Tag Archives: Nick Lowe

Song of the Week – Book of Love Songs

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

I wonder, wonder who, mmbadoo-ooh, who.  Who wrote the Book Of Love?

The Monontones, 1957

I know the answer.  Lots of people.  But the first in the rock and roll era were members of the R&B/Doo-wop group, the Monotones – Warren Davis, George Mason, and Charles Patrick.

This popular song went all the way to #5 on the Billboard pop chart and has been included on the soundtracks of several “period” films, including American Graffiti and Stand by Me.

Fast forward through the ‘60s and ’70s to 1980 when British pub rock band Rockpile released their only album, Seconds of Pleasure.  The disc included the upbeat “When I Write the Book”, penned by Nick Lowe.

Seconds of Pleasure was one of the best albums of 1980,  so if you haven’t heard it, check it out.

Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello had a long-standing relationship, coming from the same music scene in England.  So it should come as no surprise that Costello credited Lowe for influencing him to write his “Everyday I Write the Book” (1983).

Included on Costello’s Punch the Clock, and released as a single, “Everyday…” was his first recording to make it into the US Top 40.

In the ‘80s, Fleetwood Mac also embraced the topic.  Their follow-up to the commercially disappointing Tusk was Mirage (1982), which included the track “Book of Love.”

“Book of Love” is a deep track, written by Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut, who produced Mirage and other Fleetwood Mac albums.

In 1999, the Magnetic Fields (Stephin Merritt) released 69 Love Songs, one of which was another “Book of Love.”

This one is a lovely, introspective ode to the simple things that make us love someone.  It was later covered by Peter Gabriel on the album Scratch My Back (2010).

I have a feeling we should expect more books to be written in the years to come.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – So It Goes, Let Me Kiss Ya & I Live on a Battlefield, Nick Lowe

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Ignored           Obscured            Restored

I was listening to a Spotify Daily Mix a few days ago that was feeding me a healthy dose of Nick Lowe songs… and I was digging it.

Lowe began his musical career in the Pub Rock scene in early ‘70s London.  By the mid/late ‘70s he was working with Stiff Records as a producer and recording artist – vaguely associated with “punk” rock, but not really.

His first solo album was called Jesus of Cool (1978) in the UK but was given the less offensive title Pure Pop for Now People in the US (with a reprogrammed song order).  It contained Lowe’s first single release for Stiff, “So It Goes.”

Pure pop, indeed!  The song ended up on the soundtrack of The Ramones film Rock ‘n Roll High School.

Lowe’s next album, Labour of Lust (1979), contained one of his most popular hits, “Cruel to Be Kind.”

Lowe’s third solo LP, Nick the Nife (1982), gave us the power pop classic “Let Me Kiss Ya.”

This song is so innocent and sweet it could give you a cavity.

Lowe continued to write and record terrific songs.  In 1994, Lowe released one of my favorites in his catalog – “I Live on a Battlefield” (co-written by Paul Carrack) – from The Impossible Bird album.

An irony of his career is that he’s become a wealthy man from a song he wrote that was made more famous by Elvis Costello — “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.”  But the big bucks came from the song’s inclusion on the soundtrack to the Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner film The Bodyguard (1992) and it wasn’t even Costello’s version!  The massive sales success of that album generated royalties to Lowe estimated to exceed $2.5 million.  Not bad!!!

Lowe was married to Carlene Carter for 11 years.  That made him Johnny Cash’s stepson-in-law.  He played in “supergroup” Little Village with John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, and Jim Keltner.  He is also one of a relatively small collection of artists that have performed at least 5 times at the free, San Francisco music festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.  All of these connections put him in damn good company!

No wonder I was digging that Spotify playlist.  Nick Lowe is a treasure.

Enjoy… until next week.