The “Golden Hits Of The 70s”
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NICK LOWE
“CRUEL TO BE KIND”
(Robert IAN GOMM, NICK LOWE)
Columbia 11018
No. 12 September 29, 1979
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He has worked with top-notch groups, written great songs, and recorded treasured tracks, but it’s his pro
ducing skills that have earned him his major success.
Bassist/guitarist Nick (b. Mar. 24, 1949, Wood church, Suffolk, England) grew up listening to Elvis and
dreaming of making ethereal rock and roll. The son of a Royal Air Force officer, he learned guitar and
organized a few bands with his school chum, guitarist Brinsley Schwarz. They were the Sounds 4 Plus 1,
Three’s a Crowd, and–with the addition of keyboardist Bob Andrews, keyboardist Barry Landerman, and
drummer Pete Whales in 1965–the Kippington Lodge. The band made some inroads and in the following
year recorded five failed singles for Parlophone. Pete and Barry dropped out in 1969, drummer Billy
Rankin was added, and the group renamed itself after their lead guitarist–Brinsley Schwarz.
Brinsley acquired a riotous reputation and became the centerpiece of the blooming British pub-rock
scene. They briefly appeared in DAVID ESSEX’s Stardust (1974) flick and performed on the soundtrack
to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust (1983, filmed in 1973. Brinsley Schwarz labored for half a decade,
creating critically lauded but commercially unsuccessful albums that featured a number of Lowe
compositions.
The Schwarz boys split up in March, 1975. After cutting sardonic glam-rock sides as the Disco Brothers
(“Let’s Go to the Disco”) and the Tartan Horde (“Bay City Rollers We Love You”), Lowe began playing
what would become his most winning role–that of producer. Over the years, he has produced recordings
for his wife (and Johnny Cash’s step-daughter) Carlene Carter, Paul Carrack (formerly of ACE and later of
Mike+ the Mechanics), Huey Lewis’s Clover, Elvis Costello (every album up through 1981’s Trust), the
Damned, Dave Edmunds, the FABULOUS THUNDERBIRD$, Dr. Feelgood, John Hiatt, Michael Jupp, the
Kursaal Flyers, GRAHAM PARKER & The Rumour, the Pretenders (“Stop Your Sobbing”), and Wreckless
Eric. He was present for the famed “Live Stiff “/Stiff Records packaged tour of 1977. And for a while–
with Billy Bremner, Dave Edmunds, and Terry Williams Lowe was a member of the short-lived but
incredibly promising Rockpile.
All the while, Nick recorded solo singles, sporadically issuing LPs and EPs. Only “I Love the Sound of
Breaking Glass” (from his first album, 1978’s Pure Pop for Now People) and “Cruel to Be Kind” (a remake
of one of his early “B” sides) made any major dents in the British charts, and only the latter would do
likewise in the States. His “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)” (#77, 1986), credited to
Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit and produced by Huey Lewis, marked his return to Billboard’s Hot 100.
In 1992, Nick and buddies Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, and Jim Keltner formed Little Village, a surprisingly
overlooked supergroup. The loose knit band folded but Lowe remains as busy as ever–sporadically
issuing solos and producing Katydids, the Rain, and others. Possibilities remain slim that Nick Lowe will
remain a dweller in the Hall of One-Hit Wonders.