Graham Parker’s Wife Produced and Directed His Music Video

“They absolutely silenced what I believe to be my finest album ever.” That’s what iconic English singer-songwriter Graham Parker had to say when major record firms refused to broadcast his 1992 album, Burning Questions. MTV, the music powerhouse at the time, refused to broadcast his tracks on their platform.

With his album stalled for lack of funds, he went to his wife, photographer Jolie Parker, for assistance. He essentially asked her to be his improvised cameraman, and she may have salvaged his career, or at the very least that record.

Graham Parker’s Wife Produced When Mtv Refuse To play

It’s sometime about 1991. Parker had recently completed his 12th studio album, Burning Questions, and had asked MTV through his record company, Capitol Records, to have it shown on their network. Their strategy was to create a video on their own and then have MTV broadcast it. MTV, however, declined. According to a September 1992 report in the Los Angeles Times, their argument was that their audience, all 63 million households, would not want to hear Parker’s songs. Parker was enraged by this.

“I became quite enraged at the thought that a record label now had to take the music to the video outlet—not the video,” he remarked of the process. The record companies wanted to take the audio and then approach the artist about making a video for them. He wants creative control over the visuals for the songs he composed. “I was really offended,” he continued.

As he said in another interview with Furious in July 2005, it felt as if someone had instructed him not to be innovative.He contacted a couple of directors in desperation, only to get identical reactions. So, in his rage-filled condition, he came up with an idea. He planned to have his wife tape videos for him.

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“I became enraged and went out and purchased a camera for $1,400 and forced my wife to work as the camera guy,” Parker recounted. “Learn how to utilize this,” he instructed. It wasn’t a huge ask for Jolie, however. She had been photographing her husband’s record covers since the 1980s, largely because he despised professional photography sessions.

So they went out to film a video for the album’s first track, ‘Release Me,’ in their New York garden. They finished the film for between $4,000 and $5,000, including editing. Parker recalls, “It was a lot of fun.” He gave the video back to Capitol. The hand-over resulted in nothing, but he made a statement. He also became a hero to many people in the music business and beyond for having the courage to do something like that.

Graham Parker’s Family Life with Wife and Kids

Parker had been married to his wife for a long time before she was forced to work as a makeshift videographer for him in 1991. They began dating before 1980, and he even wrote about her in ‘Jolie Jolie,’ a song from his 1980 album The Up Escalator.

Mark he’s a few photos of the Bench in Perivale Park , Graham Parker , his wife , Manager , few punters etc ..Best Steve pic.twitter.com/xHX8qqXM28

— ChelseaDagger (@MrChelseaDagger) November 16, 2020