Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - A to K»Artists - G
    Artists - G Music - 1970s Music - 1980s 3 Mins Read

    Graham Parker & The Rumour

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Even in 1976, blue-eyed soul boy and ex-mod Graham Parker was seen as not quite of the top drawer, although he frequently came very close.

    Born in 1950 in London, Parker grew up in Deepcut, a country village in southeast England. His mother worked in a cafe and his father was a coal stoker. Parker left school when he was seventeen and began working in the Animal Viral Research Institute, breeding mice and guinea pigs.

    But he soon found that job, like most other aspects of working-class life in England, a dead-end.

    In 1975, after a series of odd jobs and stints in several bands, Parker (then a petrol station attendant) sent a tape of some songs he had written to London’s Hope & Anchor pub.

    grahamparker

    Dave Robinson – who ran a recording studio there – heard the tape and matched Parker up with The Rumour, an all-star band of the then-waning pub rock scene, including ex-members of Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe and Bontemps Roulez

    The following year, Graham Parker and The Rumour released two albums – Howlin’ Wind and Heat Treatment  – that contained some of the most intense music of the seventies.

    Showing off a variety of influences from Bob Dylan and R&B to Van Morrison and reggae, and with Parker’s growling voice pulling everything together, it was clear that Graham Parker & The Rumour had risen above pub rock to create their own distinct brand of rock & roll.

    But despite the critical acclaim, those first two LPs sold only 30,000 and 60,000 copies respectively. The group and its management put much of the blame on Mercury Records, their label at the time, who only initially pressed 8,000 copies of each album. Parker eventually wrote and recorded a diatribe against the label called (subtly) Mercury Poisoning.

    1977 brought an EP, The Pink Parker, which provided Parker with his breakthrough courtesy of a cover of what was essentially a disco number – The Trammps‘ Hold Back The Night. The single reached the Top 20 in Britain.

    The third LP – Stick To Me (1977) – was not as well-received by the rock press, which criticised Nick Lowe‘s production and some of Parker’s new songs. And the two-record live set The Parkerilla (1978) was a flawed attempt to capture the band’s powerful live presence on vinyl.

    Parker’s erstwhile backing band also performed as an individual entity and released some enjoyable albums, including Frogs, Sprouts, Clogs & Krauts (in retaliation to Fleetwood Mac naming one of their LPs Rumours).

    grahamparker_021

    1979’s Squeezing Out Sparks (his first album on his new label, Arista) was Parker’s best work. His still-bitter songs had a blossoming maturity and in Passion Is No Ordinary Word he had a) a point and b) his best song until Temporary Beauty.

    When Squeezing Out Sparks failed to win the audience he deserved, Parker sank into creative confusion. The albums kept coming – The Up Escalator (1980) and – after The Rumour split up –  Another Grey Area (1982), The Real Macaw (1983) and Steady Nerves (1985) – but no combination of producer and players seemed able to unlock Parker’s heart.

    Consequently, Parker seized control of all aspects of The Mona Lisa’s Sister (1988). He co-produced the album with Brinsley Schwarz (one of The Rumour’s original guitarists), Andrew Bodnar – also from The Rumour – played bass, and when his label, Atlantic, began to suggest changes, Parker bolted to RCA and made them promise to release the album his way.

    Parker moved to Woodstock in upstate New York where he continued to record and write fiction (he published a set of short stories in 2000 entitled Carp Fishing On Valium).

    Graham Parker
    Vocals, guitar
    Brinsley Schwarz
    Guitar, organ
    Bob Andrews

    Keyboards
    Martin Belmont
    Guitar
    Andrew Bodnar
    Bass
    Steve Goulding
    Drums

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Nick Lowe
      Nick Lowe
      Nick Lowe has probably the greatest ear for melody in the modern world - but this is not just a…
    • Judee Sill
      Judee Sill
      Presented by David Geffen's Asylum label as the archetypal singer-songstress of the period, Judee Sill's background differed markedly from those…
    • Bontemps Roulez
      Bontemps Roulez
      Bontemps Roulez were based in the Pub Rock heartland of the Hope & Anchor, where they gigged and recorded between…
    • Joe Jackson
      Joe Jackson
      Born in August 1955, Midlander Joe Jackson was a music college graduate (he studied piano at London's Royal College of…
    • Tyla Gang, The
      Tyla Gang, The
      Following the breakup of Ducks Deluxe, Sean Tyla formed The Tyla Gang with guitarist Bruce Irvine, bassist Brian "Kid" Turrington and…
    • Avalanche
      Avalanche
      With the break up of The Bootleg Family Band in November 1975, Tony Naylor, Geoff Cox and Clive Harrison recruited Adrian Campbell…
    • Rumour, The
      Rumour, The
      The Rumour comprised former members of British pub rock bands Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe and Bontemps Roulez. Formed in 1975,…
    • Warhorse
      Warhorse
      Warhorse was formed in 1969 by original Deep Purple bassist Nick Simper who had been dismissed from the band prior…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleGraham Bonnet
    Next Article Grand Funk Railroad

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Tilt (1979)
      Brenda Davenport – a.k.a “Tilt” (Brooke […]
    • Hippos, The
      Australian band The Hippos came together in Sydney in 1985. At […]
    • Space Jam (1996)
      When the classic Looney Tunes characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy […]
    • Cliff!
      1 9 6 1 (UK) 6 x 25 minute episodes Debuting on 16 February 1961 […]
    • Faculty, The
      1 9 9 6 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes This cheerful but […]
    • Rebel, The (Call Me Genius) (1961)
      During the day Tony (Tony Hancock in his first big movie) is […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.