All I know by him are the tracks from the Stiff Box Set.
I'm assuming there are several fans here.

I love the songs on the box ("Stupefaction", "Mercury Poising", "Back To School Days")... is it all that good?

I have three albums, all three are great...

Squeezing Out Sparks is probably the best of the three, it has Local Girls, Discovering Japan and You Can't be Too Strong. Get it first. The other two I have are Howlin' Wind and Heat Treatment, both are great, I might advise getting "Wind" first for; "Don't Ask Me Questions", but if these two are not available in a twofer, they should be as they're almost interchangeable. My advice; get all three and I'm sure there are others that are worthwhile too.

Just checked at allmusic.com and it seems the CD release of Squeezing Out Sparks has "Mercury Poisoning", which my vinyl copy doesn't have. Another good reason to start at "Sparks", though I guiess you already have MP so it's not as important to you. I just may have to get the CD myself if I find it used/cheap.

Todd,

Check this thread out:


http://www.obner.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=14899&highlight=graham+parker

I think he's really good but scratches the same itch as Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe but not nearly as well as either. I found that I never listened to the GP albums that I did have so I traded 'em all in years ago.

I can back guys like Rads with nice things to say about him while still saying I don't miss having those albums at all and I don't really highly recommend him either.

This is kinda the impression I got from the songs I've heard, which is why I haven't picked up anything from him yet. Still... I got the curiosity and might pick up one of the recs.

I love "Local Girls." And, I love local girls.

np: GBV- "(S)mothering and Coaching"

This is it, with the added ingredient of the Van Morrison relentless bitterness about the music business ("success sucks ass"). He can be brilliant (Howlin' Wind is my favorite) but at some point I had to reign in my interests and say... nope, can't buy anymore Parker cause Costello is sleeping in his bed.

BMG has Squeezing Out Sparks which includes Live Sparks (the whole LP live) plus a couple extra cuts including Mercury Poisoning.

Howlin' Wind is the next highest in the Acclaimed rankings.

Another option is the compilation of a few years ago which i think has all the Sparks songs mentioned above plus i remember for sure Mercury Poisoning.

This is another dude I have never listened to, but probably should check out sometime.

Loogs! Set this dood up with that GP mix STAT.

i bought Squeezing out Sparks on BMG last week and holy shit this is good. Dont know why I never listened to this before. There is a bit of Costello here...but also a little Zevon and a little Westerberg.

Radcliffe kindly hooked me up with Squeezing Out Sparks and The Up Escalator; Really great stuff. I hadn't listened to him before either, so I was glad to finally hear him.