ALBUMS: The Rose of England (1985); Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit (1984);
Nick the Knife (1982); Pure Pop for Now People (1978);
MVC Rating: Rose 4.0/$$; Cowboy 3.5/$$; Knife 3.5/$$$; Pop 4.5/$$$.
The best Nick Lowe album on this list is the oldest — Pure Pop for Now People, a minor classic of smart rock popcraft ‘So it Goes’ kicks off the album and sets its tone with a little bemoan alongside a rock and roll beat. Then comes (I Love the Sound of) Breaking Glass and we’re off to the races.
A song about ‘Marie Prevost a silent film star who soared but died in poverty of acute alcohol poisoning has this line: ‘ “She was a winner who became the doggies’ dinner.’
So it goes indeed.
The Rose of England is good, even if Nick resurrects for the umpteenth time the song: (I knew the bride) When She Used to Rock and Roll. The song seems (to me anyway) to be about Carlene Carter and Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds who were both playing on her record at the time and both men have recorded versions of that song. Nick and Dave were frequent collaborators. Nick married Carlene.
But see the Edmunds/Carter video in the Carter post to see if you don’t see some old flame sparks — kinda like the song.
So a Lowe album that’s better than three out of four of these is ‘Labor of Lust’ which my brother had, and I never bought because i played his so much. Rockpile’ ‘Seconds of Pleasure’ is a classic album I’ll be reviewing later. The group featured Edmunds and Lowe.