18 July 2024

So isolated that she thinks that the army is the place where a man ought to be

Thursday music corner: Seventy-three-year-old English singer-songwriter Graham Parker attained prominence in the second half of the 1970s with his band the Rumour, which was comprised of ex-members of British pub-rock bands including Brinsley Schwarz and Ducks Deluxe. Parker has released 25 albums throughout his career; the first five from 1976 to 1980 were with the Rumour. (He also released a further two albums with them in 2012 and 2015). He has scored two UK top 40 hits - one in 1977 when the Pink Parker EP (Hold Back The Night / Let Me Get Sweet With You) reached number 24, and one the following year when (Hey Lord) Don't Ask Me Questions reached number 32.

Squeezing Out Sparks was Parker's fourth album with the Rumour, and was released in March 1979. It won Village Voice's end-of-year critics' poll award, and has featured in the Rolling Stone top 500 greatest albums chart. The self-loathing rock of Local Girls was the second track on the album, and its third single after Protection and Discovering Japan.

Graham Parker & the Rumour - Local Girls (1979)  


See also:
Music: Graham Parker & the Rumour - (Hey Lord) Don't Ask Me Questions (1978)
Music: Graham Parker & the Shot Steady Nerves - Wake Up Next To You (1985)
Music: Graham Parker - The Madness of Love (Richard Thompson cover, 1995) 

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