An Appreciation: Graham Parker & The Rumour.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by dance_hall_keeper, Mar 2, 2017.

  1. dance_hall_keeper

    dance_hall_keeper Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The man who was once hailed by the music media in the mid-70s as an "angry young man" in the UK was most famously part of the major music group, at the time, that was both pre-Punk and pre-New Wave, preceding Elvis Costello, Paul Weller and Joe Jackson: Graham Parker & The Rumour. He had the smarts, after holding various jobs (such as helping to breed animals for foot-and-mouth disease research, picking tomatoes, digging ditches, collecting money from pinball machines, and working in a bakery) to realize that music was the career he wanted to pursue and eventually put together a great assemblage of musicians; members with a proven track record, coming from the bands Brinsley Schwarz and Ducks Deluxe, both legends in the "British pub rock" genre. I'm glad he made that career decision and personally, I don't think he's angry.

    Without further ado, RRROLL CALL (my unabashed reference to an annual contest which is currently going on in my home and native land): Graham Parker (vocals, guitar, harp), Bob Andrews (keyboards), Brinsley Schwarz (guitar), Martin Belmont (guitar), Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums).

    How I first became aware of the group, like so much of my music taste in the 70s, was from listening to the then-alternative format of radio station 102.1 FM CFNY The Spirit of Radio in Beautiful Downtown Brampton ON. During that period, the group became a cornerstone of both the station's new wave and punk music programming.

    How I came to re-visit their catalogue was in a large part due to the Forum. Having read of all the discussions reminded me about how great they were. Already owning a good portion of albums from the three elements of the group on vinyl (following the heed of every review I read at the time, I did avoid buying The Pakerilla), I had promised myself a long time ago that if I had the chance to buy the first two studio albums of Graham Parker & The Rumour (Howlin Wind and Heat Treatment) on cd, I would do so. I already had Squeezing Out Sparks/Live Sparks on cd and I didn't think getting the other titles would be easy. Surprisingly (to me at least) I was able to get the two aforementioned albums, along with Stick to Me and The Up Escalator, which gave me their first five studio albums; the final album leading to the dissolving of the original group, sparked by the departure of Mr. Andrews in 1979. Life was good, for me at least. Not surprisingly, their albums still sound good, standing the test of aural time after only forty-one (???) years.

    This naturally was followed by buying their last (What time is it?) two studio albums, precipitated by the re-formed group, Three Chords Good and Mystery Glue, completing the studio album circle.

    The elements of why they were great, in five easy steps:
    1) Graham Parker & The Rumour - To me, their greatness is in their music, plain. and. simple.
    2) Mr. Parker, his self: No nonsense, a decent wordsmith lyrically and a man who wasn't afraid to tackle "delicate" topics in his music. After the first breakup of the group, he rumbled on with quite a discography of solo albums, interspersed with work featuring two other back-up bands, The Shot and The Figgs.
    3) The Rumour - As fine a backup band that has ever been put together. They were good enough that they had their own discology of three decent albums.
    4) The Brass (aka The Rumour Horns, The Irish Horns) - Over the course of their first three studio albums, the use of horns in their recordings became a big part of the sound of some of their music. A seemingly endless array of musicians held spots in this area in the early going, with the most famous being The Rumour Horns: John "Irish" Earle (saxophone) Chris Gower (trombone), Dick Hanson (trumpet), and Ray Beavis (saxophone) and, as was the case on Stick to Me, John Altman (saxophone).
    5) _ _ _

    The final element is left open-ended to the Forum Members. Don't be shy, don't walk by...feel free to offer any suitable "fifth element" you might think of. Your favourite tracks/albums would also help, along with your favourite video presentations. I just finished watching Graham Parker & The Rumour - Live at Rockpalast 1978 + 1980 and it's great (Why did they make Disc 1 the '80 concert and Disc 2 the '78 concert, hmmmmm?).

    Offerings of recollections of seeing them in concert, at any point in their career, would be greatly appreciated (I think) by all who may stop by and read. I never had the pleasure of seeing them in concert in the halcyon days of their early musical meanderings.

    [​IMG]
    Grahm Parker & The Rumour.

    P.S. There is a Rubbermaid Tote somewhere in the bowels of my basement holding a videotape with Mr. Parker's appearance on ABC's Fridays, 27 June 1980...on Betamax! That performance is currently viewable on YouTube.

    P.P.S. In the "favourite track" list, there are lots to choose from. I will opt for
    probably my most favourite track of all-time by the group, from the album
    Howlin Wind:

    "Don't Ask Me Questions" - Graham Parker & The Rumour.

    P.³ S. And, as always... Rest in Peace, Coconut.
     
  2. chrism1971

    chrism1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glos, UK
    Saw them early 1976 at the Nashville, west London (sort of Ealing/Kensington). The carpets were really disgusting and the beer was crap. They were very, er, precise... and GP was great and soulful, but they were never going to trouble Dr Feelgood in London at that point in time. I think they loosened up a bit later on. Always loved the second album Heat Treatment, then Stick to Me. Not so keen on Squeezing out Sparks.

    Interesting and slightly off-putting recent reunion, including a documentary on the BBC where their post-Rumour lives were revealed (guitar luthier, librarian, New Orleans bar pianist etc). I got the impression from the new stuff that they weren't really into it.
     
  3. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    Brinsley fixed up my old guitarist's favourite axe.

    Love (like, seriously love) Stick To Me, and to a lesser extent Squeezing Out Sparks. Wish I had more to say than that, but that's it.
     
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  4. noahjld

    noahjld Der Wixxer

    "Mercury Poisoning" & "The Pink Parker". My brother has a UK "The Up Escalator" LP but the sleeve actually says "Down The Up Escalator" or "Up The Down Escalator" (I cant' remember off the top of my head,not sure if it was a "test" sleeve or notwhat).
     
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  5. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Sound of the early Rumour GP albums was great, and some later stuff came close. Like this one with Brinsley and Squeeze drummer ... go Gilson

     
  6. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    There was some sort of magic in the combination of the two, for sure. Those early lps were played with all the verve and sweat of a R&B covers band on a late Saturday night. GP wasn't looking to make an great statements, but he wrote gritty, tension-filled lyrics that fit the arrangements perfectly. Their covers were well chosen. When GP really stepped out as a writer (Sparks), they followed him perfectly. I always loved how the Rumour, an R&B band, just nailed a reggae song like Protection with such fierceness. The Rumour's albums were spotty at best, and as GP focused on his songcraft, he grew away from that sound to make some great stuff away from that sound.
    Two of my favorite GP/R tracks, Mercury Poisoning and their cover of Hold Back the Night, just sound terrible, vinyl or cd; they must have been recorded in a cave.
     
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  7. Spruce

    Spruce Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brigg, England
    Loved the guy...and his band. Saw him live several times back in the 70's and he/they were fantastic. "Squeezing Out Sparks" is a stone cold classic! Only criticism I had was his vocal delivery was pretty much the same on every song.
     
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  8. HarvG

    HarvG Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago Suburbs
    Have always really liked 'Squeezing Out the Sparks' - bought the vinyl back in '79 and the expanded CD version in the mid-90's. Would have to consider that album part of the soundtrack of my college years.

    Just earlier this week I heard the studio version of "I Want You Back" by Parker for the first time ( PowerPop: Pretty Fly for a Bunch of White Guys ).
     
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  9. Spruce

    Spruce Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brigg, England
    No "the" in the title. Sorry if I come across as being a tad pedantic.
     
  10. maxnix

    maxnix Forum Resident

    Howlin Wind is wrapped up with a lot of great memories for me; moving to the Jersey shore, meeting my future wife, summertime . . always been a favorite artist
     
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  11. SteveFff

    SteveFff Forum Mekonista

    Location:
    Kalamazoo, MI
    I adore Graham Parker and the Rumour. And while I've seen them a number of times, I'll never forget seeing them two nights in a row at The Ritz in New York City in the early eighties that just blew me away (in fact, I believe the original plan was to go just one night, but after the first it was clear that one night was not going to be enough!).

    In response to your original post, and perhaps this already overlaps with your "top five", I had previously posted on the thread about "underrated drummers" about how tremendous I think Steve Goulding is. He plays in my favorite band, The Mekons, and of course his contributions to The Rumour are sublime.
     
  12. Spruce

    Spruce Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brigg, England
    Aah..The Mekons. I used to love them when they first started out. One of my mates was at Leeds Uni and was pally with them. They were at the same uni as him. Leeds was only an hours drive from me so I used to visit him regularly. Plus, they used to have some great bands there. Saw the Clash there. Whenever the Mekons were playing my mate used to let me know and I would go over to watch them. Often to used to get in for free on the strength of his friendship with the band. I haven't listened to any of their stuff since but really liked them at that time.
     
  13. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    I saw them at the Ritz in NYC as well, and they were as solid, tight and rocking as any band I ever saw live.

    Howlin' Wind is a vastly underrated record, one of the very best of that decade and as good a debut as I've ever heard. To me, they never quite matched it again, although they came damned close with "...Sparks".
     
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  14. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    A 'Best of Fridays' DVD was released a few years ago on Shout Factory. It has the Graham Parker & The Rumour episode, plus the Clash, DEVO, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers...
    I always looked at the Rumour as kind of an American version of The Band with the piano and organ attack. They were an insanely tight band and a great ensemble where each member was able to have their time to shine. Their arrangements of Parker's songs were smart, inventive and well thought out. Those first three albums
    are wonderful to listen to. 'Howling Wind' and 'Heat Treatment' are classics in my house!
    When I first heard Elvis Costello I thought he copied his vocal sound from Graham. I couldn't hold it against him because 'My Aim Is True' blew me away. But the bottom line is that Graham Parker and The Rumour got me in the mindset to embrace all that great punk/new wave music that followed.
     
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  15. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Speaking of video, my first time hearing them was on public tv--some sort of concert program (maybe from Chicago) and they set the place on fire. Stick to me blew me away and Playhouse was fantastic. I got the wallet out soon after that.
     
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  16. DLD

    DLD Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, Tx
    My first exposure to GP was 25(?) years ago when Mrs. Nasty came back from the drug store with a $1 album (back in the daze when closeout LPs were everwhere). It was GP's Steady Nerves. Loved it tho I found out later it was considered a lesser effort by the band. Ended up picking up The Real McCaw, Squeexing Out Sparks, Live Sparks, Stick To Me, and The Mona Lisa's Sister. Think I'm gonna pop Squeezing.. into the car's CD changer this morning, it's been fat too long since I've listened to GP. THanks to the OP for starting this topic.
     
  17. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
  18. Jerryb

    Jerryb Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    GP and GP & the Rumour are my Beatles. I probably have close to 100 GP cds.
     
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  19. davmar77

    davmar77 I'd rather be drummin'...

    Location:
    clifton park,ny
    saw him when squeezing out sparks came out. one of the best shows I saw that year.
     
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  20. SquaRoots

    SquaRoots The North Star Grassman

    Location:
    AM✫dam.nl
    What´s not to like with GP & The Rumour?
    I own pretty much the whole GP catalog.

    Always loved their version of the Trammps´ Hold Back The Night:

     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2017
  21. majorlance

    majorlance Forum Resident

    Location:
    PATCO Speedline
    Was a huuuge GP/Rumour fan right out of the gate in '76. But due to various merry mixups (and happy HS) I didn't get a chance to see them until a few years later, when they opened for Cheap Trick at the Spectrum in Philly — at the very peak of CT @ Budokan-mania. Suffice to say that GP & Co. didn't go over too well with the (mostly) teenybopper audience.
     
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  22. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    I first heard Graham Parker and The Rumour when my brother played Squeezing Out Sparks in 1979 - I was hooked upon first listen.
    (...and then Howlin' Wind, his first LP, Heat Treatment and Stick To Me.)

    Although I realize the songs on SOS are moving away from the R&B/pub rock/soul feel of the earlier LPs, and towards "new wave pop", it hit that spot for me.
     
  23. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    I enjoyed a lot of the British pub rock in its day, and still do. Brinsley Schwarz, The Rumour (with and without Graham Parker), Ducks Deluxe, Tyla Gang, The Motors, Rockpile (with the incredible Dave Edmunds), Nick Lowe solo, etc. I don't think these band were as popular in the USA as they deserved to be.

    Graham Parker has played some solo acoustic shows around this part of the world in recent years. I saw him a couple of times, and, honestly, he didn't have the impact he has with the group. I say "has", because he reunited with The Rumour recently. I saw one show, and they were fabulous.
     
  24. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    Just played Howlin Wind this week. That, Heat Treatment, Squeezing Out Sparks...my teenage years!
     
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  25. babyblue

    babyblue Patches Pal!

    Location:
    Pacific NW
    Got the new big boxset for Christmas, so have been immersed in GP music lately. A fan since Heat Treatment, which I played constantly. I don't know if the man has ever really put out a bad album. He just keeps putting them out there and they almost always seem challenging and enlightening in some way. Some favorites: Another Grey Area (some say it's too slick, but I've always liked it); Mona Lisa's Sister (some of his finest songs); Struck by Lightning (GP goes "skiffle" and still rocks!); and too many more to mention.

    Last year a fellow forum member here kindly sent me a recording of a GP house concert where he introduces the songs by telling background stories of each album. Fascinating and entertaining stuff! GP has been very generous with live releases for fans, but a show like this really should be put out.
     
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