Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!houxm!whuxl!whuxlm!akgua!sdcsvax!dcdwest!ittvax!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!brl-tgr!tgr!Joshua.Bloch@CMU-CS-A.ARPA From: Joshua.Bloch@CMU-CS-A.ARPA Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Re: GRAHAM PARKER Message-ID: <8676@brl-tgr.ARPA> Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 15:26:38 EST Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.8676 Posted: Tue Feb 26 15:26:38 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 2-Mar-85 05:39:48 EST Sender: news@brl-tgr.ARPA Lines: 30 All of Graham Parker's albums up to and including "Squeezing out Sparks" are excellent. It's hard to say which of the first three is best, but I'd say it's "Heat Treatment." My favorite song on this album is probably "Help Me Shake it." Despite the fact that it went cutout almost immediately, "Stick to Me" is a fine album. It has many great songs, including the New York Shuffle. (Yow!) I really like this album a lot, and would recommend it to anyone who likes SOS. GP's first album, "Howling Wind" is also great. Check out the title song. Also, if you can find copies, get the single "Mercury Posoning," and the extremely rare EP "The Pink Parker." His band on all of these albums was the Rumour, and they were truly great. Really tight ensemble work, always tasteful. Musically interesting without being pretentious or show-offy. Great guitar (Brinsley Schwartz ?) and keyboards (Bob Andrews ?). If you like this stuff, check out the first two albums by the band that became the Rumour, Brinsley Schwartz. They were reissued as two record set with the same name as the band. Great songs: What do you Suggest?, Mayfly, Rock & Roll Women, Ebury Down, Country Girl. This band was basically the same as the Rumour, but featured Nick Lowe on vocals & bass. Lowe also wrote the songs. I highly reccomend the double album, but I'm not sure it's available anymore. Josh P.S. I think Graham Parker last few albums are basically worthless. When "The Up Escalator" came out, I spent a week waiting for the quality of the songs to hit me. It never did. I don't know what happened to GP, but I'm really sorry it happened. Maybe he'll do something good again someday...