With his band The Rumour, Graham Parker was a pioneer of the British pub-rock scene that gave way to such important songwriters as Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Joe Strummer. While he wasn’t as much of a crossover success as his contemporaries, Parker’s style of songwriting, which fused punk’s raw energy with the rock ‘n’ roll chops of the Rolling Stones and early Van Morrison, earned him a devoted cult following, and many artists since have cited him and his band as major influences.
Now, those of us who missed out on Parker and the Rumour at first will get a second chance to hear them again. Today, Parker announced that he and his former backing band will play together again for the first time since the recording of 1980’s The Up Escalator. Not only is a U.S. tour in the cards, but the band is also planning on releasing a new record. Entitled Three Chords Good, the album will be released on November 20th via Primary Wave Records.
Parker described the process of bringing the Rumour back together and recording the twelve tracks on Three Chords Good as “extraordinary.” “We’ve finally made an album of true musical collaboration that we’re all very proud of.”
You can listen to “Coathangers,” the first track off of the new record, on Rolling Stone’s website. If you need to bone up on past work by Graham Parker and the Rumour, you can start by watching the video for “Local Girls” from their classic Squeezing Out Sparks album:
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