Howlin' Wind
The cursive scrawl on the cover of Graham Parker's 1976 debut makes it look like it's calledHowlin' Wino, which is kind of appropriate; after all, this is rambunctious British pub rock at its finest. Though lumped in with the punk and new-wave movements owing to his connections with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, and Stiff Records honcho Dave Robinson, Parker comes off here more like an angry soul man. "Back to Schooldays" and "Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions" are searing indictments of the world around him; and though Parker's rage softens noticeably on the rakish "Silly Thing" and the achingly romantic "Gypsy Blood," it fuels even the positive musings of "Soul Shoes" (one of the greatest party songs of all time) and "Nothing's Gonna Pull Us Apart." And to think he was just warming up...--Dan Epstein