Graham Parker's appearance on a recent episode of the superswell podcast Letting Them Talk With Will Harris got me thinking about casting a TIRnRR Featured Performer spotlight on some of Parker's work. Letting Them Talk provides a fascinating interview, and I was taken with the fact that Parker himself is the one who brings up his contribution to my 2025 Flashcubes tribute album; while I'm certain that our pal Will must have mentioned that Cubic subject in his pre-show prep with the mighty GP, I'm grateful that it came up at all.
It's been roughly fifty years since the first time I heard Graham Parker's music, a revelation granted to sixteen-year-old me when Utica, NY's WOUR-FM started programming "Hotel Chambermaid." It was an early harbinger of what I would later refer to as my musical crucible, 1976 to '78 or so, as my established rockin' pop POV expanded to include the likes of Parker, Greg Kihn, the Rubinoos, Nick Lowe, the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Runaways, Television, Blondie, Elvis Costello, the Jam, Patti Smith, the Flashcubes, Eddie and the Hot Rods, the Romantics, et al. If I'm looking for an onramp into those broader vistas in pop music, when the lights are low you know I'm gonna go for my hotel chambermaid.
So here's a modest salute to the impact of Mr. Graham Parker, beginning with a new live version of the song that started it all for me in 1976 and paradin' with pride through the varied experiences of heat treatment, squeezing out sparks, steady nerves, the Mona Lisa's sister, burning questions, and the last chance to learn the Twist. We mingle all of this with music from other artists, because radio taught me there's no substitute for hearing great records played right alongside other great records.
We play the hits. Keep on hitting, Mr. Parker. Keep right on hitting. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO.
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).
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Carl's new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is available! Read about it here. Autographed copies of Carl's previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) are available here, and you can still get Carl's previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
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THE MIGHTY LEMON DROPS: Take Me Up [live] (Cherry Red, Inside Out 1985-1990)
MIKE BROWNING: She Gets Carried Away (single)
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XTC: Science Friction (Geffen, Waxworks: Some Singles 1977-1982)
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