The MG Album Club #28: Squeezing Out Sparks

[Zeeba Neighba]

Welcome to the 28th (wow! 28th!) pick of our album club here at the MG
A bit late for me here, but people are still digesting the last pick (myself included), but I'll give a full 10 days (next Monday) until our next album pick.

My pick
Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)

Interestingly, this is the second time in our relatively brief Album Club that I've gotten the year 1979 (first time it was The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette
At the time, I think I even commented that one album I LOVE from this year was this one, but I didn't want to pick it - some albums are (for whatever reason) one can be so fond of that criticism and dislike of that album would just make one sad. In our first album club iteration, I picked Elvis Costello's Get Happy!!, an album I really love, only to be saddened by so many people not enjoying it or even worse feeling meh about it.

Still, as I looked over all the wonderful albums of this great year, I found myself drawn to this one again. Me personally, I just played it 3 days ago on vinyl on my birthday. But it's not an album that I've seen many here post on - I suspect most have heard it. It might not have been your cup of tea or perhaps you've never spun it, so here's an opportunity to give it a chance

How did I first encounter this one? I've mentioned before in freshman year of college, I was getting into more music beyond standard rock radio and had Rolling Stone's issue (in 1987) of the top 100 albums of the past 20 years (since Rolling Stone's beginning). Graham Parker had TWO albums on the list - this one and Howling Wind (also a great album). How could an artist I'd never heard of have not one but two on such a list. Had to find it - but though not even a decade old, even in NYC it was a tough one to track down. Found it after a bit on cassette in Manhattan by Columbia University.

For me it was one of those first listen albums. I can certainly see why others might not enjoy. The British "Angry Young Man" movement (Costello, Joe Jackson, Parker) of the late 70s is not everybody's cup o' tea. Attitude fit in nicely with the punk spirit of the time (this is the year of London Calling, The Ramones It's Alive, Buzzcocks) but the music is tight rock. It doesn't seem special perhaps but compared to the excesses of prog and stadium rock, this was certainly a diversion from more mainstream music. The Rumour, Parker's backing band at the time, is a tremendously tight band too. Parker spits out his lyrics, often angry even venomous (perhaps it is an album that would grab younger listeners first). The first three numbers "Discovering Japan", "Local Girls" and "Nobody Hurts You" barrel by quickly, each a better kiss off song than the last. The intriguing anti-abortion song "You Can't Be Strong" has some killer imagery. Really the whole album is enjoyable (the goofy "Waiting for the UFOs" isn't the best but has grown on my over the years).

The album doesn't appear much on Best of lists compared with 30 years ago - Acclaimed Music's album list has it as a pathetic #921 - but my love for it has never waned. And while I would surprised if many here love it as I do (why did I pick another angry British album?), perhaps you'll find something to enjoy here.

 

[Nickyboy]

Hey! I just listened to this yesterday. And I finally got "discovering Japaaaaaaaaaaan!" out of my head. And now....it's back again.

I am often surprised too, that this album isn't more well known now and wasn't bigger when it came out. It fits right in with the spirit of the late 70s. Shoulda been bigger.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Spotify link here:

 

[Ojai Sam]

Zeeba, this is an inspired pick and your post covers it perfectly. I found myself nodding in agreement over and over.

I too found Graham through Rolling Stone, in my case the Record Guide. His run of 5 star albums piqued my curiosity. I too am mystified why he doesn't get more love. Only 500,000 plays on last.fm is astonishing.

This song may hold an answer or two to the mystery. songfacts.com sez:

In this song, Parker expresses his frustrations with his Amercian label, Mercury Records. Despite critical acclaim and success overseas, Parker's first 3 albums failed miserably in the States, and Parker blamed Mercury's inept marketing. Valerie, who was a secretary at Mercury at the time, gave us this account:

"I was working for Mercury Records in Chicago when Graham was trying to break his contract with the label. There were lots of conversations about Graham being difficult and his belief the company was not promoting him adequately. Then this little song was released from another company and Mercury Records administrators were very upset. He left our label but the song was supposed to be killed - you couldn't get it anywhere! I had a 45 that my boss gave me with a whispered, 'Don't let anyone see this.' Later it was stolen so I didn't think I would ever hear the song again. I was surprised to find you can now buy it on iTunes. The angry lyrics are about the record company and its executives. A fun memory of my short time as a secretary at a record company."

Major record companies stick together and tend to punish troublemakers.

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

This is great. Parker takes an angry, sarcastic tone that reminds me of John Lydon (though Lydon was more extreme). Definite echoes of Elvis Costello, too. Perhaps it was a product of the times.

 

[lpfreak1170]

Welcome to the 28th (wow! 28th!) pick of our album club here at the MG
A bit late for me here, but people are still digesting the last pick (myself included), but I'll give a full 10 days (next Monday) until our next album pick.

My pick
Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)

Interestingly, this is the second time in our relatively brief Album Club that I've gotten the year 1979 (first time it was The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette
At the time, I think I even commented that one album I LOVE from this year was this one, but I didn't want to pick it - some albums are (for whatever reason) one can be so fond of that criticism and dislike of that album would just make one sad. In our first album club iteration, I picked Elvis Costello's Get Happy!!, an album I really love, only to be saddened by so many people not enjoying it or even worse feeling meh about it.

Still, as I looked over all the wonderful albums of this great year, I found myself drawn to this one again. Me personally, I just played it 3 days ago on vinyl on my birthday. But it's not an album that I've seen many here post on - I suspect most have heard it. It might not have been your cup of tea or perhaps you've never spun it, so here's an opportunity to give it a chance

How did I first encounter this one? I've mentioned before in freshman year of college, I was getting into more music beyond standard rock radio and had Rolling Stone's issue (in 1987) of the top 100 albums of the past 20 years (since Rolling Stone's beginning). Graham Parker had TWO albums on the list - this one and Howling Wind (also a great album). How could an artist I'd never heard of have not one but two on such a list. Had to find it - but though not even a decade old, even in NYC it was a tough one to track down. Found it after a bit on cassette in Manhattan by Columbia University.

For me it was one of those first listen albums. I can certainly see why others might not enjoy. The British "Angry Young Man" movement (Costello, Joe Jackson, Parker) of the late 70s is not everybody's cup o' tea. Attitude fit in nicely with the punk spirit of the time (this is the year of London Calling, The Ramones It's Alive, Buzzcocks) but the music is tight rock. It doesn't seem special perhaps but compared to the excesses of prog and stadium rock, this was certainly a diversion from more mainstream music. The Rumour, Parker's backing band at the time, is a tremendously tight band too. Parker spits out his lyrics, often angry even venomous (perhaps it is an album that would grab younger listeners first). The first three numbers "Discovering Japan", "Local Girls" and "Nobody Hurts You" barrel by quickly, each a better kiss off song than the last. The intriguing anti-abortion song "You Can't Be Strong" has some killer imagery. Really the whole album is enjoyable (the goofy "Waiting for the UFOs" isn't the best but has grown on my over the years).

The album doesn't appear much on Best of lists compared with 30 years ago - Acclaimed Music's album list has it as a pathetic #921 - but my love for it has never waned. And while I would surprised if many here love it as I do (why did I pick another angry British album?), perhaps you'll find something to enjoy here.

I, too, used that same issue of Rolling Stone to find tons of new to me music...I was going into my junior year of high school when it was published. Anyway, for this fantastic album!

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

I liked the angry young men era, as short lived as it was. Punk was too unstructured, too sloppy for me. The angry young men started to reel punk back in with melodies and clever, intelligible lyrics. I liked some Elvis Costello and enjoyed Joe Jackson a lot. I glossed over Graham Parker.

I remembered a couple of the tunes on this album from the radio back in the days of unleaded gasoline and cassette tapes (Local Girls, Passion is no Ordinary Word, Protection). I guess I never bothered to find out who was behind them. I'd heard the name but had never bothered to intentionally listen to Parker's music.

The melodies are good, the lyrics are good. The arrangements are vintage but they don't sound dated. They're well executed. I enjoyed this a lot. Even though it's angry young men music, it was a fun listen. Once again, thanks to this series and Zeeba for filling in a musical gap for me. Listening to this album was time well spent.

 

[axolotl]

I never really knew of the AYM era until much after its inception, and the whole subgenre did not strike any chords with me when I was aware of it. When I first heard this album, I had a reaction somewhere in the vicinity of Ouch. Time has been kind to it (and me), however, and I had a vaguely more positive reaction to it. I am thinking that this could be due a number of factors, all of which are and were highly subjective.

In any event, it's better than I anticipated. I give it a rating of . I guess I was just waiting for the U-FOs after all.