Some guys just can’t catch a break. Especially if their name is Graham Parker, who released four stellar albums from 1975 to 1979 and never came close to making the big time. Just how good was he in his prime? The English rocker’s first two LPs (1975’s Howlin’ Wind and 1976’s Heat Treatment) made the top five of The Village Voice’s annual Pazz and Jop poll. But has your average music fan heard his music? Not so much. The guy might as well be invisible.
Parker had his own suspicions about his failure to reach the big time, and it was Mercury Records, who in his opinion did nothing to promote his music. He laid out his argument in the scathing “Mercury Poisoning” with its lines, “I got Mercury poisoning/It’s fatal and it don’t get better/I got, Mercury poisoning/The best kept secret in the west, hey the west.” It’s a great song. It never made its way on to an LP. Parker’s new label, Arista Records, planned to release it as a single in 1979, but ultimately relegated it to a B-Side. Too risky to release–Parker could turn on you next.
Parker’s voice bears a distinct resemblance to that of Elvis Costello, but he doesn’t go in for Costello’s witty wordplay. Parker’s songs address everyday concerns in everyday language that Costello’s clever songs never do. Just check out “Local Girls” (don’t bother with ‘em) and “Saturday Nite Is Dead” (“I used to know a good place to go/But now it’s nothing like it was then”).
Parker had a crack backing band in the Rumour, who would go on to release three albums in their own right. Furthermore, ace guitarist Brinsley Schwarz has gone on to record six well-received solo albums, while rhythm guitarist Martin Belmont has released a neat dozen. Keyboard player Bob Andrews, drummer Steve Goulding, and bass player Andrew Bobnar rounded out the quintet, providing more than enough coloring and backbone to fuel the hard rockers and ample subtlety to add nuances the slow ones.
Oshkosh, WI | The Exclusive Company Remains a Media Hub in Oshkosh: The Exclusive Company is a chain of record stores located in Wisconsin, specializing in a variety of different physical media ranging from horror movies to jazz records. 
Tucson, AZ | Record shops in Tucson are gaining popularity as vinyl sales rise nationally: Vinyl is on the rise again and Generation Z is one of the main forces behind its revival. In 2021, the Recording Industry Association of America reported a “remarkable resurgence” of vinyl sales for their mid-year report. According to RIAA, revenue from vinyl grew 94% from 2020 and had been steadily rising for a few years prior. Artists like Jack White and Arctic Monkeys dominated vinyl sales in 2014, a year that marked a record high in vinyl sales since 1993, according to the Nielsen Music U.S. Report. According to Billboard’s annual report, in 2021, Adele’s album “30” was the best-selling record in America. Here in Tucson, the rise of vinyl popularity has impacted local industry a lot. Jake Sullivan and Kellen Fortier, co-owners of Wooden Tooth Records on Seventh Street, have been running the shop since 2015. They are located near Tucson Magnet High School and the University of Arizona, so it is not uncommon for them to see 
Before getting hitched she was Betty Mabry; Miles nuts know it’s her picture on the cover of ’68’s Filles de Kilimanjaro and that the album’s closing track “Mademoiselle Mabry” is named after her. However, it’s important to note that she wasn’t discovered by Davis, having cut a pop single for Frank Sinatra arranger Don Costa’s DCP International label in ’64 as her song “Uptown” was covered by The Chambers Brothers on Time Has Come Today in ’67.
NEW RELEASE PICKS: Joy Guidry, Radical Acceptance (Whited Sepulchre) The vinyl for this release (180 gram lavender) isn’t likely to arrive until June, but waiting until then to sing the praises of NYC-based bassoonist and composer Guidry’s music simply makes no sense. It’s available digitally now and it’s a doozy, so fans of free expression should check it out and get those orders in. “Just Because I Have a Dick Doesn’t Mean I’m a Man,” Radical Acceptance’s opening spoken word piece, illuminates Guidry’s experience as a trans person, with their insights impacting everything that comes after, which ranges from electronic ambience (“Face to Face,” “Grace”) to wildly skronking and achily emotive free jazz (numerous selections, with “Inner Child” a rip-roaring delight) to a short bit of a cappella singing suggestive of a field recording (“Down in the Valley”) to a stretch of ambience that registers as being more environmentally derived (“72 Hours”). Also noteworthy is how Guidry’s use of electronics seems to extend into the improvised pieces, lending them a raw texture that’s utterly splendid. A
Author & Punisher, Krüller (Relapse) Krüller is San Diego-based Tristan Shone’s ninth full-length as Author & Punisher, but it’s my first taste of his self-described industrial doom-drone metal one-man-band. Having gathered a notion of what was in store, my expectations were largely met in qualitative terms, though I was a bit surprised, and pleasantly so, at the degree of legit songwriting that’s on display here. Given that Shone relies upon custom built mechanisms-controllers and speakers called Drone Machines and Dub Machines, I was braced for an experience that was structural, but decidedly more abrasive, pummeling, and bombastic. All three attributes are present (and in spades, I’d say), but there is also a melodic sensibility consistently at work across the record that’s impressively non-hackneyed (by which I mean shamelessly mimicking questionable models) while still being recognizably Metallic in nature. The atmospheric moments were also unexpected, as were the synths, though given the mention of industrial I should’ve saw it coming. But really, don’t get the idea Krüller isn’t heavy. It is. But good. A-
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICKS: Roky Erickson & The Explosives, Halloween: Live 1979-1981 (SteadyBoy) In 1974, after release from state psychiatric supervision, Roky Erickson formed Bleib Alien, which morphed into the Aliens and recorded a 15-song session with CCR’s Stu Cook that resulted in a pair of LPs, one in the UK (1980) and the other in the US (’81). But before those albums were even released, he’d hooked up with Austin band The Explosives for a series of live shows, with songs from seven locations collected on this 2LP, a repress of a Norton set from 2008 (SteadyBoy previously handled the CD). For lovers of 13th Floor Elevators that are hearing this material for the first time, the change of direction, essentially a combination of lean, tough hard rock with horror and occult themes, can take a little getting used to. Conversely, I’ve met folks who heard this era of Erickson first (some of them introduced to it through the Return of the Living Dead soundtrack) and profess to prefer it. That’s not me, but listening to these 17 songs and a concluding radio spot, I can surely understand that perspective. It’s inspired stuff. A-
Moving Sidewalks, Flash (RockBeat) Before they formed ZZ Top, guitarist Billy Gibbons and drummer Dan Mitchell were part of The Moving Sidewalks, with bassist Don Summers and keyboardist Tom Moore completing the band. While their existence is no secret, this album, which holds the majority of the group’s output, has never really grown into a must for collectors or even gathered a cult following (at least in my experience), though it has been reissued many times since the early 1990s. Once Flash is heard, the reason for this general lack of esteem becomes pretty obvious; the record’s just not that good. Along with Jimi Hendrix’s enthusiasm for Gibbons’ guitar playing, maybe the biggest part of Moving Sidewalks’ lore is their camaraderie with the 13th Floor Elevators. Listening to Flash, there’s little in the way of direct musical ties, as opener “Flashback” sounds like it could’ve been recorded in Burbank, CA. Subsequent tracks recall Steppenwolf and Vanilla Fudge. There’s also a flat-out blues number, some goofus trippy stuff, and the very swank A-side to their first single, “99th Floor. B
Madison, WI | B-Side and neighboring State Street businesses face possible displacement: The long-running downtown record store’s owner says he hasn’t heard from his landlord about a proposed development. A planned development on State Street would likely push out B-Side, downtown Madison’s last remaining record store. Several other small businesses on the 400 block of State also face possible displacement. The Wisconsin State Journal reported on Friday that developer JD McCormick, LLC’s project would involve demolishing three buildings the company owns on the 400 block. Those buildings currently also house Freedom Skate Shop (which has been an instrumental anchor point in the city’s push to make skateboarding more inclusive), Sencha Tea Bar, and the City-run Culture Collectives pop-up shop program, in addition to apartments upstairs. In other words, it’s a part of State Street that actually still embodies what people like about State Street. 
Ogden, UT | A Utah record store owner says vinyl sales are a ‘feeding frenzy.’ Here’s why. A rise in demand for new and vintage LPs is leading to problems with the supply, store owners say. …As the boom continues, indie record stores in Utah are seeing their own versions of resurgence. “I’ve never seen a feeding frenzy like this,” said Dustin Hansen, owner of Graywhale Entertainment, an independently owned-and-operated record store with locations in Taylorsville and Ogden. Interest in vinyl has grown steadily over the last 10 years, Hansen said — and much of that is because of younger buyers. “These young people have jobs, they work,” Hansen said. “When you live at home and you’re 19 years old and you have money and a car, you can go buy records.” Young buyers, he added, will realize in 10 years that their fledgling collections will be “invaluable” and an “investment” Hansen said he’s in awe of 
Salt Lake City, UT | Doughnuts, records and love combine at a new Salt Lake City business: A friend’s suggestion prompted a record store owner and a baker to join their business ventures. The feeling of Valentine’s Day arrived early at Mad Dough, Mandy Madsen’s new doughnut shop that opened Feb. 2 within Parker Yates’ record shop, peasantries + pleasantries. Heart garlands descended from the ceiling in the establishment at 807 S. 800 East in Salt Lake City, and Elton John’s ballad “Your Song” played through the place. “We wanted to put on a playlist with a bunch of love songs,” Yates said. Coincidentally, it’s the same playlist — called “101 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’” — he was making for Madsen’s birthday. Madsen and Yates aren’t just business partners — they’ve been dating since last September. Yates met Madsen at Central 9th Marketplace, a business opened by his friends. She was selling her doughnuts there. Yates originally went in to get a sandwich, but his friends kept pestering him to 
Nick Warren to auction personal vinyl record collection: One-off test pressings, classics, and much more. Legendary British DJ and producer Nick Warren will be auctioning his own personal record collection, acquired over decades as a globe-trotting performer, this March 15th, via Omega Auctions. ‘From my days of being Massive Attack’s tour DJ to my days at Cream, Twilo, and pretty much 
