Graham Parker

[tileboy]

It's tough not to include Squeezing out Sparks as one of the best lp's of the late 70's. The two lp's that followed The Up Escalator and Another Grey area weren't bad either. My question is ,what is the best cd or cd's he's put out in the last 10 -15 years? I know he's been quite prolific in this time span. Anything come close to Squeezing out Sparks?

[geoffolehane]

I saw him perform a bunch of those songs accoustically about eight years ago. Great show!

[skinnytie]

From the string of albums he put out after "Another Grey Area" ("The Real Macaw" up to and including "Acid Bubblegum), I'd say the only really good one would be "Steady Nerves". "Acid Bubblegum" is okay, but the others just didn't hit me like the ones you mentioned had, tileboy. That's not to say there isn't good stuff on them, it's just his sound changed and to me it didn't add anything to his material.
But starting with "Deepcut to Nowhere" and on, he's been getting back on track. I would say since that album, "Your Country" is the best thing he's put out in ages. "Deepcut to Nowhere" is a very good album as well, as is his new one, "Don't Tell Columbus". As for "Songs of No Consequence", I kept thinking it would have been a much better album if the Rumour were playing the instruments instead of The Figgs. Keep in mind his sound is a little more rootsy now, but it doesn't take away from anything, and I think it suits his style now a bit.

[tileboy]

Thanks skinnytie. I may be hitting my local record store this afternoon and I'll keep an eye out for your suggestions. Rootsy is good with me.

[schwenko]

He's performing in the NYC area sometime in the next month or so, so check out the listings for your local venues!

Knitting Factory, NYC Friday April 27 (thanks to tileboy)

[mgmlion]

"The Mona Lisa's Sister" & "Human Soul" are really, really good, IMHO. They don't have the intensity of "Squeezing Out Sparks", but damn, there's some great songwriting on them. I didn't care too much for the period through "Struck By Lightning", "Burning Questions" & "12 Haunted Episodes". Just saw the video for "Temporary Beauty" on YouTube a couple of days ago...what a great song. One of my favorite opening lines: "You Had to do your best to come up to par/from straight off the production line like a car".

[tileboy]

After starting this post I downloaded "Don't ask me Questions"(completely forgot about that one)"Temporary beauty","You can't take love for granted" and "You hit the spot"
I just missed him on friday night in Fall River , Ma. It looks like he swings back this way in May . Here's the tour schedule if anyone is interested.

http://www.grahamparker.net/tour.php

[SomebodySomewhere]

"Songs of No Consequence." "Vanity Press" was the first memorable cut he'd done in probably 15 years, and there are some decent also-rans.

I thought "Another Grey Area" was criminally-underrated -- the critics dumped all over it, despite there not being a bad track on it -- while the critics mostly raved about "Struck by Lightning," which did nothing for me. "No More Excuses" is one of my Top 3 favorite Parker tunes.

[bigwavedave]

These have been mentioned above, but Steady Nerves, The Mona Lisa's Sister and Acid Bubblegum all have hooks to rival Graham's Squeezing Out Sparks era...just not as consistent all the way through. And, of course The Up Escalator, Another Gray Area and The Real McCaw all contain some killer tunes.

BTW, my favorite underrated Graham Parker song is "You Hit The spot" (off Another Gray Area if I recall correctly).