare quite as well, hitting US #59 on the album charts but missing the UK charts altogether. However, Parker's 1985 release
Steady Nerves
(credited to
Graham Parker and The Shot
) was a moderate success and included his only US Top 40 hit, "Wake Up (Next to You)". The Shot was a four-piece backing band, all of whom had played on either
The Real Macaw
or
Another Grey Area
:
Brinsley Schwarz (guitar), George Small (keyboards), Kevin Jenkins (bass), and Michael Braun (drums).
Steady Nerves
was recorded in New York City, and Parker began living mostly in the United States during this time.
An uncompromising attitude toward his music ensured that Parker would clash with the changing priorities of the
major label music business, and the label changes came quickly after the mid-1980s. This situation partly accounts for the remarkable number of
compilation albums in Graham Parker's discography. Particularly unproductive was Parker's tenure at
Atlantic Records, where he has said he was told to collaborate with other songwriters and to focus on "a big drum sound." Instead, Parker ended the deal (without releasing anything on Atlantic) and signed to
RCA Records. He began producing his own recordings and stripping down his sound with
The Mona Lisa's Sister
, which gained him renewed critical attention and was a success in the new "
modern rock" format. The backing band for this album included former Rumour-mates
Brinsley Schwarz and
Andrew Bodnar ; keyboardists James Halliwell and
Steve Nieve; and ex-
Rockpile and
Dire Straits drummer
Terry Williams (replaced on one cut by Andy Duncan, and two others by
Pete Thomas who, like Nieve, was a member of
Elvis Costello and the Attractions).
Rolling Stone
magazine ranked
The Mona Lisa's Sister
at #97 on its list of
The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's.
The 1990s
Parker continued to record for RCA through the early 1990s, typically receiving critical praise but little in the way of chart success.
Long-time guitarist Schwarz once again parted company with Parker after the well-reviewed 1990 album
Human Soul
.
Parker's 1991 offering,
Struck By Lightning
, had a slightly rootsier flavour than previous Parker releases, and featured bassist
Andrew Bodnar and Attractions' drummer
Pete Thomas in the backing band, as well as guest appearances from The Band's
Garth Hudson on keyboards and
John Sebastian (formerly of the
Lovin' Spoonful) on autoharp. However, the album's chart peak of US #131 wasn't enough to keep RCA happy, and Parker was dropped from the label.
He rebounded quickly. Parker,
Andrew Bodnar and
Pete Thomas were joined by keyboardist
Mick Talbot of
The Style Council, and this unit recorded 1992's
Burning Questions
for the US major label
Capitol Records. Unfortunately, this record missed the charts completely, and once again Parker found himself label-less.
A 1994 Christmas-themed EP release (
Graham Parker's Christmas Cracker
) was issued on Dakota Arts Records, before Parker found a more permanent home on American independent label
Razor & Tie. After the movingly personal
12 Haunted Episodes
, and 1996's
Acid Bubblegum
(featuring
Jimmy Destri of
Blondie on keyboards), Parker grew quiet in the late 1990s. However he continued to play live fairly regularly, often working with backing band The
Figgs (who, like The Rumour, when not backing Parker also issued records as a discrete unit).
Into the 21st century
Parker began an extraordinarily active period in 2001, with the UK rerelease of his early Rumour work, and with his third studio album for
Razor & Tie,
Deepcut to Nowhere
, a penetrating collection of new songs that seemed intended to reflect comprehensively on the singer's life and aims. It also marked a reunion of sorts, as Parker recorded with ex-Rumour drummer Steve Goulding for the first time in 20 years.
In 2003, Parker collaborated with
Kate Pierson of
the B-52's and
Bill Janovitz to record an album of lesser-known
John Lennon/
Paul McCartney compositions that had never been recorded by
The Beatles. The album, called
From A Window: Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney
, was credited to "Pierson, Parker, Janovitz". Also in 2003, Parker contributed a solo acoustic version of
Pink Floyd's
Comfortably Numb to compilation album
A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd
New solo work continued with 2004's
Your Country
, which saw Parker switch labels to Chicago-based indie
Bloodshot Records. While presented as a flirtation with
country music,
Your Country
had only marginally rootsier sound than Parker's norm.
Your Country
co-produced by John Would was recorded on 16 track 2" analogue tape at Stanley Recording of Venice, California. The album was recorded and mixed in two weeks.
Following in 2005 was
Songs Of No Consequence
, an uptempo rock and roll collection quickly recorded with sometime backing band, the
Figgs. A show from the ensuing tour with the Figgs broadcast on
FM radio became a live album in 2006. In March 2007, a new full-length,
Don't Tell Columbus
was released marking Parker's fourth album in three years.
Don't Tell Columbus
- though unfair to call a return to form - finds Graham Parker with some of his best songs in years, including the autobiographical
I Discovered America
, where Parker proclaims about his lack of commercial success "everyone said quit, that's when I found hope."
Thorough searching on YouTube turns up many videos of Graham Parker, and an oddly familiar character named "Tex Skerball", playing only a guitar and singing. This singer sounds and looks like Graham, although no direct evidence exists that it is actually him. The songs bear a strong resemblance to Parker's, exhibiting devastating wit and edgy composition.
In addition to his records, Parker published an illustrated
science fiction novella,
The Great Trouser Mystery in 1980. He published a set of short stories,
Carp Fishing on Valium
, in June 2000. His third book, a novel,
The Other Life of Brian
, appeared in September 2003.
Discography
Graham Parker & The Rumour
- Howlin' Wind
(1976)
- Heat Treatment
(1976)
- The Pink Parker EP
(1977)
- Stick To Me
(1977)
- The Parkerilla
(1978)
- Squeezing Out Sparks
(1979)
- The Up Escalator
(1980)
Graham Parker
- Another Grey Area
, 1982
- The Real Macaw
, 1983
Graham Parker & The Shot
Graham Parker
- The Mona Lisa's Sister
, 1988
- Human Soul
, 1989
- Struck by Lightning
, 1991
- Burning Questions
, 1992
- Graham Parker's Christmas Cracker EP
, 1994
- 12 Haunted Episodes
, 1995
- Acid Bubblegum
, 1996
- Loose Monkeys
(outtakes), 1999
- That's When You Know
(1976 demos + Live at Marble Arch
), 2001
- Deepcut To Nowhere
, 2001
- Your Country
, 2004 (featuring an appearance by Lucinda Williams)
- Songs of No Consequence
, 2005 (with the Figgs as his backup band)
- Don't Tell Columbus
, 2007
Live
Graham Parker & the Rumour
- Live at Marble Arch
, 1976
- At The Palladium, New York, NY
, 1977
- The Parkerilla
, 1978
- Live Sparks
, 1979
Graham Parker
- Live! Alone in America
, 1989
- Live Alone! Discovering Japan
, 1993
- Live from New York
, 1996
- BBC Live in Concert
(compilation 1977-91), 1996
- The Last Rock and Roll Tour
, 1997 (with the Figgs as his backup band)
- Not If It Pleases Me
(BBC sessions 1976-77), 1998
- King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Graham Parker
(live 1983), 2003
- Live Cuts From Somewhere
, 2003 (with the Figgs as his backup band)
- "Blue Highway", 2003 (Recorded live in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois on July 4, 1988)
- !Live Alone: The Bastard of Belgium
, 2005
- Yer Cowboy Boot
, 2005
- 103 Degrees in June
, 2006 (with the Figgs as his backup band)
- Platinum Bastard, 2007
Compilations
- The Best of Graham Parker and the Rumour
1980
- Look Back in Anger: Classic Performances
, 1982
- It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
, 1984
- Pourin' It All Out: The Mercury Years
, 1986
- The Best of Graham Parker 1988-1991
, 1992
- Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology
1993
- No Holding Back
, 1996
- Vertigo Compilation
- Temporary Beauty
, 1997
- Stiffs & Demons
- Master Hits
, 1999
- The Ultimate Collection
- You Can't Be Too Strong: An Introduction to Graham Parker and the Rumour
, 2001
- The Official Art Vandelay Tapes
, 2003
- A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd
, 2003 (Graham Parker performs Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb)
- The Official Art Vandelay Tapes Vol 2
, 2005
Chart singles
Year
| Title
| Chart positions
| Album
|
UK Singles
| Australia
| Canada
| US Hot 100
| US MOD
|
1977
| "Hold Back the Night"
| 20
| -
| -
| 58
| -
| The Pink Parker
|
"Sweet on You"
| 20
| -
| -
| 107
| -
|
1978
| "The New York Shuffle"
| -
| 49
| -
| -
| -
| Stick to Me
|
"Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions"
| 32
| 24
| -
| -
| -
| The Parkerilla
|
1979
| "Protection"
| -
| 46
| -
| -
| -
| Squeezing Out Sparks
|
"I Want You Back"
| -
| 46
| -
| 103
| -
| Non-LP
|
1982
| "Temporary Beauty"
| 50
| -
| -
| -
| -
| Another Grey Area
|
1983
| "Life Gets Better"
| -
| 35
| -
| 94
| -
| The Real Macaw
|
1985
| "Wake Up (Next to You)"
| -
| -
| 94
| 39
| -
| Steady Nerves
|
1988
| "Get Started. Start a Fire"
| -
| -
| 85
| -
| -
| The Mona Lisa's Sister
|
"Don't Let It Break You Down"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 27
|
1989
| "Big Man on Paper"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 18
| Human Soul
|
Notes
References
- Memorable Music, Australian Rock
- TV Tonight website