nick lowe

jesus of cool: "if it ain't stiff, it ain't worth a fuck..."

BUY 1: the debut single on Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson's Stiff Records by legendary Brinsley Schwarz prime mover, Nick Lowe, was a 45 of pure pop energy and proto-punk sensibility.

Allegedly costing just £45 to produce, the b-side was 'record of the week' in at least two of the UK's music weeklies. Nick Lowe, of course, went on to produce the first homegrown British punk single, "New Rose", for the Damned - released in November 1976 - and with Riviera and Robinson at the helm kick-started Elvis Costello's eventually successful bid to break into the U.S.

Nick plays all the instruments on this 45, bar the drumming provided by Steve Goulding. Pop music never sounded so good.

Play Loud!

▼ NICK LOWE: SO IT GOES from "So It Goes" 45 (Stiff) 1976 (UK)

▼ NICK LOWE: HEART OF THE CITY from "So It Goes" 45 (Stiff) 1976 (UK)

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