"Vertigo" by GRAHAM PARKER (and THE RUMOUR) – A 40-Track 2CD Mercury/Vertigo Records Anthology - Album And 45-Single Tracks from his April 1976 UK Debut "Howlin Wind" to his Fifth Studio Album "Squeezing Out Sparks" in March 1979 – Featuring Brinsley Schwarz, Bob Andrews, Martin Belmont, Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding of The Rumour with Guests Dave Edmunds, John Earle and Producer Jack Nitzsche - Includes the 1976 UK Promotional LP "Live At Marble Arch" Produced by Nick Lowe - First Time on CD Here (October 1996 UK Vertigo/Mercury 2CD 40-Track 'Chronicles' Anthology with Roger Wake Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0000072SR&asins=B0000072SR&linkId=7efcb129a66f7a47897afd048057d96b&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe>

This Review and 317 Others Like It 

Are Available in My Amazon e-Book

GOODY TWO SHOES

2CD Deluxe Editions (Occasional Threesome), Expanded Reissues and Compilations 

All Info From The Discs Themselves 

No Cut and Paste Crap

Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer 6 Times

 

<iframe sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mabasreofcdbl-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B0CHQMFNXL&asins=B0CHQMFNXL&linkId=af5fa4384a950212fe19883f9b369759&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe> 

"...Dodged All The Turnpikes..."

 

Tales of boozy anguish in hotel rooms with frisky chambermaids and a search the world over (well mostly in Dagenham) for that special lady. Graham Parker and his kickass band The Rumour should have been huge - what with their edgy songs that fused 60s R&B with Punk Rock lyrics about the frustrations and exhilaration of dole-ridden young life in New Wave England. And in some kind of curiously begrudging non-commercial 'stop reminding us of our predicament' way – they were. At least among my Dublin mates and I, GP & Crew were the Super Unleaded nozzle to us. 

 

I suppose as someone who lived through Punk and New Wave (and bought the safety pins and buttons) – I kind of thought that as each new record seemed to get demonstrably better than the last – the public would embrace him like they had say Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe or Hell, even Dave Edmunds. But the right worshipful Graham Parker (a gent from Chobham in Surrey) always seemed to struggle to rise above the music pulpit to be heard.

 

Still – this unwieldy CD twofer from the forgotten hills of England in 1996 (and one of those splurges the industry used to call 'A Chronicles Anthology' on the sticker) is here to remind us of our mistakes and emotional misdemeanors and offer up forty acts of suburban contrition so we can reassess and forgive ourselves for our many colored-vinyl trespasses. Here are the howlers...

 

UK released October 1996 - "Vertigo" by GRAHAM PARKER (and The Rumour) on Vertigo/Mercury 534 100-2 (Barcode 731453410022) is a 2CD 40-Track 'Chronicles' Best-Of Anthology covering his stay at Mercury and Vertigo Records between 1976 and 1979. It has Roger Wake Remasters from Original Tapes and also includes the 10-Track Promotional LP "Live At Marble Arch" (Tracks 6 to 15 on CD1) issued in 1976 in the UK and is first time on CD here. "Vertigo" plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (73:01 minutes):

1. Between You And Me

2. I'm Gonna Use It Now

3. You've Got To Be Kidding

4. Howlin' Wind

5. Back To Schooldays

6. White Honey (Live)

7. That's What They All Say (Live)

8. Back Door Love (Live)

9. Back To Schooldays (Live)

10. Silly Thing (Live)

11. Chain Of Fools (Live)

12. Don't Ask Me Questions (Live)

13. You Can't Hurry Love (Live)

14. Soul Shoes (Live)

15. Kansas City (Live)

16. Heat Treatment

17. Hotel Chambermaid

18. Black Honey

19. Fool's Gold

20. Hold Back The Night

21. (Let Me Get) Sweet On You

NOTES ON CD1:

Tracks 1, 3, 4 and 5 are from his debut album "Howlin Wind", April 1976 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 129 and Mercury SRM-1 1095. Track 5 features Dave Edmunds on Rockabilly Guitar

Track 2 is the Non-LP B-side to "Silly Thing", his UK Debut 45-single in March 1976 on Mercury 6059 135

Tracks 6 to 10 are Side 1 whilst Tracks 11 to 15 are Side 2 of the Promotional Only UK LP "Live At Marble Arch" issued in 1976 on Phonogram G.P. 1. It is issued here in its entirety for the first time on CD. Note: The two Promo-Only Live Tracks "Silly Thing (Live)" b/w "Kansas City (Live)" were offered as a FREE SINGLE with initial copies of his second British album "Heat Treatment"

Tracks 16, 17, 18 and 19 are from his second studio album "Heat Treatment", October 1976 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 137 and in the USA on Mercury SRM-1 1095

Tracks 20 and 21 make up Side 1 of a 4-track Extended Play EP - "The Pink Parker – Hold Back The Night" released March 1977 in the UK on Vertigo PARK 001. The other two tracks on the B-side were "White Honey" and "Soul Shoes" - both of which were on the preceding "Howlin Wind" album. "Hold Back The Night" is a cover of a TRAMMPS US Soul hit originally on Buddah Records in February 1976 – the other songs are Graham Parker originals with both "Hold Back The Night" and "(Let Me Get) Sweet On You" being exclusive to the EP.

 

CD2 (69:55 minutes):

1. The New York Shuffle

2. Watch The Moon Come Down

3. The Raid

4. Lady Doctor

5. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

6. The Heat in Harlem

7. Gypsy Blood

8. Discovering Japan

9. Local Girls

10. Nobody Hurts You

11. You Can't Be Too Strong

12. Passion Is No Ordinary Word

13. Saturday Nite is Dead

14. Love Gets You Twisted

15. Protection

16. Waiting For The UFOs

17. Don't Get Excited

18. Mercury Poisoning

19. I Want You Back (Alive)

NOTES on CD2:

Tracks 1, 2 and 3 are from his third studio album "Stick To Me" – released October 1977 in the UK on Vertigo 9102 017

Tracks 4, 5, 6 and 7 are from his fourth album "The Parkerilla" – released May 1978 as a 2LP set on Vertigo 6641 797 – it was all recorded live in the studio

Tracks 8 to 17 are the entire album "Squeezing Out Sparks", his fifth album released March 1979 on Vertigo 9102 030

Tracks 18 and 19 are the A&B-sides of a March 1979 US-only 45-single on Arista AS-0439

 

GRAHAM PARKER – Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar and Rhythm Guitar on

 

THE RUMOUR was:

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ – Guitar, Hammond Organ, Tenor Saxes and Backing Vocals

BOB ANDREWS – Lowrey And Hammond Organ, Piano and backing Vocals

MARTIN BELMONT – Guitar and backing Vocals

ANDREW BODNAR - Bass

STEVE GOULDING – Drums and backing Vocals

 

The 12-page booklet splits its details between JOHN TOBLER and GRAHAM PARKER – Tobler concentrating on the track-facts and scene-setting history while GP reminisces on his beginnings with the British Pub Rock band Brinsley Schwarz, his musical influences and where it all eventually led – to the USA on a bus hearing their latest single on American Radio and being duly impressed (not even the slightest bit repulsed). You would not say the lack of Discography or even half-decent photos or memorabilia helps (it all feels too slight even for a Chronicles twofer in 1996) – but thankfully the ROGER WAKE Remasters lift proceedings and leave it all on the page – the music. These Remasters jump and snarl - "Saturday Nite Is Dead" on the "Squeezing Out Sparks" album has huge guitars now – riffage and power galore (the whole album is included, and as many feel it his best, that is a good thing). To the tunes...

 

Choice shavings from his five albums for Vertigo Records are all here in spiffing audio - "Howlin Wind" (April 1976), "Heat Treatment" (October 1976), "Stick To Me" (October 1977), the double album "The Parkerilla" (May 1978) and finally "Squeezing Out Sparks" (March 1979). Inbetween the cracks are rare B-sides, stand-alone 45s and the big prize for diehard fans – a first-time on CD outing for the legendary "Live At Marble Arch" Promo-Only album issued by Phonogram to keep journos and industry insiders thinking about GP before the second LP of 1976. To that...

 

After the critical rave-ups and warm public response the debut album "Howlin Wind" received on release in April 1976 and before the issue of his second studio album "Heat Treatment" in October of that mercurial year – Phonogram decided to record a Live LP inbetween and release it as mock-bootleg to keep the momentum going with journalists and insiders alike. Again produced by Nick Lowe (like the debut), the resulting 10-track set "Live At Marble Arch" was probably circulated August/September of 1976 (no one seems to now its exact release date) in its stamped Bootleg-looking sleeve. It included live versions of five tracks from the "Howlin Wind" debut (Tracks 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12 on CD1) whilst the second LP "Heat Treatment" (which had yet to appear at the time the live set was recorded) got two outings (Tracks 7 and 8 on CD1).

 

The other three cuts (Tracks 11, 13 and 15 on CD1) were covers from his first passion – American R&B and Soul artists - "Chain Of Fools" originally done by Aretha Franklin on Atlantic Records in 1967, "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes on Motown in 1966 and the old Fifties Rhythm and Blues stalwart "Kansas City". The remastered Audio does its best with what Nick Lowe produced – get it down and stack it loud. Personally I love his tighter-than-tight Rumour band as they trash through one of my faves - "Back To Schooldays" (dig that twanging guitar solo while the old Joanna boogies along). The same can be said of a fantastic "Soul Shoes" and "Kansas City". Saxophone and sheer bombast carries the single "Silly Thing" to. In fact the overall impression is not of an angry young man or even a Punk/New Waver about town scowling at the powers that be – but that of a great band having a Pub Gig blast.

 

But the key to a 40-track spurge like this is the deep dives (or if you are new to GP, the discoveries). You could argue that the album "Squeezing Out Sparks" from 1978 (included on CD2 in its entirety) warrants serious rediscovery – stunners like the riffage of "Protection" and the aching real-world ballad "You Can't Be Too Strong" being genuine standouts. Spit and snarl and a certain world-weariness course through the veins of tunes like "Watch The Moon Come Down" and his rant at his American record label in "Mercury Poisoning" not doing him a solid – but I could honestly do without that cover of The Jackson 5 that ends CD2 on a bit of a too frivolous note.

 

Rhino had issued their superlative goody two shoes in 1993 called after a track on "Squeezing Out Sparks" – "Passion is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology 1976-1991" which also explored the Stiff Records and RCA 1980s albums that followed (personally I dug those even more) – so that compilation is worth seeking out too although in 2023 – it is deleted decades and has become pricey.

 

But in the meantime get dizzy on "Vertigo" – visually it may not look like much – but content/audio-wise – Graham Parker and The Rumour will tickle your inner gyro mechanisms as any good British Petrol Pump Attendant and his oily rags should...