Squeezing Out Sparks

Squeezing Out Sparks is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Graham Parker and his band the Rumour. The album was released in March 1979. Although the Rumour were not credited on the cover, their name was included on the album label.

Squeezing Out Sparks
Studio album by
Graham Parker
ReleasedMarch 1979
RecordedLansdowne Studios, London
GenreNew wave[1]
Length37:18
LabelArista, Mercury, Vertigo
ProducerJack Nitzsche
Graham Parker chronology
The Parkerilla
(1978)		 Squeezing Out Sparks
(1979)		 The Up Escalator
(1980)
Singles from Squeezing Out Sparks
  1. "Protection"
    Released: 23 February 1979 (UK)
  2. "Discovering Japan"
    Released: 4 May 1979 (UK)
  3. "Local Girls"
    Released: July 1979 (US)

Critically acclaimed, Squeezing Out Sparks was voted album of the year in The Village Voice's year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll and later ranked number 334 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Background
Squeezing Out Sparks transcends the medium. I don't think there's anything as good as that by anybody anywhere. And I don't even take credit for it. I don't know what happened. I blacked out.

– Graham Parker[2]

Whereas Parker's previous albums were notable for their strong soul influences, with many prominent tracks and singles including a horn section, on this LP producer Jack Nitzsche favored a rawer sound. Coincidentally, popular punk band The Clash were undergoing a reverse process, trying to expand their musical arrangements. Therefore, the Rumour's rhythm and blues session players went on to record all the horn parts in the Clash's third and praised record London Calling.

Parker explained the recording process in an interview, saying, "The album took eleven days to record. It took two days to get the studio [Lansdowne Studios in London] working because it had only been used by Acker Bilk and things like that. The third day we managed to play a song, and Jack said, 'Come and listen to this.' There was just this big mess coming out. So Jack and I went up to his hotel room and I told him we wanted to get back to fundamentals but we didn't know how to. I said, 'Jack, you gotta say what you think.' He was a bit paranoid about criticizing the band. I said to him, 'Jack, we're English. We sneer, we're cynical, we're miserable. But we really don’t mean it.' So the next day we came in, and anything he said, I said, 'Yeah, come on. Carry on. Wot? Wot? Come on, say it. Here, have another beer.' And eventually we got it out".[3]

The album was originally written to be follow a greater concept about growing up in suburbia. Parker explained, "I was kind of attempting a concept album about the suburbs of England, or at least trying to capture a vague approximation of suburban life. ... I guess I drifted off the mark there for the rest of the record because the concept turned out to be a little confining for a whole album."[4] This is reflected in the lyrics to songs such as "Local Girls" and "Saturday Nite Is Dead."

Music videos were made for "Local Girls" and "Protection", and the tracks "Discovering Japan" and "Passion Is No Ordinary Word" received radio airplay. In addition, "You Can't Be Too Strong", an uncharacteristic somber acoustic guitar ballad, met with controversy over its subject matter and narrative: a man's reflections on his girlfriend's abortion. Summing up the album, Parker stated, "Squeezing Out Sparks didn't have as much roots or swing, and there was no horn section on it. The songs were just great."[5]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Christgau's Record GuideA[7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Smash Hits8/10[10]
Uncut[11]

Squeezing Out Sparks was well-received by contemporary critics. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it "[a]n amazing record" in a "A+"-rated review for The Village Voice, adding that "Parker's mood, which has narrowed into existential rage with a circumstantial root, makes for perfect, untamable rock and roll."[12] In Rolling Stone, Greil Marcus wrote that the album "is no landmark", but nonetheless praised Parker for taking a risk and exposing himself in "a tale of true fear and drama".[13] The album was ranked among the top ten albums of the year for 1979 by NME, with "Protection" ranked among the year's top 50 tracks.[14] Critical reception for the album was capped by its being voted the best album of the year in the 1979 Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[15]

The album's critical reputation has grown since its release. Trouser Press called it "his toughest, leanest and most lyrically sophisticated LP",[16] while AllMusic cited it as "[his] finest album", "a masterful fusion of pub rock classicism, new wave pop, and pure vitriol".[6] In 2003, Rolling Stone placed it at number 335 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time;[17] the list's 2012 edition ranked it 334th.[18]

Studio versions of "I Want You Back" (a Jackson 5 cover) and "Mercury Poisoning" were originally issued on a 45 rpm 7" single which was included with early copies of the album.

In 1996, Arista issued Squeezing Out Sparks + Live Sparks with the original ten tracks followed by live versions of the same songs, in the same order, plus live versions of the two bonus tracks, "I Want You Back (Alive)" and "Mercury Poisoning". "Live Sparks" had originally been released only as a limited edition, promotional picture disc LP.

Squeezing Out Sparks was reissued in the United Kingdom in 2001 on Vertigo/Mercury, with the two bonus studio tracks.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Graham Parker, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Discovering Japan"3:32
2."Local Girls"3:44
3."Nobody Hurts You"3:42
4."You Can't Be Too Strong"3:21
5."Passion Is No Ordinary Word"4:26
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Saturday Nite Is Dead"3:18
2."Love Gets You Twisted"3:02
3."Protection"3:54
4."Waiting for the UFO's"3:08
5."Don't Get Excited"3:04
Bonus tracks (2001 reissue)
No.TitleLength
1."Mercury Poisoning"3:09
2."I Want You Back (Alive)" (The Corporation)3:26

Personnel

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1979 Billboard Pop Albums 40 [19]
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References
  1. "40 Albums Baby Boomers Loved That Millennials Don't Know". Rolling Stone. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  2. Hudson, Scott. "Interview with Graham Parker". Tempest Magazine. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  3. Henke, James. "Graham Parker: Rumour Becomes Fact". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  4. Parker, Graham. "GP Answers Your Questions, Part 13". grahamparker.net. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  5. McLeese, Don. "Woodstock Calling". No Depression. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Squeezing Out Sparks – Graham Parker & the Rumour / Graham Parker". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  7. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Graham Parker and the Rumour: Squeezing Out Sparks". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X.
  8. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  9. Abowitz, Richard (2004). "Graham Parker". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 616–17. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. Starr, Red (19 April – 2 May 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits: 25.
  11. "Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks". Uncut (52): 102. September 2001.
  12. Christgau, Robert (30 April 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  13. Marcus, Greil (17 May 1979). "Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks". Rolling Stone (291). Retrieved 14 May 2006.
  14. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  15. "The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 28 January 1980. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  16. Young, Jon; Rompers, Terry; Robbins, Ira. "Graham Parker (and the Rumour)". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2 March 2005.
  17. "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (937). 11 December 2003. Citation posted at "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 334 | Squeezing Out Sparks – Graham Parker". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  18. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  19. "Squeezing Out Sparks – Graham Parker > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Billboard. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
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