Philip OKeefe Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I was listening to "Cruel To Be Kind" last night... is this the perfect pop single? Okay, there's a TON of great pop singles and I've been known to say the same thing about other ones (Beach Boys "God Only Knows" comes to mind. So does Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields)... but anyway, I am getting distracted. What a great song that is! Cool acoustic guitars, killer solo (was that Dave or was it Billy Bremmer or was it Nick?), perfect lyrics, great vocal execution - including the harmonies... and an AMAZING hook. Any Nick Lowe fans out there? Favorite songs? Favorite album? Did you dig Rockpile? How about Little Village? Let's talk about Nick behind his back for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside studios Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Good call, Phil. Quick thoughts: Nick Lowe's written some great pop songs, as well as things like The Beast in Me for Johnny Cash.I love the acoustic guitars in Cruel to be kind, Great production, Ditto the piano in Breaking Glass. Rockpile were a hoot live, not so on record in my opinion. Little Village promised so much (what a lineup!) but didn't deliver. His production of Elvis Costello stuff was great. An all-rounder, journeyman musician. Wonder what he's up to now.... Big Hat. No Cattle. http://www.theshrinks.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Oh boy - LOVE Nick Lowe. Yeah, "Cruel To Be Kind" is definitely one of those perfect pop singles. Another of my fave songs of his in that vein is "American Squirm." And Rockpile just killed... "Teacher Teacher," how's that for a perfect pop song? My band actually covers quite a few Lowe/Rockpile songs and we get compared to them all the time. We do "Heart of the City," "Without Love" (another fave of mine), "Sweet Little Lisa," and "A Love So Fine" quite a bit. Definitely a great underrated songwriter and band! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddits Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I know I may be just a cat, but I saw Nick Lowe sing live at an intimate little club a few years ago. Seemed like a hip dude. lots of hair. Good show. Dooby Dooby Doo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpel Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Nick's more recent (90s) albums are reallt terrific: Party of One, Dig My Mood, etc. If anything he's gotten better as a songwriter. As for my favorites, how about one oldie and one newie? Oldie: What's so Funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding, of course. Newie: All Men Are Liars (from Party of One). It's a perfect song. Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Thanks Magpel, I'll have to check out Party Of One. I've heard some of Dig My Mood and was pretty impressed. Lee, how'd I know you would be a Nick fan? Would love to finally get to see you guys do some of that stuff live - as always, you KNOW I'm a big fan of WT...? Yeah, I think Nick never got as big as he deserved to be... and he does seem like he'd be a fun guy to hang out with. Very underated cat - sorry Duddits, I know you're just a cat, but there's other cats too How cool for you that you got to see him in a nice small venue and had a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songrytr Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Originally posted by Lee Flier: Another of my fave songs of his in that vein is "American Squirm." And Rockpile just killed... "Teacher Teacher," how's that for a perfect pop song?Oh man, I was gonna mention "Teacher Teacher." Been too long since I've heard that one. And how about Rockpile's take on "Almost Saturday Night"? *Sweet* Lee, sounds like you have a pretty fun band! this house is empty now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Songrytr, I replied over on the Keyboard thread too... what threads was I gonna start? New Tape Smell in a Can and, what was the other one? I forgot. Gotta run - got multiple keyboard takes to go listen to / choose from, from this really cool cat who was in the studio layin' it down tonight... See ya tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Phil... Buddy. Pal. My man. Your PMs are FULL! I've sent you at least two emails in the last couple weeks, and I'm not so sure you're receiving them. Is your ssrstudio.com email account working??? What's goin' on, bud? https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted February 11, 2004 Author Share Posted February 11, 2004 Originally posted by Bunny.: Phil... Buddy. Pal. My man. Your PMs are FULL! I've sent you at least two emails in the last couple weeks, and I'm not so sure you're receiving them. Is your ssrstudio.com email account working??? What's goin' on, bud? Yeah, that's it, or direct to pokeefe777@msn.com Get this - I've got the studio mail forwared to my main email addy (listed above). Out of the blue, Hotmail / MSN decides to tell me that I've exceeded my mailbox size limit... and I've got to ditch a BUNCH of old stuff because stuff's apparently getting bounced. End up having to toss tons of stuff - like they shrank my box size or something. Plus, I'm gettin' about 200+ copies of that dang 32 KB worm per day, clogging up my junk mail folder - which apparently goes towards the account size limit, so things have been getting lost. You can always call me Bunny - you'ev got the numbers still, right? They're not exactly hard to locate if you don't. Wassup? Oh PS - I'll try to clear out the PM box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 Hi, Phil! Ah, the relief! I'll re-send my email via the msn address. Sounds like yer gettin' screwed, my friend. I wonder how many other emails you have missed in the last month? Has msn cost you some business??? https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lash Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 "The Impossible Bird" is one of my all time faves. Start to finish, it's a gem. Prozak for Lovers II -- even more trouble than the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I, too, always think of "Cruel To Be Kind" as one of those perfect pop songs. Nick starts with a bang, gets right to the point with no filler, and gets out a few minutes. Everything about it so "right": the clever lyrics, the huge hook, the big beat, the big jangly guitars, a tight arrangement, the guitar solo (I think it's Billy Bremner), even the "ooh-ooh-ooh" vocal harmonies that set up the guitar solo. What's not to love? Look at other songs on Lowe's first 2 albums: "So It Goes", "Dose of You", "Marie Provost", "Cracking Up", "Switchboard Susan", "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass", etc. That could be good output over 10 years, and it was Nick just getting started. I never really warmed up to Little Village. I have the CD...maybe it's time for another listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 True...great pop tunes. I also liked the occasional foray close to country..."Endless Gray Ribbon" is a tune that comes to mind. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roto Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 I love Nick Lowe! Little Village was better on John Hiatt's "Bring the Family" (recently rereleased on 5.1 SACD!) even though they were just serving as studio musicians. That album is what started Little Village. I agree "Party of One" was a fun, goofy album. All Men are Liars had one of my favorite lyrics. Well, do you remember Rick Astley? He had a big fat hit. It was ghastly. He said "I'm never gonna give you up or let you dow-ow-own," But I'll tell you now, that Dick's a clown. Though he was just a boy when he made that vow, I'm betting on all that he knows by now All men are liars... He has better albums than Party of One, but none as funny. It's just inconsistent, but it grew on me pretty quickly. Impossible Bird he started getting a lot more country, and he's damn good at that too. I haven't heard his two albums since, I'll have to seek them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 'She was a winner, that became the doggie's dinner...' Yeah I absolutely love Nick and Rockpile! Lee, do you play the Albert part on 'Sweet Little Lisa?' I saw Rockpile in the late 70s and the next day I was out buying every Nick and Dave album available and ordering the rest. Wow, what a band! -David http://www.garageband.com/artist/MichaelangelosMuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLsound Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 One of my faves: "I knew the bride (When she used to Rock and Roll)" How true that was. I think back on old friends, and how they are now. Jim http://www.artistlaunch.com/artist4.asp?artistid=3633 http://www.myspace.com/jlockmusic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Originally posted by DC: Lee, do you play the Albert part on 'Sweet Little Lisa?' Well I don't totally try to cop Albert. I try and do my own thing on it, but I do throw in a couple of Albert licks just to keep it real! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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