The official discography is rather slim, three albums under their own name, and a handful of Graham Parker albums (Howlin' Wind through to The Up Escalator, though Bob Andrews was gone by that stage) but pub rock veterans The Rumour turn up in all sorts of places thanks to their status as the Stiff Records equivalent of Stax's Booker T & The MGs.
An introduction
Discography:
Punk they weren't, New Wave perhaps, but Brinsley Schwarz survivors Bob Andrews (keyboards) and Brinsley Schwarz (guitar) rhythm section Andrew Bodnar and Steve Goulding from an outfit called Bontemps Roulez, and Ducks Deluxe guitarist Martin Belmont were, to me anyway, more or less the British equivalent of The Band or Little Feat, though they lacked a Robbie Robertson or Lowell George to craft distinctive original material.
Having emerged as Parker's backing band on Howlin' Wind the outfit, in various permutations and combinations, worked with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Carlene Carter and Garland Jeffreys, with Bodnar and Goulding looking after rhythm section duties on Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives.
1977's Max (a nod of the head to Fleetwood Mac for Rumours, much the same as the David Bowie/Nick Lowe intersection of Low and Bowi) was followed by a quirky take on the European Union (among other things) on Frogs Sprouts Clogs and Krauts before Andrews departed in 1979. The remaining quartet recorded Purity of Essence and Parker's The Up Escalator before calling it quits though individual members worked with Parker at various points in his solo career.
A revival of interest around the release of the Parker documentary Don't Ask Me Questions, a reunion for GP's Three Chords Good and a performance scene in the Judd Apatow film This Is 40 and a subsequent concert video (This Is Live) rounds out The Rumour discography, though one needs to flesh things out as we establish the details of that late seventies session work.
Summary
File under:
Discography:
In the music library:
Links: Official web site Twitter Facebook
Iconic.
Essential.
Outstanding.
Interesting.
Intriguing.
Significant.
Obscure.