Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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So I picked this up the other day and it is as fantastic as I'd hoped. The only irony? When I ripped it into my iTunes, it comes up as 'Pure Pop For Now People' as the title!! All these years of wanting 'Jesus of Cool' and its still coded by the U.S. title!!
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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pophead2k wrote:So I picked this up the other day and it is as fantastic as I'd hoped. The only irony? When I ripped it into my iTunes, it comes up as 'Pure Pop For Now People' as the title!! All these years of wanting 'Jesus of Cool' and its still coded by the U.S. title!!
The double-disc vinyl version is a gatefold and if you open it up, there's the cover of Pure Pop For Now People on the inside. You could, if you wished, fold it inside out and have the US version. Very clever! Love having the larger artwork for this one - one of my favorite album covers of all time.
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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http://popdose.com/the-popdose-guide-to-nick-lowe/

Excellent profile of Nick, along with lots of downloads to some obscure tracks.
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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So It Goes on current Word comp - I know that song well but never knew it was Nick Lowe. He sounds so fake American on it, far more than Elvis. It's very Thin Lizzy influenced (Dancing In The Moonlight).
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Oh, eat a booger Westinghouse!

Brilliant song! B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T.

In fact, to expose my petite bourgeoisie tendency (ies), I put it on my car. Took me 3 years to think of, and it honors two of my favorite people and makes fun of the people who think minivans ain't cool.

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Never said I didn't like it. It's good, but it ain't This Year's Model. I'm kinda tempted to get the Jesus of Cool reissue though, a) cos I loved I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass at the time and would like to again and b) so I can find more reasons to wind up Moody.
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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It's good, but it ain't This Year's Model
Thank god.

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Everyone just needs to fuckin’ relax. Smoke more weed, the world is ending.
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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One of the best things about reissues isn't the "lost tracks" or the variations on the theme. It is that they force the original recording back to the 'front burner', and they remind you of the great feelings that are tethered to the songs, anchored somewhere in the past but still relevant today (if we are talking about good music).

This was a great record when it was released, and great to hear again. But truth be told, it ain't in league with TYM, and of equal or greater import, I don't think it holds a match to Labour of Lust, which remains my fav.

Why do songs like Green Shirt and Big Kick, Plain Scrap carry so much weight in memory? Simple melodies, great sound. When you listen to the recent release of TYM re-release with the live recording of Elvis around the release of TYM, the Lowe influence is so clearly obvious. How many of the tunes start with a Lowish intro?


Most.

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

Post by bambooneedle »

Nick Lowe is on Letterman tonite!
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

Post by laughingcrow »

It's great to have the album in that packaging....really good stuff. UK tour please!!! :D
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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http://theseconddisc.com/2011/01/13/low ... -in-march/

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Lowe’s “Labour” Not Lost: Reissue Due in March

Written by Joe Marchese

January 13, 2011


Nick Lowe
never was lacking in confidence. The former Brinsley Schwarz bassist/vocalist had already defined pub-rock as a member of that band, and did much the same for the burgeoning punk movement as producer of Elvis Costello’s first albums. Now he was in the forefront of the so-called “new wave” vanguard, and Lowe realized there was little he couldn’t do. Armed with hubris but with tongue firmly planted in cheek, he named his 1978 Radar Records (U.K.) debut Jesus of Cool. Its artwork depicted him in various musical get-ups: hippie, folkie, greaser. (When Lowe’s American record label, Columbia, got cold feet about its title, the album was renamed Pure Pop for Now People, still making a grand if totally appropriate claim.) With Brinsley Schwarz, side project Rockpile and on his own, Lowe evinced his mastery of the three-minute song, deciding which pop/rock style would best suit each LP; he touched most stylistic bases on Jesus.

For its 1979 follow-up, Labour of Lust, Lowe embraced the rootsy pub-rock sound he perfected with Brinsley Schwarz, but still largely contained himself to the snappy, melodic song form again. The result provided Lowe with his only American hit, the sparkling and taut “Cruel to Be Kind.” The able instrumental support of his Rockpile mates saw that every song had a crisp sheen and the album had more of a band flavor than its predecessor. News has arrived that Labour of Lust is due for reissue on March 14 in the U.K. from Proper Records, with an American release likely to follow on the Yep Roc label. Labour follows the expanded Jesus of Cool, released in 2008 with ten additional songs augmenting the original eleven-track lineup, and Quiet, Please: The New Best of Nick Lowe, a comprehensive CD/DVD anthology from 2009. The wait has been a long one, especially as most of Lowe’s solo catalogue is out-of-print and in great need of upgrade. But if these past projects are any indication, the wait will have been worth it. Hit the jump for more on Nick’s Labour!

Labour of Lust was recorded simultaneously with Dave Edmunds’ Swan Song LP, Repeat When Necessary, and took full advantage of Rockpile’s tight combo sound. (If anybody reading this isn’t familiar with Rockpile’s sadly out-of-print Seconds of Pleasure, do yourself a favor: Stop reading and find a copy, post haste!) The Lowe/Edmunds scene was an incestuous one, anyway; Edmunds’ album featured a Brinsley Schwarz cover (“Home in My Hand”) and an Elvis Costello one (“Girls Talk”)!

While “Cruel to Be Kind” remains the standout track, Labour was filled with the quirky, slightly skewed songs for which Lowe was becoming known. “Without Love” would later receive a cover version by Johnny Cash, Lowe’s one-time father-in-law, and “Born Fighter” features future News frontman Huey Lewis on harmonica. Lowe also recorded perhaps the definitive cover of “Switchboard Susan” by pal Mickey Jupp, whom Lowe had produced for Stiff Records.

The Proper reissue features new liner notes by pub-rock historian Will Birch and a note from Gregg Geller, the A&R man at Columbia Records who first suggested to Lowe that he rework his “Cruel to Be Kind” (co-written with Ian Gomm). Lowe complied, and the rest is musical history! (The original, a Radar B-side in 1978, is included on the Jesus of Cool reissue, where Lowe describes it as written “with one ear on ‘The Love I Lost’ by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. As I reinvented myself as a thrusting New Waver, I was a bit embarrassed by the song.” He adds, “[When] Columbia records hove into view in the shape of Gregg Geller, he insisted – to my horror – that I record [it on my next album!]”)

“American Squirm,” on which Lowe is backed by Elvis Costello and The Attractions, is one of the two confirmed bonus tracks for this reissue; it originally appeared as a non-LP single (credited to “Nick Lowe and His Sound” and backed with Elvis’ recording of Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding?”)
and also on the album’s American release, replacing “Endless Grey Ribbon.” The B-side of “Cracking Up,” “Basing Street,” will also appear. No other bonus tracks have been announced at this time. The album will, of course, be remastered for this release. No pre-order link is yet available, but the track listing for the original LP and bonus tracks follows!

Nick Lowe, Labour of Lust (Radar RAD21 (UK)/, Columbia JC 36087 (US), 1979 – reissued Proper, 2011)

1. Cruel to Be Kind
2. Cracking Up
3. Bick Kick, Plain Scrap!
4. Born Fighter
5. You Make Me
6. Skin Deep
7. Switchboard Susan
8. Endless Grey Ribbon
9. Without Love
10. Dose of You
11. Love So Fine
12. American Squirm
13. Basing Street


Tracks 1-11 from Radar LP RAD 21 (UK)/Columbia LP JC 36087 (US), 1979
Track 12 from Radar single ADA 26 (UK)/Columbia LP JC 36087 (US), 1979
Track 13 from Radar single ADA 34 (UK), 1979
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

Post by Jack of All Parades »

That is nice to read. Looking forward to jettisoning my old cd for an enhanced and remastered version.
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Will be getting!
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Great interview with Nick about Labour of Lust, from the Yeproc website:

http://yeproc.com/news.php?articleId=72 ... ick%2BLowe
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

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Got my copy of "Labour of Lust" the remastered and expanded edition in the mail yesterday. It is beautiful- the remastering, graphics and new liner notes. The sound is exceptional and for the first time I can even hear EC's voice in the background of "American Squirm" clearly. The added track "Basing Street" is a revelation for me and its painted picture of abuse is chilling. This has always been one of my favorite 'pop' records and it has been lovingly restored. Is there a better pure 'pop' song than "Cruel to be Kind"? Who can resists such playful wordplay as demonstrated in the song lyric-"you say your love is bona fide, but that don't coincide"or "though you say you're my friend, I'm at my wit's end"? Just playful and fun.
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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

It is a lovely reissue package. Hats off to YepRoc. Here are a few photos I took of the vinyl version, which just sounds glorious...

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Re: Nick Lowe Reissues, Expands Jesus of Cool

Post by Emotional Toothpaste »

Cool. Would really like Rose of England or Pinker and Prouder than Previous to be remastered.
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