ROCKPILE – 3 live sets (1977-1979)
In high school, medicine when I first got my used LP copies of Nick Lowe’s “Pure Pop For Now People” and “Labour Of Lust” for a dollar each at Record Surplus and played them until their grooves wore out, shop I’d assumed that Lowe was responsible for most, if not all of these albums’ instrumentation, as well as his singing and songwriting. What I didn’t know is that the band Lowe was concurrently in, Rockpile, was actually responsible for the backing tracks.
As “Pure Pop” (originally titled “Jesus Of Cool” in the U.K.) is shortly about to receive a CD re-release, I’ve found myself revisiting both it and the lone Rockpile album “Seconds Of Pleasure”. I’d always wondered about why Rockpile only had one album, and I found my answer on Wikipedia:
“After leaving Brinsley Schwarz in the mid-1970s, Lowe began playing in Rockpile with Dave Edmunds…[b]ecause the two main writers in Rockpile had contracts with different record labels and managers, albums were always credited to either Lowe ["Jesus of Cool", "Labour Of Lust"] or Edmunds ["Repeat When Necessary", "Tracks On Wax 4"], so there is only one official Rockpile album, from the very end of the collaboration—1980s Seconds of Pleasure, featuring the Lowe songs “When I Write The Book” and “Heart”…Rockpile’s demise was hastened by a number of conflicts between Lowe’s and Edmunds’ respective managers, not Lowe and Edmunds themselves.”
Rockpile toured extensively in the late ’70s, but unfortunately there’s been no official release of any live recordings. That I know of.
Rockpile – A Mess of Blues: Live 1977 (ZIP file)
Rockpile – Live 1979 (ZIP file)
Rockpile – Live at the Palladium, NYC, 08.20.1979 (ZIP file)
now you are talking. Excellent choice. Thanks and happy new year.
wow, this is great. i’ve always thought what made Rockpile so great, in addition to the obvious talents of Lowe & Edmunds, were Billy Bremner & Terry Williams. Bremner is a great guitar player and singer (“Heart” on Seconds of Pleasure) and Terry Williams is a great drummer, especially for Rockpile’s style. (His credit for “Drums Drums Drums” on the Seconds of Pleasure album is spot-on.)
I’ve read about the Lowe/Edmunds falling-out. This is the first I’ve heard it was actually their managers. It makes me wonder why Rockpile, or Lowe/Edmunds, never reunited.
Isn’t there a movie about Rockpile called “Born Fighter”? They got that up dere at the Cinefile?
This is incredible. The Volume 1 collection here is not only a gem, it’s one of the ifnest live recording I’ve heard. Excellent! Thanks!
Love this band!!!!
Thanks for sharing
Great post, but Rockpile didn’t play on most of Jesus of Cool/Pure Pop For Now People.
Thanks so much. This is fantastic!
Thanks.
Has anyone heard the Rockpile King Biscuit Flower Hour show. I have the recording that I picked up at a used record store in the early 80′s. It includes commercials for the US Army and liner notes for the DJ. I’ll eventually convert it to digital. I just got a USB turntable. These guys are in my top 10!