Stick To Me
	Produced by Nick Lowe
	Released on October 1977
	UK CHART POSITION #19 . . . US CHART POSITION #125
	Find it at GEMM
SRM-1-3706 cover [high resolution scan]

K RONOMYTH 3.0: STUCK FOR AN ENCORE. In my world, the future of rock never ever depended on Graham Parker. He was just another brilliant smartass with an outmoded allegiance to old school rock & roll and a backing band hot enough to melt butter. Sure, he may have sounded like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and The Clash at times, but guys like Parker lead star-crossed lives, not revolutions. So when it came time for number 3 and a freak accident forced the band to re-record the album at the last minute, you couldn’t call it unexpected (yeah, ec rules). Stick To Me comes out swinging, but the knockout blow that many were waiting for never arrives. It’s ten rounds of raucous, rancorous rock and roll, some of which will have you swooning (“Problem Child,” “Watch The Moon Come Down”), but mostly this is Parker pulling his punches. Nick Lowe probably wasn’t the most sympathetic producer at this point; This Year’s Model and Jesus/Pure Pop sounded similarly rushed and muddled. These days, the damning disappointment of Rolling Stone’s Dave Marsh (previously a big Parker booster) is buried by the dust of time and coated by a thin layer of latter-day accolades from Internet pundits who don’t know any better but to lump all of Graham’s early stuff together. Stick To Me could have been a classic record, probably should have been; you don’t get a second chance to make a third impression. Instead, it’s a growl where a roar was required, the first in a series of faux paws that proved Parker wasn’t ready to lead the pack.

TRACK LISTING

1. STICK TO ME    3:27
2. I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR PLAYHOUSE DOWN    (Earl Randle)    3:26
3. PROBLEM CHILD    3:26
4. SOUL ON ICE    3:00
5. CLEAR HEAD    2:56
6. THE NEW YORK SHUFFLE    2:57
7. WATCH THE MOON COME DOWN    4:52
8. THUNDER AND RAIN    3:14
9. THE HEAT IN HARLEM    6:57
10. THE RAID    2:29
    
    All selections written by Graham Parker unless noted

CREDITS

GRAHAM PARKER -- vocals and guitars
BOB ANDREWS -- piano, organs and backing vocals, brass arrangements
MARTIN BELMONT -- guitars
ANDREW BODNAR -- bass
STEVE GOULDING -- drums and backing vocals
BRINSLEY SCHWARZ -- guitars and backing vocals
John Altman -- baritone sax
David Bedford -- string arrangements
John Earle -- tenor sax
Mountain Fjord (Martyn Ford) -- strings
Chris Gower -- trombone
Dick Hanson -- trumpet
Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera -- executive producers
Roger Bechirian -- engineer

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