Whoever owned this before me wrote "Bumpers" in black felt pen on the front of the album, on the back cover, and on both sides of the record itself. So yeah, it was a pain in the ass trying to figure out how to remove most of the ink. I was pretty proud of myself, in that I was able to make it hardly visible on the front and back of the jacket. I had a defaced Wishbone Ash album, I applied my newfound knowledge and proceeded to nearly ruin the cover.
Anyway, I dropped the dollar because I wanted to get "Cruel to Be Kind," a song I knew from back in the day, and if there was more than one good song it was all bonus. After all, it's not like I had a lot of his stuff. Although I was super close to picking up Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure when it came out. My only other point of reference was Party of One back in 1990 because I really liked "All Men Are Liars," which still cracks me up, and that's the truth.
Oddly enough, the guys he'd later form Rockpile with were here supporting Nick on the album. Dave Edmunds on guitar, and Terry Williams on drums before he joined Dire Straits in 1982, replacing Pick Withers. Huey Lewis played harmonica on "Born Fighter," and Elvis Costello, who by 1979 was a pretty big deal, sang on "American Squirm." Nick produced the album himself, and the songs are all handled with a nice touch, with that classic rockabilly vibe running through many of the tracks. It's interesting that it would be Dave Edmunds who'd take the Stray Cats to their biggest success with his production when it was Nick Lowe who produced Rockpile (along with Edmunds, Williams and guitarist Billy Bremner).
Considering the album kicks off with the one song I knew, I was kind of worried this would be a straight drop into the shitter, but my goodness this was really good. I mean, really good - to the point where I kind of regret not being more in the loop when it came out. If I'm being truthful, "Cruel to Be Kind" was always an oddball song for me. I also didn't know it was written with Ian Gomm. "Ian who?" you ask. Ian Gomm, from Gomm with the Wind. It was good, but there was also something a little irritating about it if taken as a straight pop song. I somehow suspect Mr. Lowe was playing a long game and that it was a tongue-in-cheek reworking of the classic mid-'70s love song.
The album walks a line between classic-sounding pop with a touch of rockabilly energy, infused with that first infectious run of British new wave. This caught me off guard. I really wasn't expecting it to be so good. "American Squirm" is a kissing cousin to "Cruel to Be Kind" and confirms the cheeky nature of his big hit. He follows it with the stripped-down "You Make Me," which is simply wonderful. Side one closes out with a really cool mid-tempo rocker that showcases the interplay between Lowe and Edmunds. So far this has been a really pleasant surprise. I'm going to play this side again before turning it over so I can just sit and listen before moving on to side two.
Side two kicks off with "Switch Board Susan," which has a real Moon Martin "Doctor Doctor" vibe to it. The only issue now with a song like this is trying to explain what a switchboard is, and what an actual operator did. So far, this is a really good start. Let's see where the rest of the side takes me.
Well, the other songs are enjoyable. They're serviceable, mid-tempo, rockabilly-infused rockers that are just fine, but they didn't do much to lift themselves out of the grooves. "Switch Board Susan" still comes out on top for me, but at least there's nothing here that makes me want to jam a pencil into my ears and yell for someone to "make it stop!"
This was a killer score for a buck, and frankly I have to thank "Bumpers" for devaluing the album, as the vinyl was in mint condition. Funny, I picked this up for one song and got an entire album of pop magic that had more depth and punch than the song that inspired me to get the album in the first place.
This was a killer score for a buck, and frankly I have to thank "Bumpers" for devaluing the album, as the vinyl was in mint condition. Funny, I picked this up for one song and got an entire album of pop magic that had more depth and punch than the song that inspired me to get the album in the first place.
It's too bad the cover - and I'm not talking about "Bumpers'" contribution - is so boring. I guess those who liked Nick Lowe were all over this, but to the casual fan, like me, this was a hard pass. I'm not quite sure this would have fit into the mix for me if I'd gotten this one when it came out. I suspect a lot of it would have gone over my head and I would have looked for the songs with the hooks and lots of guitars, and I'm sure a couple of the songs would have made mixtapes. At the time, though, "Cruel to Be Kind," a song I've mentioned several times in just a few paragraphs, was not a song I actually liked that much. Think Joe Jackson syndrome more than anything.
In the end, it was waiting for me to catch up. I'm making up for lost time.
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