Nick Lowe
Band members Related acts
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- Martin Belmont -- guitar (1984-)
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- Brinsley Schwarz - Kippington Village - Little Village - Live Stiffs - Rockpile
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Genre: pop Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Pure Pop for Now People Company: Columbia Catalog: 35329 Country/State: UK Year: 1976 Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: minor ring, edge and corner wear Available: 2 Catalog ID: 5024 Price: $8.00
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Having formed his first band with guitarist Brinsley Schwartz while still in high school, Nick Lowe stands as a gifted writer, a talented singer and bassist and an in-demand producer. In spite of widespread success in his native England and occasional brushes with American success, for all his
talents Lowe's never enjoyed much recognition in the States. After largely unsuccessful stints with
Kippington Market and Brinsley Schwartz (see separate entries), in 1975 Lowe turned his attentions to production work.
Having worked with Graham Parker, Lowe subsequently hooked up with Stiff Record's Jake Riviera, releasing Stiff's first single with 1976's
'So It Goes' b/w (Stiff catalog number ). Additional production work for a variety of Stiff
acts including Elvis Costello and The Damned led Lowe to strike out in pursuit of a solo career.
1.) So It Goes (NIck Lowe) - 2:29 (side
2)
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Genre: pop Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Interchords: An Interrogation of Nick Lowe Alias Nick the Knife Company: Columbia Catalog: AS 1400 Country/State: UK Year: 1982 Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: includes the iron on insert Available: 1 Catalog ID: 1321 Price: $25.00
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Released in
conjunction with his 1982 studio album "Nick
the Knife", "Interchords:
An Interrogation of Nick Lowe Alias Nick the Knife"
was a limited edition, promotional album intended for distribution to
record stations who could then edit the "conversation" to suit
local broadcast needs. The songs were interspersed with
marginally interesting discussions with the late music journalist Martha
Hume (including a segment on where the album title came from). The
compilation included snippets from seven tracks off the new studio album,
along with various previously released odds and ends, including Brinsley
Schwartz's '(What's
So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding'.
Hardly an essentially effort, but hardcore Lowe fans might be
interested in hearing it. 1.) They Called It Rock (NIck Lowe - Rockpile - Dave Edmunds) Taken off 1976's "Pure Pop For Now People", 'They Called It Rock' was easily one of the best things Lowe ever recorded. Always loved the dark and cynical vision of the music business, complete with record label name checks. Shame it was only a brief snippet of the tune. YouTube has a wonderful clip of Lowe and Rockpile playing the tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M91wP4dT-dQ rating: **** stars 2.) Burning - 2:04 One of the tracks off of "Nick the Knife", 'Burning' was a nice continuation of the pop-meets-new-wave mash-up he excelled at. The track also saw release as a single. rating: **** stars 3.) Heart Sweet, breezy, slightly Caribbean-tinged ballad also off of "Nick the Knife". Lovely backing vocals and the tune remains in Lowe's live repertoire to this day. rating: *** stars 4.) Couldn't Love You (Any More Than I Do) Another
"Nick the Knife" tune. Pretty retro sounding
ballad. Hume goes on and on about the Steve Nieve keyboard
solo. Personally I thought Terry Williams drumming stole the
show. rating:***
stars 'Let me Kiss You' was a glistening throwback to Lowe's prime pop form. The tune would have sounded right at home of "Jesus of Cool/Pure Pop For Now People". frankly it's the tune I would have tapped as a single. rating:**** stars
(side
2) Different, slightly loungy version of his "hit". Initially I thought it was lame, but it grows on you after a couple of spins. rating: *** stars 2.) (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding Yes, it's the song he's best know for, even though technical it's a Brinsley Schwartz track. Interesting to hear him talk about Elvis Costello appropriating the tune. rating: **** stars 3.) Marie Provost Personal favorite with some of the darkest lyrics he's ever recorded. rating: **** stars 4.) Stick It Where the Sun Don't Shine Musically 'Stick It Where the Sun Don;' Shine' was a rockabilly tune that sounded like it had fallen out of David Edmunds catalog, but the real joy on this one came in the form of Lowe's hysterical lyrics. What a great breakup tune. YouTube has a nice clip of Lowe performing the tune with Paul Carrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYM2irfKlZk rating: **** stars 5.) Too Many Teardrops (Nick Lowe- Carlene Carter) Nice, radio friendly ballad with a bouncy melody and some of those great Lowe and wife Carlene Carter lyrics. Always loved the backing vocals (for some remind they me of The Supremes). Squeeze rerecorded the tune for one of their albums. rating: **** stars 6.) Raining Raining Pretty, heartfelt Motown-ish ballad that was one of the album highlights. YouTube has a stark live performance of the song recorded in 1990 for The Late Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTCQdmIQong rating: **** stars 7.) So It Goes Another classic tune off of "Pure Pop For Now People" and one of the most commercial pop gems he ever wrote. YouTube has a wonderful clip of the song taken from a lip-synching performance on The Kenny Everett Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3jiCi7aFZE And if you ever doubted how good Lowe was live, here's a clip of Rockpile playing the tune in concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O4GagrfqO8 rating: ***** stars
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