More Info on Nick LoweSimilar Pop & Rock MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
About||the comic book editor|Nick Lowe (comics)|the British classicist and science fiction reviewer|Nick Lowe (classicist)Infobox musical artist| image = Nick Lowe1.jpg| caption = Lowe performing at the Kursaal in November 2008| Img_size| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Nicholas Drain Lowe| alias =| Born = birth date and age|df=yes|1949|3|24 Walton-on-Thames , Surrey, England| instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano/keyboards, bass| genre = Rock, Pub rock (UK)|pub rock , New Wave Music|New Wave , Power Pop | occupation = Musician, singer-songwriter| years_active = 1966present| label = Columbia Records , Demon Records , F-Beat Records , Radar Records , Reprise Records , Upstart Records, Yep Roc Records , Stiff Records , Proper Records (current).| associated_acts = Brinsley Schwarz , Rockpile , Elvis Costello , The Attractions, The Imposters, Huey Lewis and the News , Noise To Go, The Cowboy Outfit, Johnny Cash , Little Village , Bill Kirchen | website = http://www.nicklowe.net/ nicklowe.net| notable_instruments = Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe (born 24 March 1949), is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.
A pivotal figure in UK Pub rock (UK)|pub rock , punk rock and new wave music|new wave , http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/06/17/2007-06-17_cruel_to_be_kind_of_old-1.html? page=0 Cruel to be kind of old "The man originally known as one of the architects of the new wave sound of the '70s having served as house producer for the legendary Stiff Records, as a pioneer of neo-power pop in his solo albums" New York Daily News 17 June 2007Allmusic|class=explore|id=style/d381|pure_url=yes Allmusic genre New Wave Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica . He is best known for his songs " Cruel to Be Kind " (a Billboard Hot 100|US Top 40 single ), and "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" (a top 10 UK hit), as well as his production work with Elvis Costello , Graham Parker , and others. Lowe also wrote " (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding ", a hit for Costello.cite news |title= Return of the Man Who Used to Rock |author= Larry Rohter |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/arts/music/nick-lowe-back-with-a-new-album-that-old-magic.html |newspaper= New York Times |date= 14 September 2011 |accessdate=14 September 2011 He currently lives in Brentford , London, England.
Career History
Songwriter
Nick's best-known songs (mostly known for cover versions) include:
"(Whats So Funny Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding"
" The Beast in Me "
"I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass"
"All Men Are Liars"
" Cruel to Be Kind "
" So It Goes (Nick Lowe song)|So It Goes "
" I Knew the Bride|I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll) "
Producer
Lowe produced Elvis Costello 's first five albums, including My Aim Is True , '' This Year's Model , and Armed Forces (album)|Armed Forces ''. He also produced The Damned (band)|The Damned 's first single, " New Rose ", considered the first English punk single, as well as the group's debut album, Damned Damned Damned .
His early 'rough and ready' production style earned him the nickname Basher (as in 'bash it out now, tart it up later'). Upon moving from Stiff to Jake Riviera 's Radar Records|Radar and F-Beat Records|F-Beat labels, Lowe became selective in his choice of production tasks.
Bands
Main|Brinsley SchwarzMain|Rockpile
Musical styles
See Pub rock (UK)#History|Pub rock
See New Wave music|New wave
See Punk rock
Influence in Music Industry
A 2011 article in The New York Times starts "The 40-year career of the English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe constitutes a paradox: the songs he has written are better known than he is."
Biography
Lowe attended the independent Woodbridge School in Suffolk http://norfolk.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/the-famous-old-boys-and-girls-from-norfolk-independent-schools-october-2009-18975/ Great Bitish Life Norfolk Independent Schools. Retrieved 8 January 2012 and he began his musical career in 1967, when he joined the band Kippington Lodge, with his school friend Brinsley Schwarz (musician)|Brinsley Schwarz . They released a few singles on the Parlophone record label as Kippington Lodge before they re-named the band Brinsley Schwarz in late 1969, and began performing country music|country and blues-rock . Lowe wrote some of his best-known compositions while a member of Brinsley Schwarz, including "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", a hit for Elvis Costello in 1979, and "Cruel to Be Kind", a solo hit for Lowe in 1979.
After leaving Brinsley Schwarz in 1975, Lowe began playing in Rockpile with Dave Edmunds . In August 1976, Lowe released " So It Goes (Nick Lowe song)|So It Goes " b/w "Heart of the City", the first single on the Stiff Records record label|label where he was an in-house producer. The single and thus the label was funded by a loan of £400 from Dr. Feelgood 's Lee Brilleaux. The label's first Extended play|EP was Lowe's 1977 four-track release Bowi , apparently named in response to David Bowie 's contemporaneous LP Low (David Bowie album)|Low . (The joke was repeated when Lowe produced The Rumour 's album Max as an 'answer' to Fleetwood Mac 's Rumours ). Lowe continued producing albums on Stiff and other labels. In 1977 he produced Dr. Feelgood 's album, Be Seeing You , which included his own song, "That's It, I Quit". The following year's Dr. Feelgood album, Private Practice (album)|Private Practice , contained a song Lowe jointly penned with Gypie Mayo " Milk and Alcohol ". Along with "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass", "Milk and Alcohol" is one of only two Lowe compositions to ever reach the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart . cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher=Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | pages= 162 | isbn= 1-904994-10-5
Because the two main singers in Rockpile had recording contract s with different record labels and managers, albums were always credited to either Lowe or Edmunds, so there is only one official Rockpile album, which was not released until the waning days of the collaboration: 1980's Seconds of Pleasure , featuring the Lowe songs "When I Write The Book" and "Heart". However, two of the pair's most significant solo albums from the period; Lowe's Labour of Lust and Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary , were effectively Rockpile albums (as was Carlene Carter 's Lowe-produced Musical Shapes album).
Lowe was quoted as saying that he had "escaped from the tyranny of the snare drum" in No Depression , (SeptemberOctober 2001) when explaining his move away from regular pop music that would get played on mainstream radio.Citation needed|date=February 2008 Other well-known Lowe songs include "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass," "All Men Are Liars," and Cruel to Be Kind , co-written with Ian Gomm and originally recorded with Brinsley Schwarz, a re-recording of which was his only US Top 40 hit record|hit , reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart|chart in 1979.
In 1979, Lowe married country singer Carlene Carter , daughter of fellow country singers Carl Smith (country musician)|Carl Smith and June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash .cite book | first= John | last= Tobler | year= 1992 | title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years | edition= 1st | publisher=Reed International Books Ltd | location= London | page= 329 | id= CN 5585 He adopted her daughter, Tiffany Anastasia Lowe. The marriage ended in 1990, but they remained friends, and Lowe remained close to the Carter/Cash family. He played and recorded with Johnny Cash, and Cash recorded several of Lowe's songs.
After the demise of Rockpile, Lowe toured for a period with his band Noise To Go and later with The Cowboy Outfit, which also included the noted keyboard player Paul Carrack . Lowe was also a member of the short-lived mainly studio project Little Village with John Hiatt , Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner , who originally got together to record Hiatt's 1987 album Bring the Family .
In 1992, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" was cover version|covered by Curtis Stigers on the soundtrack album to The Bodyguard , an album that sold about 44& nbsp;million copies world-wide.
A New York Daily News article http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/06/17/2007-06-17_cruel_to_be_kind_of_old-1.html "Cruel to be kind of old" by Jim Farber, New York Daily News, 17 June 2007 quoted Lowe as saying his greatest fear in recent years was "sticking with what you did when you were famous". "I didn't want to become one of those thinning-haired, jowly old geezers who still does the same shtick they did when they were young, slim and beautiful," he said. "That's revolting and rather tragic." Rock critic Jim Farber observed: "Lowe's recent albums, epitomised by the new At My Age , moved him out of the realms of ironic pop and animated rock and into the role of a worldly balladeer, specialising in grave vocals and graceful tunes. Lowe's four most recent solo albums mine the wealth of American roots music, drawing on vintage country, soul and R& B to create an elegant mix of his own."
In 2008, Yep Roc and Proper Records released a thirtieth anniversary edition of Lowe's first solo album Jesus of Cool (entitled Pure Pop for Now People in the US with a slightly different track listing). The re-issue includes tracks from the British and American releases in addition to several bonus tracks. In March 2009, he released a 49 track CD/DVD compilation album|compilation of songs which spanned his entire career. Proper Records released it in the UK and Europe, entitled Quiet Please... The New Best of Nick Lowe .
In September 2010 Yep Roc issued The Impossible Bird , Dig My Mood and The Convincer on vinyl for the first time, and after a one-night reunion concert with Elvis Costello in October in San Francisco,cite web|url= http://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2010/12/nick-lowe-the-true-blue-basher-shows-up-for-a-friend/|title=Nick Lowe: the true blue Basher shows up for a friend |publisher=The Fortnightly Review|date=18 December 2010|accessdate=18 December 2010 Lowe embarked on his first non-solo United States tour "this millennium." His backing band comprised Geraint Watkins (keyboards), Robert Treherne (drums), Johnny Scott (musician)|Johnny Scott (guitar) and Matt Radford (bass). In March 2011, Yep Roc reissued Lowe's 1979 solo album Labour of Lust .cite web|url= http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/08/nick_lowe_touri.html|title=Nick Lowe touring w/ full band, playing 4 NY shows (dates)|publisher=Brooklyn Vegan|date=30 August 2010|accessdate=5 September 2010
Lowe played Glastonbury 2011, performing a short solo set of Brinsley Schwarz tracks on The Spirit Of 71 stage, where they played back in 1971, before heading to the Acoustic Stage for a full band show.
Lowe performed as an opening act for Wilco in their North American tour, September 2011. He performed solo with acoustic guitar.
Lowe is married to Peta Waddington, a designer and DJ. The couple have a son, Roy Lowe, who was born in 2005.
Discography
Studio albums
Jesus of Cool (1978, UK) (released in the US as Pure Pop for Now People )
"I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)"
26
77
1987
"Lovers Jamboree"
US-only release.
1990
"All Men Are Liars"
76
1994
"True Love Travels on a Gravel Road"
1993
"I Live on a Battlefield"
1997
"You Inspire Me"
2001
"She's Got Soul"
EPs
Bowi , 7" 45 rpm (Stiff 1977)
Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers , 7" 33? rpm (F-Beat/Columbia 1980)
Compilation albums
A Bunch of Stiff Records (One track, "I Love My Label")
Live Stiffs Live (1978) (Nick Lowe's Last Chicken In The Shop got two tracks, "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)" and "Let's Eat", on this live compilation of the first Stiff Records ' tour.)
16 All Time Lowes (1984)
''Nick's Knack (1986)
Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe (1989)
The Wilderness Years (1991)
The Doings (1999)
Quiet Please... The New Best of Nick Lowe (2009)
Other appearances
"Arrκte Pas La Musique" on Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music (2002)
"Changing All Those Changes" on Rave On Buddy Holly (2011)
Tributes
Labour of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe (Telarc, 2001) (features Dar Williams, Tom Petty, and Elvis Costello, among others).
Lowe Profile: A Tribute To Nick Lowe (Brewery, 2005) (two-disc, 30 song collection featuring Dave Alvin, Foster & Lloyd, Ian Gomm, among others).
Uses in media
The music video for "All Men Are Liars" was featured in The Brothers Grunt episode "The Ugly Gruntling."
His recording of "The Beast in Me" was used in the pilot episode of The Sopranos .
The song "All Men Are Liars" was featured in the List of Australian films|Australian film All Men Are Liars written and directed by Gerard Lee and starring Toni Pearen , David Price and John Jarratt .
References
Reflist
External links
official website| http://www.nicklowe.net/
http://nicklowe.propermedia.net/ The Old Magic UK page
http://www.atlantagamefest.com/BfM/atlantagamefest/Podcast/366119F0-C0DE-42AB-A09A-F9921AF6537B.html Batty for Music podcast
http://www.propermusic.com/epk/prpcd036.html Electronic press kit for "Quiet Please..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/arts/music/nick-lowe-back-with-a-new-album-that-old-magic.html Return of the Man Who Used to Rock - NY Times 9-13-11
Nick LoweBrinsley SchwarzUse dmy dates|date=May 2011Use British English|date=August 2010 Persondata| NAME = Lowe, Nick | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 24 March 1949 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Nick Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:English record producers Category:English songwriters Category:People from Walton-on-Thames Category:English rock singers Category:English male singers Category:Protopunk groups Category:Protopunk musicians Category:English New Wave musicians Category:People educated at Woodbridge School Category:Rockpile members
