    graham parker (born 18 november 1950) is an english singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular british band graham parker & the rumour. despite only moderate commercial success, parker's energetic performances - along with the wittily class-conscious spirit of his debut album howlin' wind - preceded the arrival of punk rock and new wave music. in addition, his quirky-blue-collar image is often believed to be a major influence on the public persona of many british musicians, most notably elvis costello, paul weller and joe jackson. ==life and career == ===early career (1960sâ1976)=== parker was born in london, england in 1950. after the arrival of the beatles, parker and some other 12/13 year olds, formed the deepcut three, soon renamed the black rockers. 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. by the time parker was 15 he was a fan of soul music, especially otis redding, and would go to dance clubs in the nearby towns of woking and camberley where there was a thriving appreciation of soul music, motown and ska. parker left chobham secondary modern school at the age of 16 and went to work at the animal virus research institute in pirbright, surrey, where he bred animals for foot-and-mouth disease research. at 18 years old he left the job and moved to [[guerns
1950_births English_New_Wave_musicians English_male_singers English_rock_guitarists English_rock_singers English_singer-songwriters Living_people Vertigo_Records_artists