Best of

Graham Parker | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 29, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000008JA1
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,001 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Get Started, Start a Fire

2. Ordinary Girl

3. Ten Girls Ago

4. The 3 Martini Lunch

5. Little Miss Understanding

6. Success

7. Don't Let It Break You Down

8. Soul Corruption

9. The Sun Is Gonna Shine Again

10. That Thing Is Rockin'

11. I'm Just Your Man

12. And It Shook Me

13. Durban Poison

14. Call Me Your Doctor

15. Hotel Chambermaid

16. A Brand New Book

17. Wrapping Paper

18. You Got the World (Right Where You Want It)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Graham Parker: The Nipper Years, April 2, 2008

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Graham Parker had a four album stint on RCA that is condensed into this 18 song collection. The albums The Mona Lisa's Sister, Live! Alone In America, Human Soul and Struck by Lightning were of this period, and they chronicle Parker's gradual shift from Angry Young Man into Average Domestic Man. While this shift was evident as far back as Another Grey Area, calculating the balance of themes on this best of, 10 of the songs deal with relationships and mostly in a contented way.

In Parker's case, this is a pretty good thing. While no one is going to mistake him for James Taylor, a song as warm as "I'm Just Your Man" is miles away from Squeezing Out Sparks' sneering "Local Girls." That Parker also delivers this (and the homage to Sam Cooke "The Sun is Gonna Shine Again") without a trace of irony speaks to his growth over the years. There's also the fine "Brand New Book" and "Wrapping Paper."

The pungent barbs are still there, though. His best known song from this period, "Get Started. Start a Fire" is a lost single and smolders in the way his best early work still does. The politically charged "Soul Corruption" unleashed some of the old vitriol, and the music industry takes in on the chin ala "Mercury Poison." The previously unreleased "That Thing Was Rocking" and "Success" (from "Mona Lisa") take square aim at the world of popstars and prefabs, and when Parker hisses "suck-sessssss" in the later, it's the passionate crank we've known and loved. The sad thing is that after MLS, Parker's albums and audience dwindles to his fanbase even as his work became richer and more sophisticated.

Whittling the four RCA albums down to their essence helps confirm that fact. While this CD has been out of print for a while now, it's going used for cheap. Most of the other best ofs have skipped this period, so all the more reason to pick this one out.