Nick Lowe Welcomes You To “Kippington Lodge”

Before he taught us that it was cruel to be kind, and even before he first wondered “what’s so funny  ‘bout peace, love and understanding?,” Nick Lowe was one fourth of the groovy lite psych-pop outfit by the name of Kippington Lodge.  The group, however, was short-lived, and morphed into pub-rock pioneers Brinsley Schwarz, folk/country/rockabilly revivalists.  Cherry Red’s RPM label is now giving fans the chance to listen to the complete recorded output of Kippington Lodge for a window into “what might have been” for Messrs. Lowe and Schwarz.  Shy Boy: The Complete Recordings 1967-1969, due the last week in July, is named for the debut single of Kippington Lodge, and collects all ten single sides plus five bonus tracks: an unissued song, two alternate takes and two BBC performances.

Nick Lowe first met Brinsley Schwarz at the Woodbridge School, where they made music with Barry Landerman and Phil Hall.  Lowe assumed bass duties and Schwarz guitar, while Landerman handled keyboards and Hall also guitar.  As early as 1964, this group was performing as Sounds 4+1, but Sounds was short-lived, and Schwarz regrouped with Pete Whale (drums) and Dave Cottam (bass) as Three’s a Crowd in 1966.  That, too, wasn’t destined to last, although Schwarz’s old friend Landerman joined in 1967 as the band was being renamed Kippington Lodge.

Continue the story of Kippington Lodge after the jump, plus the track listing and discography for RPM’s new release!

Lowe and Edmunds, Live: Rockpile “Live at Montreux” Arrives On CD

Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams, individually, are among the most accomplished artists to come out of the “pub rock” scene. Joined as Rockpile, they are a true rock legend. Though the band only recorded one album, 1980’s Seconds of Pleasure, under its own name, the Rockpile sound is instantly recognizable.  It graced solo LPs by Edmunds and Lowe as well as tracks by Mickey Jupp and Carlene Carter (then Lowe’s wife). Eagle Records will on August 22 release on CD the first-ever Rockpile live album, taken from the band’s 1980 performance at Montreux.

The Rockpile name first surfaced in 1970 on a Dave Edmunds solo LP and was used when Edmunds toured in support of the album as “Dave Edmunds and Rockpile.” Terry Williams, on drums, was among the members of that touring band. Around the same time, Nick Lowe was making waves as a member of Brinsley Schwarz. When Edmunds was enlisted to produce the band in 1974, he and Lowe realized their common sensibility, and pushed the folk/country/rockabilly revivalists into a forward-thinking power pop style, a forerunner of New Wave. The Rockpile lineup was formed shortly thereafter but record company politics kept it from being much more than an on-again, off-again concern; Lowe was the first artist signed to Stiff Records, while Edmunds recorded for Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Still, Rockpile played on albums by both Lowe and Edmunds including Lowe’s first two solo LPs and Edmunds’ Tracks on Wax 4 and Repeat When Necessary. In 1980, Edmunds was extricated from his Swan Song contract and committed to a Rockpile album proper, Seconds of Pleasure.

Hit the jump for more, including the complete track listing of the new set!

Release Round-Up: Week of March 15

Queen, Queen / Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races: Deluxe Editions (Island/UMe)

Deluxe editions of the band’s first five albums are out in the U.K., all remastered with bonus discs of rare or unreleased content. (They’ll be out in the U.S. in May!) (Official site)

Nick Lowe, Labour of Lust (Proper (U.K.)/Yep Roc (U.S.))

Lowe’s New Wave classic, featuring the immortal “Cruel to Be Kind,” is reissued on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring all the tracks heard on original U.K. and U.S. pressings and a non-LP B-side. (Yep Roc)

Rick Springfield, Eartha Kitt, Django Reinhardt, Steve Vai, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Paul Revere and The Raiders and Ricky Skaggs, The Essential(RCA/Columbia/Epic/Legacy)

New two-disc compilations for each of the above artist, each featuring their share of hits and deeper cuts. (We’ve posted the track lists for The 5th Dimension and Paul Revere and The Raiders and will post the remaining track lists later today.) (Amazon)

Peabo Bryson, Reaching for the Sky / Crosswinds: Expanded Edition / Billy Preston, Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music / Jennifer Holliday, I’m on Your Side (Soul Music/Cherry Red)

Remastered editions of four soul classics (the Peabo set is expanded with some U.S. single edits) coming out in the U.K. today. (Soul Music: Peabo, Preston, Holliday)

The Collage, The Collage: Expanded Edition (Now Sounds)

A lost psych-pop classic with some impressive people involved in its recording and production gets a deluxe release on the Now Sounds label in the U.S., having been out for two weeks in England. (Now Sounds)

Inner City: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv)

The out-of-print soundtrack to the Tony-winning musical is out through Arkiv as a made-to-order CD-R. (Masterworks)

Various Artists, American Idol 10th Anniversary: The Hits (19/RCA)

Notable tracks from various winners and finalists of American Idol in America. (Official site)

Short Takes: Hectic Edition

Sincerest apologies to all our readers who may have wondered where The Second Disc went off to. Though I hate jumbling personal/professional stuff with maintenance of the site, today was kind of busy. But there will be a few relaxed posts over the weekend as a way of thanking you, the reader, for your patience (and continued readership, of course!).

In any case, here are two links that might be worth your perusal on the reissue front:

• The Yep Roc label posted a neat interview with Nick Lowe, who discusses at length his forthcoming Labour of Lust reissue, coming out in the U.S. on Yep Roc next month. Illuminating stuff for power pop fans.
• R.E.M.’s Mike Mills talked to Billboard about the band’s forthcoming record Collapse Into Now, and while the article is mostly about the new album (and the fact that the band will not tour behind it), the last paragraph confirms a 25th anniversary deluxe edition of Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) is on the way (as has been the case with every album of the band’s for the past few years). Mills says the set will have “a lot of demos, some of which I think are actually better than the songs on the record.” The new album also marks the conclusion of R.E.M.’s contract with Warner Bros., their home since 1988; no word on their next move or how it will relate to their catalogue affairs.

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

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!