His new "Loose Monkeys" is available only on the Web

Monday April 26, 1999

By MICHAEL EVANS, Special writer, The Oregonian

Elvis Costello was wrong.

The bugs aren't the ones taking over. It's the Internet.

While it hasn't happened overnight, more and more artists are pondering the new technology's potential in marketing their music. It's especially true for those who don't quite fit into the major label system.

If anyone seemed destined to sell wares outside the traditional music distribution system, it would be Graham Parker, a longtime critical darling (and commercial enigma).

The 48-year-old Englishman, a self-proclaimed "surly little fellow," has recorded domestically for at least seven labels since his brilliant R&B-tinged 1976 debut "Howlin' Wind," 20 albums ago.

So it comes as little surprise that for Parker's latest release, "Loose Monkeys," the scrappy singer/songwriter would opt to give this Internet thing a serious whirl. Available only through independent label Razor and Tie's Web site, "Loose Monkeys" is a treasure trove of previously unreleased tracks and acoustic demos. The vast majority of the disc's 20 tunes are culled from sessions during Parker's ill-fated and short-lived 1986 association with Atlantic Records. Though the dozen tracks included on "Monkeys" by no means resemble a finished album, plenty of promising ideas are on display: the gritty reggae of "Durban Poison," the spooky Motown soul of "There's a Ghost in My House" and the spiritually pondering pop of "Waiting for the Next World," plus other prize Parker pieces. Other music biz vets who also have cast their fates to the Net include: