EP76 – Chris Parry – The man who signed The Jam + Record Producer + Boss – ”All around the world I’ve been looking for new, ooh, ooh” – Paul Weller Fan Podcast : Desperately Seeking Paul
Chris Parry was, once, the drummer of New Zealand band The Fourmyula who went on to work for Polydor in the UK – going on to sign The Jam in February 1977.
Chris first saw the band on 22nd January 1977, where they supported Bearded Lady at The Marquee in London (after Shane MacGowan had told him to check them out!). The band were signed for a £6,000 advance and 6% royalty rate which initially covered only the group’s first single, but Polydor quickly exercised an option to extend the contract to four years and four albums.
Chris has co-producer credits (with Vic Smith) on the first 2 albums – In the City and This is the Modern World along with the singles that came outside those album cycles – All around the World in 1977 and News of the World in 1978.
For All Mod Cons – the 3rd Album – Chris has Associate Producer credits on To Be Someone (Didn’t We Have A Nice Time), David Watts, It’s Too Bad and ‘A’ Bomb in Wardour Street.
In 1978, he left The Jam set up to create and run his own record label – Fiction Records – and signed The Cure (after hearing a demos of ‘10.15 on Saturday Night’ and ‘Boys Don’t Cry’). He managed The Cure until 1988 and Fiction released their music until 2001, when he sold the label to Universal Records.
Another couple of nice Weller related connections – in 1984, Chris produced an album by Tim Pope – Director of multiple music videos for The Style Council and was also MD of Radio Station – XFM from 1992-1998 with an amazing line up including Steve Lamacq, Mary Anne Hobbs, Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant, Zane Lowe and Gary Crowley (Paul did a session on his show in 1997 – I’ve added below).
Chris is also a man who loves adventure having travelled round the world in a yacht and crossed the Atlantic twice.
Chris Parry (left hand side) with The Jam
The Fourmyula – 1968-1971
Between 1968 and 1971 when they disbanded, Fourmyula had a string of hits unmatched by any other New Zealand group. Chris Parry was the drummer in the band.
You can hear music from the band on Spotify here
