Chris Parry


As he often did, Chris Parry scooped up a handful of demos from the never decreasing pile in his office to take home for the weekend and give a good listen. The Polydor Records A&R man had a keen ear for the fresh sounds emerging in the aftermath of punk. He was convinced the punk movement would reshape contemporary music.

Having been asked by his boss at Polydor Records to check out punk rock, Parry became hooked on the vibrant new sounds. He wanted to sign the movement’s central London groups The Clash and The Sex Pistols, whom he plied with booze, racked up on the company credit card.

The first single by The Jam, the band signed and co-produced by Chris Parry in 1977
Chris Parry and The Cure's Robert Smith in Los Angeles in 1987
Chris Parry, The Cure's Robert Smith and US Elektra East Coast Head of A&R, Howard Thompson
In-Sect in Upper Hutt circa 1965: Wayne Mason, Martin Hope, Chris Parry and Cass Gascoigne
Photo credit: Martin Hope collection
One of the strangest records in the Chris Parry story is this reggae record released as Chris Parie. So the story goes, Chris Parry and The Fourmyula's Carl Evensen recorded demos for an Evenson solo record which never eventuated. The demos found their way to this small label, part of the Trojan group, who – without Parry's knowledge – remixed it and issued it.
Chris Parry, The Cure's Robert Smith and US Elektra East Coast Head of A&R, Howard Thompson
The Fourmyula circa 1970 with Chris Parry in front
Photo credit: Photo by Sal Criscillo
The Cure's debut single Killing An Arab b/w 10.15 Saturday Night was the first Fiction single but was initially released via indie Small Wonder in December 1978 as Chris Parry was still with Polydor. Two months later it was reissued as the first single on Fiction.
Chris Parry in 1985
Chris Parry in 1969
Photo credit: Photo by Revelle Jackson. Upper Hutt City Library [P1-3444-5834]
The Cure in Wellington, 1980
Photo credit: David MacLennan collection
Chris Parry, second from rear, leaving court in 1994 with The Cure after a dispute with former Cure member Lol Tolhurst
The Cure with manager Chris Parry, Stunn Records owner Terry Condon (third from right) and Stunn's Trevor Reekie (right) backstage at Auckland's Town Hall, 1981.
Labels:

HMV


Polydor


Fiction

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