None of the members actually learned to play their instruments, however, and were merely dress-up bands, adopting Beatle haircuts, black jeans and polo neck sweaters.

At that time, a strongly psychedelic-influenced band named Pegasus often played in the same bar and asked Parker to join them.

[citation needed] In late 1972, Parker returned to England and lived with his parents, working at a petrol station around the corner from his childhood home in Deepcut.

[2] By now he was determined to pursue a career in music and worked steadily on improving his guitar playing and song writing.

Brown introduced him to Paul "Bassman" Riley who had recently been a member of Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers.

(Brown also found Parker a gig at Southern Comfort, a tiny hamburger café on Seven Sisters Road in Finsbury Park, London where he played solo, performing a mixture of original songs and covers.)

Riley thought Parker should meet Dave Robinson, the manager of the by now defunct Brinsley Schwarz band.

Robinson had a small studio above the Hope & Anchor pub in Islington and began to record Parker, sometimes solo and sometimes with a few musicians behind him.

Another song, "Nothin's Gonna Pull Us Apart" was played, in demo form, on the Charlie Gillett show "Honky Tonk" on BBC London 94.9.

Robinson then went about recruiting the musicians who would become the Rumour, and recording for Howlin’ Wind began in the winter of 1975 with Nick Lowe producing.

The band's first album, Howlin' Wind, was released to acclaim in April 1976 and was rapidly followed by the stylistically similar Heat Treatment.

[1] A mixture of rock, ballads, and reggae-influenced numbers, these albums reflected Parker's early influences and contained the songs which formed the core of Parker's live shows – "Black Honey", "Soul Shoes", "Lady Doctor", "Fool's Gold", and his early signature tune "Don't Ask Me Questions", which hit the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.

[4] Establishing a recording career in early 1976, Parker preceded two other new wave English singer-songwriters with whom he is often compared: Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson.

[1] Parker and the Rumour gained a following in Australia thanks to the support of community radio (4ZZZ, 3RRR), Sydney independent rock station Double Jay (2JJ) and the ABC's weekly pop TV show Countdown, which gave the group nationwide exposure.

[9] The album features several of Parker's most famous songs, including "Passion Is No Ordinary Word", "You Can't Be Too Strong", and the singles "Local Girls", "Protection", and "Discovering Japan".

The album featured the single "Stupefaction" and the track "Endless Night", which had guest vocals from Bruce Springsteen.

The Shot was a four-piece backing band, all of whom had played on either The Real Macaw or Another Grey Area: Brinsley Schwarz (guitar), George Small (keyboards), Kevin Jenkins (bass) and Michael Braun (drums).

[1] Steady Nerves was recorded in New York City, and Parker began living mostly in the United States during this time.

[1] Record label changes came quickly after the mid-1980s, partly accounting for the number of compilation albums in Graham Parker's discography.

After the personal 12 Haunted Episodes,[3] and 1996's Acid Bubblegum (featuring Jimmy Destri of Blondie on keyboards), Parker grew quiet in the late 1990s.

Parker began a more active period in 2001, with the UK re-release of his early Rumour work, and with his third studio album for Razor & Tie, Deepcut to Nowhere.

The album, called From a Window: Lost Songs of Lennon & McCartney, was credited to "Pierson, Parker, Janovitz".

In addition to his records, Parker published an illustrated science fiction novella, The Great Trouser Mystery in 1980.

Music journalist, Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that the release was "the rare reunion that simultaneously looks back while living in the present.

The album features Parker's brand new backing band The Goldtops, which consists of Martin Belmont on guitar, Geraint Watkins on keyboards, Simon Edwards on bass, and Roy Dodds on drums.