After "Clang of the Yankee Reaper", Parks quit his day job at Warner Bros. and "retreated from further record interests, seeking the more gregarious plain-speaking of the film community…with no less satisfaction." He would spend the next several years and most of the 1980s focusing more on motion picture and television projects, writing scores for high-profile films, such as "Popeye", and serving as musical director for television programs such as "The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour", taking on as much work as he could to stay out of unemployment.