By the mid-70s, the music press had nominated so many New Dylans that the candidates could have colonised their own planet: or, at the very least, clubbed together and thrown an uncomfortable party for themselves. Springsteen took the accolades to the bank and Graham Parker bossed the critical consensus, but Elliott Murphy has to be among the most distinguished of those peers who fell through the cracks.
You’re talking about a man who won the friendship and encouragement of fellow New Yorker Lou Reed – a decidedly select club. Having recorded 1973’s Aquashow for Polydor, Murphy was advised by Reed to jump ship to RCA, for whom he recorded the two albums collated herein. Lost Generation, from 1975, should be warmly welcomed into any household that already devotes any shelf space to the aforementioned Springsteen and Parker. Roughneck romanticism and rueful reminiscences abound, dressed with Bowie-style pop culture namedrops (Warhol, Hendrix and Brian Jones within the first two songs alone) and solidly traditional, high-end, Rumouresque performances. The following year’s Night Lights, a camera-eye conclave of “junkies, pushers, pimps and hookers”, stalks the same street-poet territory that would later be visited by the likes of Willy DeVille, and includes Billy Joel, Doug Yule and Jerry Harrison among its supporting cast.
