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Jesus Of Cool | 
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| Artist: Nick Lowe
Label: Proper
Category: Music
List Price: £11.99
Buy New: £8.40
You Save: £3.59 (30%)
New (19) Used (1) from £8.40
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 5429
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.5
UPC: 805520039994
EAN: 0805520039994
ASIN: B000ZQC6Z6
Release Date: February 18, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: brand new copy .
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| Tracks:
| » | Music For Money | | » | I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass | | » | Little Hitler | | » | Shake And Pop | | » | Tonight | | » | So It Goes | | » | No Reason | | » | 36 Inches High | | » | Marie Provost | | » | Nutted By Reality | | » | Heart Of The City (Live). | | » | Shake That Rat (Bonus Track) | | » | I Love My Label (Bonus Track) | | » | They Called It Rock (Bonus Track) | | » | Born A Woman (Bonus Track) | | » | Endless Sleep (Bonus Track) | | » | Halfway To Paradise (Bonus Track) | | » | Rollers Show (Bonus Track) | | » | Cruel To Be Kind (Original Version)(Bonus Track) | | » | Heart Of The City (Bonus Track) | | » | I Don't Want The Night To End (Bonus Track) |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Probably the best album ever !!!! May 16, 2008
This is Nick Lowe's first album under his own name ( afaik ) reissued & enhanced with bonustracks, remastered & repackaged on CD ( also available on LP for us vintage buffs ). The bonustracks have been released as "The Wilderness years" ( @ least most of them ) & are just as good as the "proper" album-songs - I missed "Let's go to the disco" though, maybe this little Lowe/Edmunds-ditty will see the light again on another reissue ?
For me this album more or less defined the term "power-pop" when it first came out in 1978 - catchy refrains, combined with sometimes odd arrangements & corny, but well fitting sound-effects + Lowe's trademark production. It's a shame this album has been unavailable for so long - hopefully his other unavailable albums will be reissued too, since Lowe is one of the best songwriters ( Cash, Edmunds etc. ), producers ( Costello, Parker, Damned etc. ) & instrumentalists of our time.
To quote the US title of the album this is "Pure pop for now people" - do yourself a favour, get your plastic-card out & buy this classic NOW !
Masterpiece now enhanced April 11, 2008
This arresting 1978 album has been substantially enhanced with the addition of 10 tracks. It was one of that year's best offerings and has grown in stature. The music covers a wide variety of pop and rock styles but every song is blessed with a catchy tune and witty, intelligent lyrics. In addition, the album has a sharp punk edge to it that made it stand out then and now. The only other artist doing more or less the same thing back then was Elvis Costello.
So It Goes is a bouncy little pop tune, whilst I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass has an eerie air of desperation about it, like it was the answer to David Bowie's Breaking Glass on his Low album from 1977. Tonight is beautiful melodic pop and Marie Provost is a weird tale of the silent screen actress who fell into obscurity when the talkies came in and how she was nibbled on by her lapdog when they found her. If it weren't for the engaging melody and lyrical twists the song would have been rather macabre.
His interpretation of Halfway To Paradise is awesome, Heart Of The City is heavy rock, and Little Hitler (co-written by Dave Edmunds) is a quirky little pop song in the same vein as Elvis Costello's Two Little Hitlers on his Armed Forces album from around the same time. Nutted By Reality and Rollers Show are further witty, humorous pop ditties with great tunes while Music For Money has a pounding rock beat. The early version of his later hit Cruel To Be Kind is included here.
I think Nick Lowe was a member of a UK pub-rock band Rockpile before he went solo with this classic album, which was released under different titles in the UK and USA. The US version was called Pure Pop For Now People. I subsequently rediscovered Nick Lowe in the 1990s when I heard his brilliant work The Impossible Bird, an album of totally unique country music containing some of that decade's most memorable and well crafted songs. You just cannot keep a true genius down!
Pure Pop for Now and Then People. March 1, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
After the break up of Brinsley Schwarz bassist, Nick Lowe set his stall out as a solo performer with manager Jake Riviera whom along with the Brinsleys ex-manager, Dave Robson, and a five hundred pound load from Dr Feelgood started the Stiff record label. Nicks debut single `So it Goes' b/w `Heart of the City' was also Stiff's debut, BUY 1 was the cheeky serial number. Sold out of the boot of cars it was the start of the legend.
Shoehorned into production due to being the only member of the squad to have been a regular in recording studio's Nick soon became the in-house producer, producing the first punk single, The Damned's `New Rose' as well as their debut LP. Other Production duties involved Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Wreckless Eric, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Dave Edmunds and even Dr Feelgood. This together with other Stiff Artists such as Ian Dury and the Blockheads kept Nick in the studio with a roster of talent that he pooled in other artists down time to record this album in virtually dead time with the greatest musicians of this, or indeed any, generation.
When Elvis and Jake left Stiff to set up Radar Records Nick went with them and again was the first artist to issue a single, ADA 1, was the gig hit `I Like the Sound of Breaking Glass'. When the album was finally mixed, with virtually every act of the time getting priority on Nick's time, a title was needed. After the success of rechristening D P Costello as Elvis, Jake Riviera was keen to court controversy and so it became `Jesus of Cool'. This, of course, became a talking point not least in America where it was renamed after a Stiff slogan `Pure Pop for Now People'.
The use of different musicians over a period of time makes this a very bitty album but still a classic and a refreshing album to listen to these days. Of the bonus material the `I Love My Label' from `A Bunch of Stiffs' and the Bowi (named in response to David Bowie calling his last LP `Low') EP certainly add to the mix. Pure Pop for Now and Then People.
Genius of rock February 21, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
With ten bonus tracks of superior quality added to the original album, 'Jesus Of Cool' is one of the best reissues you'll hear. Lowe used a pool of musicians drawn mainly from his old mates in Brinsley Schwarz, some of whom were by this time in The Rumour, while his other pals from Rockpile appear here and there.
'Music For Money' is an uncharacteristically heavy track and, like several tracks, takes a wry look at the music business. Lowe's wicked undercurrent of humour was evident even in the late 1970s, a time when he was emerging as an in-demand producer, often working with new wave artists. 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass' is a one-off: a beaty hit recording featuring piano as sharp as the title suggests. 'Little Hitler' features a lush, Spectoresque sound which perfectly complements the gentle melody. 'Shake And Pop' is a dirty piece of mid-paced r&b that found an alternative home in the b-side 'They Called It Rock,' which was effectively a Rockpile track. 'Tonight' features superb harmonies before Lowe returns to the great, jangly rocker, 'So It Goes.'
'No Reason' features a sound and reggae-influenced style reminiscent of Elvis Costello's 'Watching The Detectives,' but more uptempo. The drum work across the album is impressive, but is superb on this track. For all his neat wordplay and catchy melodies, Lowe didn't cheat on the rhythm section. '36 Inches High' is a weird one, sparse, eerie, but like so many of the tracks on this album, unique.
The three tracks that close the album proper are among Lowe's best-known. He lets loose his full battery of lyrical knives on 'Marie Provost' yet couches it in exquisite, harmonic pop. 'Nutted By Reality' is two songs stitched together, the first funky (he couldn't resist the line 'Well, I heard they castrated Castro' - typical Lowe), the second more like a gentle knees-up. 'Heart Of The City' is a live recording, but the studio version of this lightning-fast rocker is included as a bonus. Dave Edmunds recorded this track for his 'Tracks On Wax 4' album in the same year, which Lowe produced.
As for the bonus tracks themselves, you won't find a duff 'un, but there are one or two oddities. Among these are his 'tribute' to the Bay City Rollers (very catchy), performed in the Rollers' style, the nifty instrumental, 'Shake That Rat,' which recalls Jet Harris and Tony Meehan. 'Endless Sleep' features Lowe almost whispering the vocal over a solo electric guitar and recaptures the experience of listening to vinyl with the faint background hiss. There are a couple of covers; I was surprised to find he'd done 'Halfway To Paradise.' There's also an early version of his hit 'Cruel To Be Kind,' which has a more disco-like rhythm.
I hope I've sold this to the inquisitive - it's just over an hour of intelligent and entertaining rock and pop from one of our best songwriters. Thank God he's still making music.
 Pure Pop February 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The album was titled 'Pure Pop For Now People' in America and that's what it is. It's a great collection of what would later be called power-pop, excellent songs delivered with a lot of energy. The packaging is excellent with one side folding out as a crucifix and the other including a booklet with an interview with Nick about making the album. Great stuff!
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