Nick Lowe

At the time of its 1978 release, name-dropping the Christ wasn't kosher in the US, where this LP was released as Pure Pop for Now People. Either title seems appropriate 30 years later. So what if the questionable, bass-heavy remaster doesn't have the tinny, triumphant glory of the original? Sugared "ahhs" and "oohs" and perfectly tooled one-liners are timely reminders of Lowe's influence on the next generation of clever power poppers. Of course, "Marie Provost" steals the show, but deep cuts like "I Love My Label" and "Nutted By Reality" are equally divine, sardonic favorites.

The most blasphemous thing about Nick Lowe's 1978 debut solo album was not its original
British title. It was the subtext running through his classic — pop and American — roots
pastiches on that LP and its U.S. version, Pure Pop for Now People, issued with a slightly
different track list. Many of the songs in this combined reissue (with period singles) are
about getting screwed by fools, goons and circumstance — "Nutted by Reality," a... More >