Here's a link to AllMusic's blog entry about the upcoming reissue of Nick Lowe's 1978 album Jesus of Cool, aka Pure Pop For Now People.
http://blog.allmusic.com/2008/2/15/they-called-it-rock-nick-lowes-jesus-of-cool-gets-the-reissue-this-pure-pop-classic-deserves/
I can't wait to get my copy! I just started getting into Nick Lowe after At My Age came out last year, and unfortunately, most of his solo albums are out of print. I can only hope that Yep Roc will continue reissuing his old albums. (Though I hope they don't wait for the 30th anniversary of each album!) So I've only heard the Jesus of Cool songs that appear on Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe, an excellent compliation that dates from 1989 and covers 7 Lowe albums, all out of print!
If you don't know who Nick Lowe is, go out and buy Basher and At My Age and Jesus of Cool, and go start a blog, and don't rest until everyone knows how great Nick is! He's a terrific singer/songwriter in the Ray Davies/Paul McCartney style. If you don't know who Ray Davies is, he's the lead singer and songwriter of the Kinks, go out and buy Kink Kronikles, The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society, Face to Face, and Other People's Lives. If you don't know who Paul McCartney is, I really can't help you out. Anyway, Nick is a writer of very melodic songs that are like little short stories. He's very clever and witty, if you like music with some intelligent lyrics, you'll like him. While I'm at it, if you like these guys, you'll also love Alan Price. Go out and buy O Lucky Man! and Between Today and Yesterday.
Oh, man, Mark, you hit all my faves in one post!! Not only Ray and Nick, but Paul McCartney too? And you just had to throw in Alan Price as well -- now that's a little freaky.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear how you like Jesus of Cool because in my opinion Nick Lowe's best stuff is the quirky little tracks that aren't so well known -- that's when his sly humor really takes off. Basher is just the tip of the iceberg!
I'm with you, Mark. I usually purchase my music nowadays in MP3 format, but for Jesus Of Cool I'll wait in line at Best Buy!
ReplyDeleteYou're going to love it, guaranteed.
May want to check out some Dave Edmunds as well, particularly "Get It" and "Repeat When Necessary".
I agree, we all need to start blogs dedicated to Lowe and scream his name from the rooftops until the punters finally take notice. Or, do we want to save him for ourselves? Our little secret society of Loweheads?
Hmmnnnn...