Graham Parker “Squeezing Out Sparks”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#307 in the Series) is Graham Parker, Squeezing Out Sparks.
Graham Parker, Squeezing Out Sparks….Is this Graham’s Best album? Many believe it is. I’m not going to say that it isn’t. I’m a big fan of his Steady Nerves album as well but the list of course doesn’t end there in fact you can name a number of his albums as “the” best but for today however, we’re going to check out 1979’s Squeezing Our Sparks.
Some highlights worth noting are “Local Girls,” “Passion is No Ordinary Word,” “Saturday Night is Dead” and “Waiting for the UFOs.”
Another song worth noting is Graham’s anti-abortion track called “You Can’t Be Too Strong.” It’s a touching song written from a male’s point of view.
This was also the final album with Mercury Records. Try and find the bonus package if you’re on the hunt to find it. The bonus package is 22 songs deep. It’s called Squeezing Out Sparks + Live Sparks.
In the bonus package you get the regular studio album in addition to two bonus cuts. The first bonus song is a live version of his classic tune “Mercury Poisoning” He really lets his old label, Mercury “have it” on this one. The second bonus cut is a remake of the Jackson 5 hit, “I Want You Back.” You also get an additional disc with Graham providing live versions of the complete Squeezing Out Sparks album.
Squeezing Out Sparks peaked at #40 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.
Track listing
Side one
- “Discovering Japan” – 3:32
- “Local Girls” – 3:44
- “Nobody Hurts You” – 3:42
- “You Can’t Be Too Strong” – 3:21
- “Passion Is No Ordinary Word” – 4:26
Side two
- “Saturday Nite Is Dead” – 3:18
- “Love Gets You Twisted” – 3:02
- “Protection” – 3:54
- “Waiting for the UFOs” – 3:08
- “Don’t Get Excited” – 3:04
Personnel
- Graham Parker – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Brinsley Schwarz – guitar, backing vocals
- Martin Belmont – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Bob Andrews – keyboards, backing vocals
- Steve Goulding – drums, backing vocals
- Andrew Bodnar – bass
Links
You’re on a roll now. An angry sounding guy.
You can’t be to strong is such a strong song. The baby talking to the mnother is heartwrenching,I think anyone thinking of ending a pregnancy should listen to this song.
Truly one of the five most important albums to come out of 1977-1978, and that was an period of great importance: Costello “My Aim is True”, the Clash “London Calling”, The Talking Heads “77”, Televsion, and “Squeezing Out Sparks”