A lovely song about the isolation of a small town. Parker is another one of these terrific performers/songwriters who has only had marginal commercial success over the years. However, 2012 could finally be his year. Parker will be a pivotal part of Judd Apatow’s new film “This is Forty,” which is a sort-of-sequel to “Knocked Up,” this time focusing on Paul Rudd’s and Leslie Mann’s characters. Should be great.
Dave's Strange World 
Honestly the thought of a “sort of sequel” to “Knocked Up” brings a little vomit to the back of my mouth. If I ever make it back to your fine country Apatow, Rogen & (why not ?) Cera should watch their backs..
I was around when Costello, Jackson & Parker were the stars of Brit New Wave. I saw them all & the Rumour were a fine night out. An ill-judged tour, when they were playing a set that was 3 years old, saw Southside Johnny & the Asbury Dukes blow them away & the band lost some momentum. I did see them play the “Squeezing Out Sparks”/”Up Escalator” tunes & it was great but no-one new was listening.
Parker’s music does not seem to be held in the same affection that some other less deserving artists are. It would be good to see him get more attention but I doubt if the deluxe expanded re-releases will be coming any time soon.
Ah well. You got me digging out “Empty Lives” for a re-run.
I got into Parker around the mid-late 1980s. Back then, his pre-Sparks albums (at least in America) were all out of print and very difficult to find. It took me a while, but I gradually tracked down all of them and liked them a lot. However, my opinions on his early albums have changed over the years. “Heat Treatment” was my favorite back in the day, but these days I’m now leaning towards “Stick to Me.” I lived in upstate NY back in the late 1990s early 2000s and Parker used to perform in the area a lot with local punk/alternative band The Figgs (Parker had settled down an hour or so away and the Figgs were local legends). I never saw any of those gigs, but heard they were pretty good.