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Rockpile 232

ALBUM: Rockpile (1980)

MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$$

I used to say that if I was limited to one album to play at a party it would be Dr. John’s Gumbo.

Swampy cajun with creole spices, a magical brew of traditional and current dance songs that, even if you can’t understand the words — are forced to dance by the driving zydeco beat. But guess what? In my experimental ‘sell-some-records’ mission linked here, It was one of the very first bought at my booth at the Alabama Record Collector’s Association. I think I sold it for $18. The price was good for me and the buyer. But, I’ve regretted it ever since.

But I had regrets about most I sold — and that’s why this was an experiment to see how I would handle, and how much money they could make. I sold 33 records for a little over $400.

So what I didn’t foretell was that I let go of a very useful album that could be played successfully at a party over and over again as if you had no other selections.

Now, if you’re paying attention you probably realize that you are in the Rockpile post. And you guessed it, it is the new successor to Dr. John. It was a one-album only gig for a couple successful musicians Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds

The album is a frothy brew of American rockabilly, and English pop helping push and shape the new genres of New Wave and Power Pop, who both have extensive catalogs of their solo work which this blog covers (HERE FOR EDMUNDS AND HERE FOR LOWE). The Rockpile album, as a listening experience, is a treasure. It’s kind of like Buddy Holly’s 20 greatest where there are no bad songs and even the sad ones make you happy.

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Nick Lowe — 357, 356, 355, 354


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.