Graham Parker

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Image:Graham parker by Steve Bachman.jpgGraham Parker (born 18 November 1950 in London) is an English rock singer and songwriter.

Life and career

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.

Graham Parker and the Rumour (Brinsley Schwarz and Martin Belmont on guitar, Bob Andrews on keyboards, Andrew Bodnar on bass and Steve Goulding on drums) formed in the summer of 1975 and began doing the rounds of the British pub rock scene. Their first album, Howlin' Wind, was released to acclaim in 1976 and 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) 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.

Image:Graham parker and the rumour.jpgParker preceded the other "new wave" English singer-songwriters, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. Early in his career his work was often compared favorably to theirs, and for decades journalists would continue to categorize them together, long after the artists' work had diverged. Characteristically, Parker would not hesitate to criticize this habit with caustic wit.

The first 2 albums' critical acclaim was generally not matched with LP sales. Graham Parker and the Rumour appeared on BBC television's Top of the Pops in 1976, performing their top 30 hit version of The Trammps' "Hold Back the Night".

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. An official live album The Parkerilla, issued in 1978, showed that the Rumour's vibrant live style remained strong, though some critics saw Parker in a holding pattern 2 years after Heat Treatment. It was a crucial juncture for the young musician.

Parker had long been dissatisfied with the performance of his US record company, Mercury Records, finally issuing in the 1979 single "Mercury Poisoning", a public kiss-off reminiscent of the Sex Pistols' "EMI".

Energized by his new label, Arista, 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.

Image:Squeezing out sparks cover.jpgSqueezing out Sparks is still ranked by fans and critics alike as one of the finest rock albums ever made. Rolling Stone named it #335 [1] 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 [2]. 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".

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. Nevertheless it was Parker's last album with the Rumour, although guitarist Brinsley Schwarz would join most of the singer's albums through the decade's end.

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 tour the world with top backing bands, and his 1985 release Steady Nerves included his only US Top 40 hit, "Wake Up (Next to You)". The singer 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 and signed to RCA Records. He began producing his own recordings and stripping down his sound with The Mona Lisa's Sister, a success in the new "modern rock" format. The groundbreaking work gained the singer renewed critical attention for his followup albums.

After the movingly personal 12 Haunted Episodes, his first release on an independent record label, Parker grew quiet in the late 1990s, but began an extraordinarily active period in 2001, with the UK rerelease of his early Rumour work, and with Deepcut to Nowhere, a penetrating collection of new songs that seemed intended to reflect comprehensively on the singer's life and aims.

A number of albums have followed since, with different stylistic emphases, but Parker continues to write songs of struggle, compassion, and defiance in a hostile society. He has meanwhile adapted to the instability of his industry. Like many of his peers, he now works comfortably with independent labels, tours often as a solo performer, and converses freely with fans at shows and online.

In addition to his records, Parker published a set of short stories, Carp Fishing on Valium, in June 2000. His second book, a novel, The Other Life of Brian, appeared in September 2003.

Discography

Graham Parker & The Rumour

• Howlin' Wind, 1976
• Heat Treatment, 1976
• Pink Parker EP, 1977
• Stick To Me, 1977
• Squeezing Out Sparks, 1979
• The Up Escalator, 1980

Graham Parker

• Another Grey Area, 1982
• The Real Macaw, 1983

Graham Parker & The Shot

• Steady Nerves, 1985

Graham Parker

• 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
• Songs of No Consequence, 2005

Live

Graham Parker & The Rumour

• Live at Marble Arch, 1976
• 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
• 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
• !Live Alone: The Bastard of Belgium, 2005
• Yer Cowboy Boot, 2005

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
• The Official Art Vandelay Tapes Vol 2, 2005

Singles

External links

• Official website
• Struck By Lightning: discography, gigography, bibliography, and morede:Graham Parker