Search - John Parr :: John Parr

Glad this one is available on CD

jeffrey343 | Plano, TX United States | 12/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album came out in 1984, and one of my friends bought it and made a tape for me. I played the tape quite a bit until it was stolen in '93. I've lost touch with my friend, and I thought I would never get to hear this cool music again, until this release finally became available on CD. There's plenty of great music that will probably never come out on CD, and I figured this would be one of the great albums to be overlooked, but it's here. Yeah!"Naughty Naughty" got some good airplay back in '84, and "Love Grammar" was on the radio some. But these are only two of the great songs on this CD. The whole CD is really good, with well-written and interesting songs written in the 80's hard-pop style with good keyboard and guitar work, as well as interesting lyrics that tell a story.I was thinking who I might be able to compare this too, and the best I can come up with is Foreigner. I could hear Foreigner perform some of these songs - John Parr does sound a little like Lou Gramm.John Parr did have a big hit with the theme from "St. Elmo's Fire" in '85 (I believe), and he released another CD a little later. The other CD didn't go anywhere, though - the tunes were not as catchy, and then he dropped from the scene. So this is one of those one-shot deals. If you're looking for good mid-80's hard pop, this is an excellent choice."

"If I had my own country, this would be the national anthem"

S | 01/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"That's what my girlfriend recently said to me while we were listening to John Parr's "Don't Leave Your Mark On Me." I have to agree. I can imagine it at the olympics. All the other countries are introduced with their bland and boring national anthems. And then...Don't Leave Your Mark On Me. That would be the ultimate. Actually, the song is quite good. As is the entire album. I wish I had owned this album in 1984, but I was pretty young and too busy listening to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to take notice. I probably shouldn't have been into "Naughty, Naughty" at that point anyway though. Nonetheless, I wish I had discovered John Parr's music sooner. I saw a couple of his videos last year and then discovered that he was the one who did the "Man in Motion" theme from St. Elmos Fire. After that I was intrigued and decided to buy the "John Parr" album, kind of just for kicks, so I could blast "Naughty, Naughty" and what have you. But I ended up really enjoying the album and getting into his music. After that I ended up purchasing all of his other albums as well. Sometimes they are available through various sellers here at Amazon.com.1986's "Running the Endless Mile" is a very underrated album. I guess it didn't do well commercially, which must by why some people tend to write it off. In my opinion, it's a more complete album than "John Parr". He showcases his versatility much more here. Parr also produced this album masterfully, and afterward went on to produce a lot of music for other artists. It's not as "in your face" as the "John Parr" album, but a great compliment to it and a very different look at Parr as a songwriter and musician. Also...there's another version of "Don't Leave Your Mark On Me" on this one - Mark II. It's a must if you're a fan of the first one, this is a completely different take on the song, and it's still quite awesome if I do say so. The 2 albums that followed are harder to find, but not too hard if you do some searching for them. 1992 brought "Man With a Vision" and 1996 "Under Parr". Both have some very classic stuff for any fan of John Parr. Lots of great songs on both albums. "Man With a Vision" has some classic John Parr rock songs along with a few more ballad like numbers. It also includes "Restless Heart" from the soundtrack for "The Running Man". Parr bares his soul in "Under Parr" with touching ballads like "We All Make Mistakes Sometimes" and "Tell Me Your Secrets". "Under Parr" is a little less rock n roll than his 80's work, but very much a favorite album of mine. Both of his 90's albums though include a few songs that make "Naughty, Naughty" look like it was written by Raffi. Songs like "Dirty Lovin'", "Killer on the Sheets" and "Hours, Minutes, and Sex" really bring that dirty attitude from the "John Parr" LP to another level. But he excells in that style, so they're great.Also in 1990, he was in "Paris" - a rock opera in which he played the title character.Listening to "Under Parr" you can kind of get the impression that it is his final album, since he comes accross and seeming happy and content with his life now. I say good for him. Though I'd really love to hear some new music from him, and would probably kill to see him in concert. I'm really surprised there isn't more about John Parr on the internet. Because it seems that those who do like him like him with a passion."

Outstanding !

80s Fan | Bucharest, Romania | 01/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first Parr's song I ever listened was of course, "Naughty, Naughty". There was in 1984 and was the first song on a tape continuing with Don Henley's "All she wants to do is dance", then Glenn Frey's "The heat is on". I discovered this CD here on Amazon, and just listening the samples I instantly got back in time.

Everybody interested on the culture of that decade, (but not only them!), should not miss this CD, as this is one of the most representative for what we might call "the sound of 80's": no computer-generated tones, no digitized voice, no stupid lyrics, no play-back. Only voice, guitars, synths and nice lyrics.

When you're talking about Huey Lewis, Rick Springfield, Foreigner or Def Leppard, you must also talk about John Parr. That is, it's pure 80's spirit!

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