Of course I listened to Dave Edmunds’ Rockpile in the late 70’s! At that time I also had Nick Lowe’s Pure Pop For Now People LP on CBS - a real gem! I went down to Greenwich Village to Bleeker Bob’s in the hopes of finding a UK pressing of Jesus of Cool - the British title. No luck there!
Ever heard Rockpile?
One of the few "Super Groups" whom I myself consider super. Dave Edmunds is my favorite Rock ’n’ Roller of the 1970’s and 80’s, and a great record producer (amongst his best is Shake Some Action by The Flamin’ Groovies). The other members were bassist/singer/songwriter Nick Lowe (previously in the UK band Brinsley Schwarz, producer of Elvis Costello’s debut album, and member of another Super Group---Little Village, comprised of himself, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, and Jim Keltner. Their lone album is not very good.), guitarist/singer Billy Bremner (for a short time guitarist in The Pretenders), and Terry Williams (previously drummer in the UK band Man, later in Dire Straits).
They released only one album under the band’s name (1980’s Seconds Of Pleasure, on F Beat Records in the UK, Columbia Records in the USA), and it’s a great one. But they also serve as the band on a number of Dave and Nick’s solo albums, as well as on Carlene Carter’s (she and Nick were married for awhile).
Here’s a live clip of them performing a Mickey Jupp song:
https://youtu.be/8u68AipVLLg?si=9OE0JdT6zMJWeeES
Here's another, written by Nick and found in a studio recording by Dave on his fantastic album Get It:
https://youtu.be/SJ2TuX_ZiEA?si=w3GFWX_ph8aV1sgK
23 responses Add your response
I'm a huge Rockpile fan and have seen them a number of times; got some great photos of them when they opened for Elvis Costello at Winterland in SF. Also recently been in contact with a fellow in England who puts out music under the name of 'Rockerati' and he sounds just like Rockpile, but playing different songs; he's such a big fan I sent him off some photos. |
@sns: Oops, I forget to include the fact that the Taxi To The Terminal Zone was an album by Ducks Deluxe.
I saw Rockpile live only once (at The Country Club on Sherman Way in Reseda California), and they were fantastic. Moon Martin was the opening act, and he and his band were also mighty fine.
Here’s a mildly amusing story, one probably sure to irritate poor ol’ rpeluso: Sometime in the 90’s my woman presented me with a signed concert poster from the Rockpile show at The Hollywood Palladium, which I put away and quickly forgot about. When I moved from Palm Desert up to the Northwest in 2016 I of course had to pack up everything, and while doing so I came across the poster. What I saw came as a surprise, one that gave me a laugh. If you want to find out why, read on. rpeluso might want to stop here. The poster also listed the opening act, which was Pearl Harbor & The Explosions. Pearl was a woman who entered show business as a dancer for The Tubes, the San Francisco band. She eventually started a band of her own, and got a record deal with Columbia Records. In England she was signed to Stiff Records, and she and her band spent a lot of time there, touring with all the UK Punk and New Wave bands. She met and eventually married Clash bassist Paul Simonon; it didn’t last. After her deals expired, she sold her house in San Francisco, the proceeds of which enabled her to buy a cool Craftsman house in Los Angeles. In the early-2000’s I got a call from a guitarist I gigged with (we had both played on Evan Johns’ album Moontan), who told me he had received a call from Pearl. He had been recommended to her from someone whose opinion she valued, and she told him she was looking to put together a band to accompany her in her new musical direction. He asked me if I was interested. You bet! He and I met her at a rehearsal studio in Hollywood, and though the meeting went well musically, my expectation was realized when she asked me if I minded cutting my hair ( Anyway, at that point I hadn’t seen the Rockpile poster in quite a while, and didn’t remember she was also listed on it. If I had, I woulda brought it to her house and had her sign it! By the way, Pearl is quite a dresser, and she had turned one of the bedrooms in her 2-bedroom house into a walk-in closet. It was full of those metal clothes racks on wheels you see in large department stores, and everyone one of them was stuffed full of vintage dresses, skirts, blouses, jackets and coats, etc. And she had decorated her house with 1950’s posters of burlesque dancers and strippers. Entering her house was like stepping into a Noir film! The guitarist and I regularly went to her house to work on material. I found a bass player, and Pearl a pianist. A few full band rehearsals, and we were ready to gig. We debuted at The Lava Lounge on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, and the place was packed. Pearl introduced me to her friend PJ Harvey (she introduced her as Polly), who appeared to be just as sweet a girl as is Pearl (Pearl was a joy to be around). The band went nowhere, but it was fun while it lasted. End of story, hope you enjoyed it. Oh, and my hair eventually grew back.
|
Another fan of Little Village. Had it on the player just last night. To paraphrase Ry, It might run cold for you, but it runs hot for Me. 😁 I have my original LP of Seconds of Pleasure, but also the CD version. I was delighted that they chose to fill the unused space on the CD with a number of Edmunds/Lowe acoustic performances. If you haven't listened to the extended CD, I highly recommend it. Cheers. |
Rockpile is great! If you like them, you should also check out Webb Wilder, who counts the members of Rockpile on his list of fans. A similar artist with some interesting offerings I recently stumbled upon is Leon Laudenbach. He's listed on Qobuz and has some offerings on YouTube. Webb Wilder is also well represented on both sites. |
Maybe @bdp24 ‘s book could come with video links from his experiences. 😀 |
@bigboypete - 'Pure Pop For Now People' was originally released in England as 'Jesus of Cool', but they didn't think that would go down well in the US. I don't know if that's also out of print or not. |
@jaybe - I also think that most of their songs have a very similar sound, at least in a live setting; more variety on studio records. But I really like that sound a lot and love the songs that they write (or cover) in that genre. |
). As I said, I expected she wouldn’t go for my mop, which went halfway down my back. I said sure, no problem. Though I look like a hippie, I’m actually a greaser at heart. I went to the barber shop in Hollywood that she recommended (I hadn’t been in one since my senior year in high school), and asked the guy for a 1960’s Waylon Jennings hairdo. Pearl loved it! She didn’t ask me to cut off my sideburns. Good thing, as THAT I would not do.