Graham Parker And The Rumour - The Parkerilla, Live (1978) plus The Pink Parker 12" EP (1978)

 (UK 1974 - Present)

British rocker Graham Parker teamed up with a feisty bar band called The Rumour in the mid-1970s, joining an intense, immediate “pub rock” movement that blossomed into the punk rebellion. Parker recorded several albums with The Rumour, gaining considerable critical attention, then broke with the band and made solo records and toured through the next decade and into the 1990s. Though he has never achieved large-scale pop success, Parker has proved that persistence goes a long way; as many critics have remarked, he has managed to chart his maturity while remaining a vital pop artist—no mean feat.

Parker’s music grew from an amalgam of diverse influences: soul, reggae, the rootsy early records of fellow Brits the Rolling Stones, and the folk-rock poetry of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, among others. Yet, as Musician’s Geoffrey Himes wrote after noting some of the singer’s forebears, “Parker doesn’t so much sound like anybody as he sounds like everybody. All his influences are subordinated to the emotional directness of his songs. Thus they sound totally original and quite new. 

For all his traditionalism, he is often considered the founding father of England’s new wave.” Tom Lanham of CD Review described the young Parker’s musical emergence: “With his backup band, The Rumour, this frail, diminutive guy with the big, brash barracuda of a voice combined mod Phil Spector-ish pop chops with the urban footstomp vernacular of classic American soul and the lyrical viewpoint of a poor but streetwise white kid whose garage could no longer hold him.” [extract from encyclopedia.com]

No Longer A Rumour
(Roadrunner Article: Oct, 1978 by Donald Robertson)
Airport press conferences are a bummer, I decided after attempting to talk to Graham Parker and The Rumour at Adelaide Airport on the day of their concert last month. For one thing the group were obviously tired and wasted after a storming Melbourne concert the night before ('One of the best concerts we've ever done' said guitarist Martin Belmont), and in the time permitted it was hard to get beyond the superficial

'How's the tour been going? / What will you be doing when you leave here?' type of questions.

Nevertheless some interesting snippets were gleaned from the diminutive one. It transpires that Mr Parker's performing roots lie in the British pubs where Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and Jo Anne Kelly among others, were resurrecting the sounds of Chicago and the Mississippi Delta.

"I remember seeing Jethro Tull when they were still a blues band", Parker laughed.

How long have you been writing songs then?

"Since I was thirteen, but only good stuff in the last few years."

What do you think you would have been if you hadn't been a rocksinger?

"Probably working towards being one. If I didn't make it, probably doing a job that involved as little effort as possible".

Parker also revealed that he's written a novel, which he describes as a Science Fiction/Fantasy/Comedy and for which he is at present looking for a publisher.

Perhaps the hardest thing to come to terms with in talking to Graham Parker is how such a small quiet man can transform himself into a raging stage presence, who pours so much energy into his performance. I think the full significance of calling his live album 'The Parkerilla' only dawned on me at the airport. For on stage Parker does become a monster, a manic Mr. Hyde to his normal Dr. Jekel !

He also comes over as someone who totally believes in himself and who is right into what he is doing. He had a hectic schedule whilst in Australia, doing two days of press in Sydney, before going to New Zealand (where he completely slayed les Kiwis) in addition to interviews in every Australian city he played. Far from complaining he seemed to revel in the attention. So miffed, is Parker, at the sloppy treatment he has received from his American record company, Mercury, that he has written a song called 'Mercury Poisoning' which he performs on stage with obvious relish (I couldn't make out the words, but more on that later). So he was clearly pleased with the groundwork done by Phonogram here on his behalf.

Whether Parker and the Rumour will stay with Mercury/Phonogram when their present contract expires is a matter of speculation. One of the Rumours (ouch!) is that the band will sign with manager Dave Robinson's Stiff label. As the Rumour (A recording band in their own right) are at present without a contract and are hoping to release their second album early next year perhaps there will be an announcement soon. One pointer to the bands recording future is that Stiff Records recently took out a full page ad in the British music paper New Musical Express advertising The Parkerilla (an act that obviously delighted the rest of the Stiff catalogue).

But getting back to the subject of the Australian tour I asked guitarist Martin Belmont how Australian audiences had been reacting to the band's performances.

"Really well. Very enthusiastic, especially in Melbourne". "Yeah, they really liked us in Melbourne", put in Parker. The people came along to have a good time and got up and danced. We love that. We love to see the audience getting involved. It inspires us".

Have you seen many Australian bands while you've been here?

"Yeah, we've seen The Sports, cos they've been supporting us. They're very good, I like them. We went to see Midnight Oil, but I don't remember much of that - I got too pissed".

What's your favourite band album?

"The next one!"

Are you happy with any of your other albums?

"No, I'm not happy with anything".

Are you being serious?

"No, I'm being profound."

How did you find playing with Dylan at the Blackbush concert?

"It was great", replied Parker. "Yeah, he really enjoyed playing with us" chipped in the modest Martin Belmont.

And what are you doing when you leave Australia?

"We are going to Japan for five days, then back to England to record the new album".

I spent the rest of the day in a state of suppressed excitement. I'd been looking forward to the concert for weeks, cos as I wrote last issue, I'd seen Graham Parker and the Rumour demolish Bristols Colston Hall last year along with New Jersey's favourite sons, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. The Parkerilla had whetted my appetite, but I wanted that experience again. I must admit I was a trifle disappointed that The Sports weren't supporting Graham Parker at the Apollo especially now that they have certified living legend, ex-Bleeding Heart and High Rise Bomber Martin Armiger strumming with them, but Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons more than made up for that. It was the best performance I have ever seen the band give. 

They came on like men with a point to prove and if the four hundred people bopping at the front of the stage were any indication, they succeeded admirably. The crowd didn't really settle down until the Falcons were half way through their set, but once they did there wasn't a still head or untapping foot in the house. Joe Camilleri leapt around the stage as if his legs were coiled springs, Wilbur Wilde, who looked a dead ringer for Animal from 'The Muppets' drank three bottles of beer and lit a cigarette in the middle of a solo, but still managed to pump out the meanest baritone sax this side of Murray Bridge, especially during some searing sax duets with Joe himself. And the rest of the band packed real muscle too. They should be proud of themselves. 

It's very hard for a support band to capture an audience's attention, but the Falcons had the masses on their feet screaming for more I noticed Bob Andrews and Martin Belmont at the side of the stage checking them out and they seemed to be digging it too. Let's hope the word gets back to Dave Robinson (Graham Parker and The Rumour's manager and head of Stiff records.)

With the audience perfectly primed, I felt sure Parker would put in a pulsating performance. It was exactly the same scenario that I'd witness­ed in Britain - a superb support band whipping up audience excitement and Parker and the Rumour having to pull out all the stops to top that. Well, unfortunately it didn't quite turn out that way for me. A lot of the blame can be laid on the venue - the sound was bouncing off the wall behind me, and the mix was very muddy, a fact that was most apparent when Parker sang his unrecorded songs, 'Protection' and 'Mercury Poisoning'.

The lyrics were completely unintelligible. And once I'd noticed that 'other things became apparent. The keyboards and the brass kept getting lost and there was a lot of feedback floating around. But it wasn't just the technical hassles that were bugging me. The band kept hitting their stride during certain numbers - 'Back to Schooldays' and 'Heat Treatment' to name but two, but then they seemed to lose it again. It struck me as an uneven performance. I'm sure that if I'd been down the front with the dancers my impression would have been different - everyone that I've talked to since the concert has said that they really enjoyed it, and quite a few said that it was the best concert they have ever seen. But most of the people I talked to, also said that they would have much preferred to see the band in a more intimate setting. Maybe if the floor of the Apollo had been cleared and there had been more room for dancing it would have been better. I would' have dearly loved to have seen the band play the Bombay Rock in Melbourne with the Sports (where they played under the pseudonym of 'Ernie Schwarz'!)

The format of the show was identical to what the band was doing 18 months ago, probably because this was the first time they have been out here, and was obviously designed to have the maximum impact. But second time round I found the spoken song introductions too formal and the stage dramatics a little labored. Parker has said that he tries to break down the barrier between audience and performer and he succeeded with the front half of the audience. Unfortunately I was in the back half.

I went to the Apollo Stadium with definite expectations. By and large, those expectations were met, but never were they exceeded. I went there already a fan, and came away still a fan. A lot of people went there who were not fans, but when the last, strains of 'Pouring it all out' faded away, they had been converted. And that's what live performance is all about, isn't it?

After the concert I went to the Tivoli, as is my haunt on a Friday evening. It was the wrong thing to do. No disrespect to Smokestack Lightening or Mickey Finn, but the drop in musical quality from the Parker performance, which I'd just been criticising, to that coming from the Tivoli stage was vast. Maybe Parker hadn't been that bad after all, I mused.

The Pink Parker EP

‘The Pink Parker’ EP was Graham Parker's second-highest charting LP/EP reaching #24 on the UK singles charts in 1977 with the tracks ‘Hold Back the Night’ and ‘(Let Me Get) Sweet on You.’ These tracks reached #58 and #107 respectively on the US hot 100.

The 7" sleeve art has a real ‘Stiff’ feel to it, looking like it could have easily been released by that indie label during the period. This may not be a total coincidence; Parker would have several recordings on the label between 1980-1982 including ‘The Up Escalator’ in 1980 (SEEZ23.) 

In 1975 (two years before this EP’s release) Parker recorded several demo tracks with Dave Robinson; Robinson would found Stiff Records shortly thereafter. Nick Lowe produced for Parker around this time and also acts as producer for the two live tracks on this EP. Lowe (probably best known for his1979 hit ‘Cruel to Be Kind’) was the first ever artist to release a single on Stiff (BUY1- ‘So It Goes’) in 1976.

Also of note on this sleeve is the weird black dot at the lower left on the front, which looks totally out of place. The EP was originally released in the UK on the Vertigo label; when released in the US in 1977 by Vertigo the art made it through with only minor regional changes. A year later the EP was re-released in the US, this time by Mercury. They hastily covered up the original Vertigo logo and called it a day. The backside of the sleeve fared a little better, as the ‘artist’ tasked with making the modifications took more care when swapping out the various logos.

Other than these few cosmetic differences, the sleeve art on all three is basically the same. Oh, did I mention that fans in the US and Australasia got the better end of the deal as their versions (both Vertigo and Mercury) were released on neon PINK VINYL. The rip contained here is taken from my Pink 12" EP which is in absolute 'mint condition', having been played maybe half a dozen times over the past 45 years. 

Graham Parker was pretty well promoted as an artist at the beginning of his career. A pink vinyl 7-inch/12inch EP was a cool idea, and it seemed like the labels keep the product pumping. The Pink Parker is really just a cleverly disguised package for a new song, a terrific cover of The Tramps’ Hold Back the Night. Parker and the band give it an enthusiastic reading that squeezes even more musical joy from the original idea.

The rest of the EP contains a “new” song that sounds like a leftover from Heat Treatment, (Let Me Get) Sweet on You, plus a pair of tracks from the promotional live record, 'Live at the Marble Arch'. The two new songs were eventually added as bonus tracks to Heat Treatment. Generally, cover tunes aren’t my bag, but I think “Hold Back the Night” is the best thing Parker has done to date. Hard to believe he never did a full album of covers, since this and his version of Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” are awesome.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my Vertigo Vinyl and includes full album artwork and label scans.  It is interesting to note that the original release is a single LP with each side holding over 26mins of music, with surprisingly little volume loss.  The album also showcases a studio version of their current single at the time "Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions".

I have chosen to include as a bonus their infamous 'Pink Parker EP' which provides a live rendition of "White Honey" (not included in the Parkerilla live set). You might like to swap it out with the studio recording of "Hey Lord......" to make this Parkerilla a fully live album.

Parkerilla Track Listing

01  Lady Doctor 2:59

02  Fools Gold 4:30

03  Tear Your Playhouse Down 3:31

04  Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions 5:33

05  Heat In Harlem 7:33

06  (Sweet On You) Silly Thing 3:13

07  Gypsy Blood 5:01

08  Back To Schooldays 2:51

09  Heat Treatment 3:14

10  Watch The Moon Come Down 5:14

11  New York Shuffle 3:11

12  Soul Shoes 3:15

13  Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions (Studio Version)  3:52

Lead Vocals, Guitar – Graham Parker

Bass – Andrew Bodnar

Brass – The Rumour Brass

Drums, Backing Vocals – Steve Goulding

Guitar, Backing Vocals – Martin Belmont

Guitar, Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals – Brinsley Schwarz

Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Bob Andrews

The Pink Parker Track Listing

01 Hold Back The Night      3:04

02 (Let Me Get) Sweet On You     2:36

03 White Honey (Live*)   3:17

04 Soul Shoes (Live*)    3:02

*Live tracks taken from the 'Marble Arch’ Bootleg

Graham Parker Link (351Mb)

New Lin k 013/10/2023