# GRAHAM PARKER AND THE GOLDTOPS Are Giving One ‘Last Chance To Learn The Twist’ On Sept 8

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/graham-parker-and-the-goldtops-are-giving-one-last-chance-to-learn-the-twist-on-sept-8/
- Published: 2023-08-11T16:00:00-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

### **Graham Parker and the Gold Tops are set to digitally release their album ‘Last Chance To Learn The Twist’**

#### **Limited edition vinyl out in October**

Big Stir Records is proud to announce the release date for an all-new album from
British rock legend GRAHAM PARKER. LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST, credited to GRAHAM
PARKER & THE GOLDTOPS and produced by Parker and Tuck Nelson, sees worldwide release
on CD and all streaming services on September 8, with a limited-edition LP run on
clear green vinyl to follow in October. The album, up for pre-order and pre-save
now ([https://orcd.co/grahamparker-lctltt](https://orcd.co/grahamparker-lctltt)),
includes both of the pre-release singles that’ve brought Parker back to the worldwide
airwaves throughout the summer, and will be supported by a full band tour of the
UK this fall.

[⌊Graham Parker and the Goldtops album cover⌉⌊Graham Parker and the Goldtops album
cover⌉[

GRAHAM PARKER’s first album of new material since 2018, LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE
TWIST finds the veteran singer-songwriter in top form, offering up thirteen new 
compositions with exquisitely tasteful backing by The Goldtops (bassist **Simon 
Edwards**, drummer **Jim Russell**, guitarist **Martin Belmont **and keyboard player**
Geraint Watkins**) and frequent contributions from the **Easy Access Orchestra **
horns and backing vocal duo **The Lady Bugs**.

It’s a dazzlingly diverse album: sweet classic soul grooves and roots rock sounds
dominate, all framing lyrics dripping with Parker’s vintage “Wicked Wit” (as one
song title has it) and inimitable, impassioned vocal delivery. Two early singles
have hinted at the record’s depth: the devastatingly stark “We Did Nothing” with
its heartbreaking examination of the cost of inaction on both the personal and global
stages, and the delightfully playful reggae-tinged “Them Bugs.” But there’s much
more waiting to be discovered on the full album, which is at once one of Parker’s
most relaxed and boldest statements to date.

“My usual rather conservative arrangements went out the window on this album,” Parker
says. “The songs morphed as they grew: ‘Grand Scheme Of Things,’ and particularly‘
Sun Valley,’ became less about ‘parts,’ as in a typical pop song, but more about‘
movements.’ Bridges arrive in unusual places, songs were restrained and held to 
under three minutes, The Lady Bugs sang like street corner ruffians on ‘The Music
Of The Devil,’ then floated like the choir girls that they actually are on the ballads,
infused with old soul. The Goldtops gave me everything I wanted. Yes, I’m more than
pleased with this one.”

From the sinister shuffle of the opener “The Music Of The Devil” — a mission statement
of sorts for the album and perhaps the singer-songwriter’s career – through the 
closing honky-tonk-inflected “Since You Left Me Baby,” Parker blends humor and heartbreak
as only he can. Touching on concerns both intimate and culture-wide, often within
the same song as on “We Did Nothing,” LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST finds Parker
moving from strength to strength over the course of its two sides.

Highlights include the bittersweet, piano-led third single “It Mattered To Me,” 
the loose groove of “Sun Valley” with its soaring horns-and-harmonies coda, and 
the folksy meditation on mortality of the near-title-track “Last Stretch Of The 
Road” (already a fan favorite from its live airings at Graham’s recent solo gigs
in the US).

Sunnyside Down

[⌊Sunnyside Down⌉⌊Sunnyside Down⌉
Watch this video on YouTube

LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST is as warm and inviting a record as Graham Parker
has ever issued, but it also delivers all the unflinching honesty, literate nuance
and passion his admirers have come to expect from him. September brings their first
chance to hear it for themselves.

**About Graham Parker**
**GRAHAM PARKER** should need no introduction. Thankfully,
on the lead track to his new album _**LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST**_, he provides
one for himself.  

“They tried to eliminate it – good luck with that! – they pushed it underground 
but it just grew back,” **Parker** sings with inimitably soulful grit, “It just 
grew stronger with every iteration… the music of the Devil was our salvation.” He’s
singing, of course, of the artform of which he’s an widely recognized as a master:
rock and roll. But it serves equally well as a summation of his career: for over
40 years, **Graham Parker **has been slinging his signature sound, earning a spot
in the pantheon of influential rock and roll creators. Always a critic’s darling,
uniquely and equally beloved by anglophiles and connoisseurs of Americana alike,**
Parker** remains a true original. His new work stands with his best, which is no
small achievement from an artist whose body of work includes the undisputed classic_**
Squeezing Out Sparks**_ and his essential run of early albums backed by **The Rumour**.

**Parker** burst onto the British music scene in the mid ’70s at a pivotal moment
in its history. The prior wave of bands had become bogged down in various forms 
of excess, and punk rock had yet to emerge with its unrefined rage. As a young songwriter,**
Parker** had something different from either extreme in mind, and in early 1975,
having no idea how to break into the music business, he put an ad in **Melody Maker**
looking for musicians to support him on the tunes he was developing. This led to
a connection with **Dave Robinson**, a man with some experience in managing bands,
who was suitably impressed and brought some musicians into his demo studio in islington
London to back him on a few songs. 

Before the nascent group had played so much as a note together, **Parker** had, 
with Robinson’s aid, secured a major record deal with **Phonogram Records**. Rehearsals
continued with the band that would become **The Rumour**: **Parker** had seen the
name **Brinsley Schwarz** in the Melody Maker gig guide and imagined that with a
name like that, they must surely be a German heavy metal band. During those first
rehearsals, **Robinson** brought a “tall, bird-nosed fellow,” as** Parker** described
him, to the sessions and said that he would produce their first LP. His name was**
Nick Lowe**, the bass player in the aforementioned “German heavy metal band.” Two
other members of **Brinsley Schwarz**, eponymous guitarist **Brinsley Schwarz** 
and keyboardist **Bob Andrews**, would become core members of **The Rumour**. That
first Lowe-produced LP, _**Howlin’ Wind**_, was recorded in London in late 1975 
and released in April 1976 to widespread critical acclaim. 

Things moved quickly after that. The debut was followed in the same year by _**Heat
Treatment**_ and a hit EP, _**The Pink Parker**_, released on pink vinyl. By the
dawn of the punk era, **Parker** was roundly celebrated for coupling literate intelligence
and a deep understanding of rock’s roots with the roaring energy of the new sound,
and **The Rumour** had evolved into a legendarily explosive and empathetic vehicle
for Graham’s sophisticated, emotive material. Working with legendary producer **
Jack Nitzsche**, **Parker** cemented his reputation with _**Squeezing Out Sparks**_,
which has remained enshrined in lists of the all-time greatest albums of the rock
era ever since. But for all the accolades, **Graham Parker **was still just getting
started.  

Throughout the following decade, **Parker **would garner critical and chart success
in the US and UK with solo albums including 1980’s **Jimmy Iovine**-produced _**
The Up Escalator**_, 1982’s _**Another Grey Area**_, and 1988’s widely-praised _**
The Mona Lisa’s Sister,**_ on which he was backed by veterans of **The Rumour** 
and** Elvis Costello’s Attractions** alike. **Graham**‘s ’80s records stood apart
from the increasingly slick and synthetic output of his British New Wave contemporaries,
imbued with his deeply rooted love of American R&B, country, and soul music and 
trademark wit. By the ’90s, **Parker **could be counted as a rare Brit among the
upper echelons of singer-songwriters revitalizing the Americana idiom: think **Tom
Waits**, **John Hiatt**, and **Springsteen** (who’d guested on _**The Up Escalator**_).
It’s a natural evolution and a manifestation of **Rolling Stone**‘s assessment: “
One of the sharpest songsmiths of the U.K. rock scene in the late Seventies, **Graham
Parker** always owed more to **Dylan** and **Van Morrison** than to his punk counterparts.”

In the 21st century, **Parker **has turned polymath. Long admired for his lyrical
sophistication, the songwriter has made the leap to literature with the short story
collection _**Carp Fishing On Valium**_ and the novel _**The Other Life of Brian**_(
recently republished under its original title _**The Tylacine’s Lair**_). Likewise
unsurprising given the man’s onstage charm and facility with character sketches,
he’s shown up onscreen as an actor, often in collaboration with writer/director/
producer **Judd Apatow**. Far from distracting from **Parker**‘s musical work, these
multidisciplinary excursions have, if anything, reignited his drive as a songwriter
and performer. His turn as himself in **Apatow**‘s 2012 film _**This Is Forty**_
dovetailed with the miracle reformation of **The Rumour**, which yielded two albums–_**
Three Chords Good**_ and _**Mystery Glue**_ – hailed by critic **Stephen Thomas 
Erlewine** as “the rare reunion that simultaneously looks back while living in the
present.”  

The reformed band would again dissipate, but **Parker**‘s ambitions and creative
drive remained undimmed. Against the backdrop of recorded and onstage celebrations
of the 40th Anniversary of _**Squeezing Out Sparks**_, **Graham** has been crafting
new material and pursuing a new direction. It was first heard on his 2018 debut 
for the UK’s **100% Records**, _**Cloud Symbols**_, introducing  the new backing
band **The Goldtops** and highlighted by the return of the **Rumour Brass**.  The
new renaissance gains even more momentum as **Big Stir Records** welcomes **Parker**
to our roster with the new album _**Last Chance To Learn The Twist**_. On the other
side of an uncharacteristic break from the road in deference to the global pandemic,**
Graham Parker** has delivered an eclectic, reflective stew of soul, rock and blues
fusions bursting with tasty, rootsy grooves and shot through with (as one song title
has it) “Wicked Wit” in his classic style.  

Listeners have already been treated to a tease of the playfulness that **Parker **
has brought to bear on the new record with the reggae-inflected single “Them Bugs”
and the positively giddy wordplay of its galloping non-album B-side “The Ologist
Song,” and the devastatingly emotive followup “We Did Nothing” is set to follow 
in early July. The album they herald is one of remarkable depth even by the lofty
standards of **Graham Parker**‘s catalogue. _**Last Chance To Learn The Twist**_
is due this September from **Big Stir Records**, and we can’t wait to bring it to
you.

Pre-order the album here: [https://orcd.co/grahamparker-lctltt](https://orcd.co/grahamparker-lctltt).
Check out Graham Parker’s other albums here: [https://bigstirrecords.com/graham-parker](https://bigstirrecords.com/graham-parker).

**Social Media:**
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/ItsGrahamParker) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/GrahamParkerOfficial/)
| [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/user/grahamparkerofficial) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/6c8INA1EQQe9TkukfEdiCA?autoplay=true)

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