The single "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass" was a breath of fresh air when it was released in 1978. I didn't know a great deal about Nick Lowe at the time, only that he was in Rockpile with Dave Edmunds, and had produced the first two Elvis Costello albums. The inner sleeve showed he had been a member of Brinsley Schwarz and was the in-house producer at Stiff Records, earning the nickname Basher for the way the songs were bashed out without any frills.
I loved this album and thought all of the songs were brilliant. There were a vast array of different musical styles, as perhaps indicated by the six different photos on the cover ( but it was only later that I learnt that one of the pictures is of Dave Edmunds ! ). Nick Low the chameleon can turn his hand to anything, from pure pop, new wave, pub rock, reggae/ska, disco, funk and tender ballads.
However, "Jesus Of Cool" received a mixed review in the New Musical Express when it was released, which criticized that five of the songs had previously been released in some guise or other ( although I had never heard them before ), the album was short at just over 33 minutes long when there was reportedly dozens of Nick Lowe songs in vaults unreleased, as well as a long list of of acts from whom ideas had apparently been stolen from. All of that didn't change my opinion of the album though !
For its release in the USA, the title was changed to avoid causing offence to some of the religious movements over there with Jesus being part of the title, and was instead called "Pure Pop For Now People", one of Stiff Records' marketing slogans, the letters of which are spelt inside the pictures on the front cover of "Jesus Of Cool".
The album starts with "Music For Money", a ponderous heavy metal/pub rock stomp decrying the cynical nature of the music industry.
"I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass" has a brilliant quirky piano, a strong bass line, and a strong hook. I love the hand claps. It was often referred to as being Bowie-esque but I think that was more to do with Bowie having recorded a track called "Breaking Glass" on his Low album rather than any similarity to this song, and Low having released an EP titled Bowi, making a joke of dropping the final e in the names of the titles. I would instead label "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass" as disco pop !
"Little Hitler", co-written with Dave Edmunds, is slow ballad with a gentle melody. The backing vocals reminded me of something the Rubettes might have done. It's another critique of the music business and is not to be confused with Elvis Costello's "Two Little Hitlers" released a year later, which was also produced by Nick Lowe.
"Shake And Pop" is another gritty stomp, a version of which had been the B-Side of "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass" but with the title "They Called It Rock", which was substituted for Shake And Pop in the chorus. This version is a lot jerkier and with some 1960s rock n'roll piano rather than being a straight-forward rocker. Apparently, Lowe and Edmunds couldn't agree on the title....
"Tonight" is the second acoustic ballad here with nice Beach Boy style harmonies and a gentle flamenco style guitar break. It has always reminded me of Peters and Lee !
"So It Goes" opens side two and is a slab of melodic rock, and is a great song with great lyrics. It was the first single released on Stiff Records two years earlier. "In the tall building sit the head of our nations, worthy men from Spain and Siam. All day discussions with the Russians but they still went ahead and vetoed the plan. Now up jumped the US American representative, he's the one with the tired eyes, 747 put him in that condition, flying back from a peace-keeping mission"
"No Reason" is a slight reggae/ska song which seems to have been strongly influenced by Elvis Costello's "Watching The Detectives". The drumming is superb.
"36 Inches High" is the only song note written or co written by Lowe, being penned by Jim Ford, who Sly Stone apparently one described as "the baddest white man on the planet". It's very hard to categorize with military style drumming, throbbing bass and what sounds like a synthesized penny whistle, but it is very compelling. "Once I was a ruler, about twelve inches long. Three times me made a yardstick, 36 inches high."
"Marie Provost" was previously released on the Bowi EP and is catchy song with black comedy about a silent movie star who couldn't cope with the talkies and ended up dying alone in her hotel room and being eaten by her dog.
"Mary Provost did not look her best the day the cops bust into her lonely nest. In the cheap hotel up on Hollywood West July 29"
"It's all downhill once you've passed your peak, Marie got ready for that last big sleep. The cops came in and they looked around, throwing up everywhere over what they found. The handy-work of Mary's little dachshund, that hungry little dachshund. She was a winner, that became a doggy's dinner"
"Nutted By Reality" is a fusion of two songs. The first part is dominated by the brilliant Jackson 5 bass line from their early singles, and speculates on a rumour that Fidel Castro had been castrated. "Well I heard they castrated Castro, I heard they cut off everything he had. What a dirty low down thing to do to mess him up like that". After a couple of verses in this vein it then moves into an uptempo pop song. The NME thought this was the best song on the album.
The album closes with a live version of "Heart Of The City", which was the B-Side to "So It Goes". It's a good punkish song, but the sound quality is so murky it could have been recorded in a toilet. It's probably more at home on a Rockpile album rather than a Nick Lowe LP but it is still good. "We're in the heart of the city, where the alligator roams. I'm a little lost lamb ain't got no place to go. I ain't got one penny just got a shirt on my back. I left home in a hurry, I ain't never going back".
Listening to Jesus Of Cool 45 years after its release, it remains a very, very good album
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Music For Money
2. I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass
3. Little Hitler
4. Shake And Pop
5. Tonight
1. So It Goes
2. No Reason
3. 36 Inches High
4. Marie Provost
5. Nutted By Reality
6. Heart Of The City
Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 22
So It Goes ( - 1976 )
I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass ( No 7 - 1978 )
Little Hitler ( - 1978 )
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