Basher

Nick Lowe

1989: Demon/Columbia CK 45313

1. So It GOes
2. Heart of the City
3. (I Love the Sound of) Breaking Glass
4. Little Hitler
5. No Reason
6. 36 Inches High
7. Marie Provost
8. American Squirm
9. Cracking Up
10. Big Kick, Plain Scrap
11. Born Fighter
12. Switch Board Susan
13. Without Love
14. Cruel To Be Kind
15. When I Write the Book
16. Heart
17. Raging Eyes
18. Time Wounds All Heels
19. Maureen
20. Half a Boy & Half a Man
21. 7 Nights to Rock
22. She Don’t Love Nobody
23. The Rose of England
24. I KNew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ’n’ Roll)
25. Lovers Jamboree

What a tasty and diverse dish! His recordings aren’t bad either.

I’d been quite belatedly introduced to “And So It Goes” (quite independently of Linda Ellerbee’s very enjoyable memoir) by way of the “cool” Muzak (it may not be “easy listening” crap but it’s still programmed filler, and I prefer the sponteneity aspect of a real live DJ or the choices of the people in person) at my local pub in 2006, and I finally decided to give Lowe a shot after all these years of him being as oddly absent on my musical canvas as are Roxy Music, The Who, much of Bowie’s stuff, etc. The big surprise for me was that even though most of these tracks are pretty much fluff lyrically (or indulgently obscure on un-profound themes in a very 1970s prog-rock way), many of them are actually quite enjoyable to listen to (if you don’t dwell on their content, of course).

It helps if you like Rockabilly…and if you have a taste for the Brit Rockabilly Wannabe such as the Stray Cats capitalized on, because it’s here in conspicuous doses. That it’s not wholly representative of Lowe’s catalogue is a great relief to confirm with the juxtaposition of tracks such as the drug-themed “Big Kick, Plain Scrap” and “So It Goes,” but there is a LOT of affected twang here.

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Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.