When it comes to songwriting I put Nick Lowe right up there with all my heroes but in a way he's a lot more because he was a bit of a role model in that he was happy writing all sorts of different styles. And so I tried to emulate this by writing fast songs , ballads, punk and sixties style. Just trying everything really. This album had a big impact on me. I wanted to be the next Nick Lowe. Of course fate had other plans and I moved more into Mod & power pop. But I still knelt at the altar of the perfect pop song and Nick as come as close to anyone in writing it.
On this album he tells short stories like Marie Provost where he writes about the poodles that ate their movie star owner (Straight out of Hollywood Babylon) So It Goes. about the music biz. You know the score. Clever clever writing. That he followed this up with Labour of Lust and produced Elvis Costello's best work proves the guy was a genius. And he still makes great records. The Beast in Me comes to mind. Recently I saw him in concert at the Forum and I knew there was no chance he was going to play all my favourite songs because there have been too many. And there is his work with Brinsley Schwarz where you can first hear "What' So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding" a song that the Murders used to cover for a while.
Got this album from a Charity Opportunity Shop that every week had a bunch of new wave stuff that some music writer must have been throwing out. Heaven!
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