45 RPM Memories: The Pink Parker - “Hold Back The Night”

Sometimes it’s as much of a nostalgia trip to look back to where I bought a record as it is listening to the record itself. As those of us in Chicago brace for what the weather reports claim could be up to a foot of snow, I can still recall the great blizzard of 1967, and the tiny record/electronics store where I bought The Hollies’ Stop Stop Stop album with money I earned shoveling our neighbor’s walk.

I can also still remember where I bought The Pink Parker “Hold Back The Night” 45 EP back in 1977. It was called Yardbird Records, and had human manikins with bird heads in the front window. There weren’t too many places on Chicago’s staid southwest side where you could find a wide selection of punk and new wave releases, but this was one of them. Kroozin Music’s stores might have been the only other options, although I vaguely remember Triangle Records.

I had heard “Hold Back The Night” on the radio, but to be honest, the real selling point for me was that the record was pressed on pink vinyl. Not that Graham Parker & The Rumour don’t do a great job of covering this earlier hit by The Trammps. Parker’s raw vocals and the horn section create a classic soul feel in this tale of a heartbroken guy who dreads every evening because he knows he’ll be haunted by dreams of his former lover. Side A also features the romantic “(Let Me Get) Sweet On You,” which is pretty similar to “Hold Back The Night.” Both songs were produced by the highly successful Robert John “Mutt” Lange, and feature Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy on guitar.

The B-Side of EP, produced by Nick Lowe, gives a clear indication of why Graham Parker & The Rumour were considered a top notch concert act, as the band burns through live versions of “White Honey” and “Soul Shoes.” Unfortunately, I never saw Graham Parker & The Rumour back in those days, but I did catch an entertaining solo performance by Parker at a Chicago street festival in 2009. You can read my review of that show in the Archives of this blog, under August, 2009.

Graham Parker Live at Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival

If Graham Parker was dismayed by the relatively small turnout for his 5:30PM set last Sunday at the Lincoln Park Arts & Music Festival, it didn’t show in his performance. He was after all, competing against the much more heavily hyped Lollapalooza, which was about a half hour’s drive to the south. Plus, the intimate setting, on a temporary stage in a parking lot on Racine Street, suited his one-man show perfectly.

Regarded as one of the original angry young men along with Elvis Costello, Parker came across as cordial, funny, and at times, brutally honest. He was also in great voice. Strumming his acoustic guitar, Parker sang an odds and sods collection of stuff he normally wouldn’t have done with a full band. Switching to electric guitar about halfway through the show, he started reeling off his better known songs, such as “Passion Is No Ordinary Word,” “Life Gets Better” (which he joked afterward was a stupid song because it wasn’t true), “Don’t Ask Me Questions,” and “Problem Child.” Surprisingly, he didn’t perform “Can’t Take Love For Granted.”

Noting that 2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the release of his critically acclaimed Squeezing Out Sparks LP, Parker claimed the milestone was being celebrated around the world, particularly in the northern-most part of Scandinavia. “In fact,” he added, seeming to ad lib as he went along, “this show is being simulcast there right now, so everybody wave to the cameras.” Several people in the audience went along with gag. It’s a safe bet that if the folks in upper Scandinavia had actually caught a simulcast, they would have thoroughly enjoyed it.