nick lowe Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Wreckless Eric “Whole Wide World”

sfilzen — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 21:36:21 +0000

Wreckless Eric “Whole Wide World” b/w “Semaphore Signals” 1977. Stiff Records. Two songs of rough, crusty power pop perfection. “Whole Wide World” features Nick Lowe on guitar and bass; he also produced the track. “Semaphore Signals” has Ian Dury producing and playing drums. Neither track charted though in subsequent years “Whole Wide World” would become hailed as one of the best singles from the late 70′s in the punk/power pop genre and also was covered by a series of alternative artists including Paul Westerberg, Cage the Elephant and The Wedding Present.

Runoff groove Side A: “STIFF RECORDS – WRECKLESS ERIC WE’RE NOT THE SAME HE’S NOT THE SAME” and Side B: “SEMAPHORLY YOURS – ERIC”

The post Wreckless Eric “Whole Wide World” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

The Damned “Damned Damned Damned”

sfilzen — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 12:04:33 +0000

The Damned “Damned Damned Damned” released 40 years ago today, February 18th, 1977. (Also today is Damned founding member and guitarist Brian James’ birthday, b. 1955). Stiff Records. Produced by Nick Lowe. I blogged about this album a year ago, but figured a 40th anniversary is important so doing a bit of cut-n-paste here.

Damned Damned Damned is the band’s debut full-length release and it reached #36 on the UK charts. (It’s also credited as the first British punk album release in the 70′s.) It’s a true classic punk album: messy, funny, fast and loud (the LP label states “made to be played loud at a low volume” – probably due to relatively low production value). So many great tracks like “Neat Neat Neat,” “Fan Club,” “Stab Yor Back,” “New Rose,” the Stooges’ “I Feel Alright” and the foray into the dark-n-creepy goth sound on “Feel The Pain.”

I wrote about seeing The Damned play live in a previous blog post, but the story is amusing enough to repeat here. We went to The Damned show at The Rave in Milwaukee in either ‘98 or ‘99. Captain Sensible was walking around the venue pre-performance so we decided to talk to him, but Joe didn’t want to have a typical fan-musician encounter so instead opted to ask how tall he was (both men are on the tall side). A bit taken aback, Captain Sensible said “Blimey!” and having no idea who was taller, they stood back-to-back. It was Captain Sensible, by a bit.

The post The Damned “Damned Damned Damned” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Nick Lowe “Labour of Lust”

sfilzen — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 20:05:36 +0000

Nick Lowe “Labour of Lust” released this date, June 9th, 1979. This LP is the US release, with the excellent and relentlessly poppy “American Squirm” included which replaced the weepy, haunting, country-infused “Endless Grey Ribbon” on the UK version. Dave Edmunds and Rockpile back Lowe on this classic power popping new wave record; in fact Labour of Lust was recorded simultaneously with Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary.

“Cruel To Be Kind” appears on Labour of Lust, Lowe’s only US hit. The single made it to #12 in the US and the UK. Its video was among the first to be aired on MTV and includes footage from Lowe’s actual wedding to Carlene Carter.

The post Nick Lowe “Labour of Lust” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Rockpile “Seconds of Pleasure”

sfilzen — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 15:39:07 +0000

Rockpile “Seconds of Pleasure” 1980. Today, April 15th, is Rockpile guitarist/vocalist/pianist Dave Edmunds’ birthday (b. 1944). After playing in a few bands and playing solo throughout the 60′s and 70′s, Edmunds collaborated with Nick Lowe and formed Rockville, along with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams, playing “rip-roaring, rampaging rock-n-roll” live in the late 70′s and then recorded Seconds of Pleasure. The band split soon after due to management problems.

Seconds of Pleasure reached #27 on the US Billboard pop chart, the sweet single “Teacher Teacher” (a Gene Chandler cover) hitting #51 in 1981. The album is classic pop rock-n-roll, including a cover of original rockin’ rhythm and bluesman Chuck Berry’s “Oh What a Thrill.” Reviewers and critics always categorize Rockpile into rock-n-roll and pub rock but also add in the tags of new wave and punk. I can’t say that I agree with those last two labels (though “When I Write the Book” is new wave-ish in the Nick Lowe/Elvis Costello vein I suppose), this is straight-up fun and rollicking traditional rock.

The post Rockpile “Seconds of Pleasure” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.