Overlooked Albums #3: Graham Parker and the Rumour - Squeezing Out Sparks

If talent equaled fame, Graham Parker would be as well known as Springsteen or Costello. This Londoner had a string of outstanding records that challenged their best. Like Nick Lowe, Parker was a direct link between pub rock and the new wave; unlike Lowe, he would prove to be less adaptable, and that might have been his undoing.

Short and wiry, and with a skull face that scared small children, Parker was a PR man’s nightmare. Mercury Records had no clue how to market his music, which shifted with ease from soul to folk, from blues to rockabilly. Parker provided no ready-made niche to market strategists: punk was unsubtle, disco shallow, the pop scene fatuous. He was none of the above; his scruffy shoes resisted polishing.

Behind the dark sunglasses his eyes had witnessed hard times, brutal factory lines, and thankless pub gigs. He understood his audience: people who had toiled all week to make ends meet and have enough pocket money for some music and a pint or two. But he gave much more; his raw onstage charisma was there to raise spirits. This was music of transcendence.

The lively spark of his performances translated well to vinyl. Howlin Wind and Heat Treatment both came out in 1976, and the music industry took notice. By all standards, Parker was poised to be a major contender. Stick To Me (1977) faltered, and the critics, easily distracted by punk shenanigans, started to look elsewhere.

After a stopgap live record, Parker signed with Arista. Squeezing Out Sparks presents us a leaner, meaner Rumour. There were strings attached to the new contract: gone are the horns, and the guitars are higher in the mix. This provided some breathable space within the confines of each song , and Goulding and Schwarz take full advantage. Their hard driving guitars wail, weave around each other, and connect like grinder and sword. Parker’s soulful voice cuts through it all, with a gamut of emotions that run from playful (Local Girls), to mournful (You Can’t Be Too Strong), to irate (Nobody Hurts You). Case in point is Love Gets You Twisted, where his phrasing takes the song to another level, singing above or behind the beat, the word “twisted” given myriad shadings, like Van Morrison with an axe to grind.

There is always an intensity to Parker’s songwriting, but it is given full rein here. Passion is the underlying theme to the record: having too much of it in a world that has gone numb, where it has been exchanged for hype or cheap sentiment.

Squeezing Out Sparks marks a high point in Parker’s career that would never be repeated. By 1981 The Rumour were gone and America was left unconquered. The commercial impulse that the album provided would wane by the end of that decade. It would be a good enough run for anyone except Parker, who would go
on to record for several independent labels to this day.

Parker’s songwriting is still remarkable. With a catalog of songs that spans four decades, his career is up for reappraisal. Squeezing Out Sparks should be a good place to start.