Graham Parker

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Graham Parker 2007

Graham Parker (born November 18, 1950 in London ) is a British musician (guitar, vocals) and songwriter .

The beginnings

Although Graham Parker dreamed of a career as a rock musician as a teenager, after graduating from school he first had to stay afloat with jobs as a gas station attendant, truck driver or in a rubber hose factory. From 1970 he played in various unsuccessful bands that toured from Spain to Morocco. In 1975 Parker returned to London, where Stiff Records boss Dave Robinson gave him the opportunity to record some demos. Robinson also introduced Graham Parker to the newly formed band The Rumor, which consisted of Brinsley Schwarz (guitar), Martin Belmont (guitar), Andrew Bodnar (bass), Bob Andrews (keyboards) and Stephen Goulding (drums). They were to form Parker's backing band for the next five years. Graham Parker & The Rumor played a frugal and guitar-focused blues rock, which at the same time mixed strongly with soul and rhythm and blues . Parker's rough voice in particular gave the songs their very special intensity. This music unfolded its special effect especially on stage, so that Graham Parker & The Rumor quickly developed into one of the most popular live bands in England.

The climb

In 1976, Graham Parker's first LP Howlin 'Wind was released , produced by Nick Lowe . The album impressed both with the routine and yet relaxed playing style of The Rumor as well as Parker's stirring songs. For example, he settled accounts with the church in Don't Ask Me Questions , while in Back To Schooldays he criticized English society and its educational system. Pain, bitterness and fear ran like a red thread through the songs of Graham Parker & The Rumor. Howlin 'Wind and its follow-up album Heat Treatment (1976) were commercial failures despite critical acclaim and recognition. It was not until the EP The Pink Parker (1977) that the band achieved their first hit parade. On the LP Stick To Me (1977), again produced by Nick Lowe, Graham Parker & The Rumor surprised with more poppy and generous arrangements and allowed more reggae elements to flow into their music. In 1979 the album Squeezing Out Sparks was released , which sold well and was hailed by critics as Parker's best work to date. The live double album Parkerilla (1978) and the LP The Up Escalator (1980) were also well received by the audience. The latter was to be Parker's last collaboration with his longtime backing band The Rumor, from which he split in August 1980.

The 1980s until today

In the early 1980s, Graham Parker settled in New York, where he recorded the album Another Gray Area (1982), for which he received bad reviews for the first time. With The Real Macaw he was able to rehabilitate himself a year later in the trade press. At this point, however, Graham Parker's commercial descent to "critics favorite" had begun. Steady Nerves (1985) and Mona Lisa's Sister (1988) were his last records to enter the LP charts. Parker lost his record deal and had to release his critically acclaimed albums like the gently folky 12 Haunted Episodes (1995) on ever smaller labels. He expressed his disappointment about it in 1996 on the album Acid Bubblegum in the song Sharpening Axes , in which he sang the line " The crowd doesn't care about me and I don't care about the crowd ". In 2007 the CD Don't Tell Columbus was released , and on March 16, 2010 Imaginary Television was released. Parker made a cameo in the 2012 movie Getting Trouble at 40 . In this film, Paul Rudd plays the owner of a record label who is about to go bankrupt and who places his last hope in Graham Parker.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1976 Heat treatment UK52 (2 weeks)
UK 		US169 (7 weeks)
US
1977 Stick to me UK35 (5 weeks)
UK 		US125 (5 weeks)
US
1979 Squeezing Out Sparks UK22 (8 weeks)
UK 		US40 (24 weeks)
US
1980 The Up Escalator UK36 (10 weeks)
UK 		US40 (15 weeks)
US
1982 Another gray area UK98 (6 weeks)
UK 		US52 (16 weeks)
US
1983 The Real Macaw - US59 (14 weeks)
US
1985 Steady nerves - US57 (21 weeks)
US
1988 Mona Lisa's sister - US77 (19 weeks)
US
1989 Human soul - US165 (9 weeks)
US
1991 Struck by Lightning - US131 (8 weeks)
US

More studio albums

  • 1976: Howlin 'Wind
  • 1992: Burning Questions
  • 1995: 12 Haunted Episodes
  • 1996: Acid Bubblegum
  • 2001: Deepcut To Nowhere
  • 2004: Your Country
  • 2005: Songs Of No Consequence
  • 2007: Don't Tell Columbus
  • 2009: Carp Fishing On Valium
  • 2010: Imaginary Television
  • 2012: Three Chords Good
  • 2015: Mystery Glue
  • 2018: Cloud Symbols

Live albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1978 The Parkerilla UK14 (5 weeks)
UK 		US149 (3 weeks)
US

More live albums

  • 1976: Live at Marble Arch
  • 1977: At The Palladium, New York
  • 1979: Live Sparks
  • 1989: Live! Alone In America
  • 1993: Live Alone! Discovering Japan
  • 1996: Live from New York
  • 1997: The Last Rock 'n Roll Tour
  • 1998: Not If It Pleases Me
  • 2003: King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Graham Parker
  • 2003: Live Cuts From Somewhere
  • 2003: Blue Highway
  • 2005: Live Alone: ​​The Bastard of Belgium
  • 2005: Yer Cowboy Boot
  • 2006: 103 Degrees in June
  • 2007: Platinum Bastard
  • 2009: Live In San Francisco 1979
  • 2011: Live Alone At The Freight & Salvage
  • 2012: Live Alone At The Freight And Salvage
  • 2014: Official Bootleg Box

Compilations

  • 1980: The Best of Graham Parker and the Rumor
  • 1982: Look Back in Anger: Classic Performances
  • 1982: Historia de la musica rock: Graham Parker and the Rumor
  • 1984: It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
  • 1986: Pourin 'It All Out: The Mercury Years
  • 1992: The Best of Graham Parker 1988-1991
  • 1993: Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology
  • 1996: No Holding Back
  • Vertigo compilation
  • 1997: Temporary Beauty
  • Stiffs & Demons
  • 1999: Master Hits
  • The Ultimate Collection
  • 2001: You Can't Be Too Strong: An Introduction to Graham Parker and the Rumor
  • 2003: The Official Art Vandelay Tapes
  • 2003: A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd
  • 2005: The Official Art Vandelay Tapes Vol 2
  • 2013: The Beautiful Old
  • 2014: Don't Ask Me Questions: The Best of Graham Parker & the Rumor (1976-1979)

EPs

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1977 The Pink Parker UK24 (5 weeks)
UK 		-

More EPs

  • 1994: Graham Parker's Christmas Cracker

Further CD releases

  • 1999: Loose Monkeys (Outtakes)
  • 2001: That's When You Know (demo recordings)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1977 Hold Back the Night
The Pink Parker 		- US58 (8 weeks)
US
1978 Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions
The Parkerilla 		UK32 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
1982 Temporary Beauty
Another Gray Area 		UK50 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
1983 Life Gets Better
The Real Macaw 		- US94 (2 weeks)
US
1985 Wake Up (Next to You)
Steady Nerves 		- US39 (12 weeks)
US

More singles

  • 1977: (Let Me Get) Sweet on You
  • 1978: The New York Shuffle
  • 1979: Protection
  • 1979: Discovering Japan
  • 1979: Local Girls
  • 1979: I Want You Back (Alive)
  • 1988: Get Started. Start a fire
  • 1988: Don't Let It Break You Down
  • 1989: Big Man on Paper

Video albums

  • Graham Parker Live
  • 2005: Graham Parker at Rockpalast

swell

  1. ↑ a b c d Chart sources: UK US

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Parker, Graham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH London