Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust (1979) [VINYL] - US, White Label Promo - 24-bit/96kHz plus CD-compatible format

Recorded simultaneously with Dave Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary, Labour of Lust benefits from the muscular support of Rockpile, who make Lowe's songs crackle with vitality.

A sweet While Label Promo of this classic record.



From Allmusic: Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
"Jesus of Cool was a jukebox, spinning out a series of perfectly crafted – and decidedly quirky and subversive – pop singles. In contrast, Nick Lowe's second album, Labour of Lust, is the work of a bar band, in this case Rockpile, playing the hell out of the same type of songs. Naturally, the result is a more coherent sound that may be a little less freewheelingly eclectic, but it is no less brilliant. Recorded simultaneously with Dave Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary, Labour of Lust benefits from the muscular support of Rockpile, who make Lowe's songs crackle with vitality. Working primarily in the roots rock vein of Brinsley Schwarz but energizing his traditionalist tendencies with strong pop melodies, a sense of humor, and an edgy new wave sensibility, Lowe comes up with one of his best sets of songs. Not only is his only hit, the propulsively hook-laden "Cruel to Be Kind," here, but so are the rampaging outsider anthem "Born Fighter," the tongue-in-cheek, Chuck Berry-style "Love So Fine," the wonderful pure pop of "Dose of You," the haunting "Endless Grey Ribbon," the druggy "Big Kick, Plain Scrap!," and the terrific "Cracking Up," as well as his definitive version of Mickey Jupp's "Switchboard Susan." It's an exceptional collection of inventive pop songs, delivered with vigor and energy, making it one of the great records of the new wave."



From Allmusic Biography
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
"As the leader of the seminal pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz, a producer, and a solo artist, Nick Lowe held considerable influence over the development of punk rock. With the Brinsleys, Lowe began a back-to-basics movement that flowered into punk rock in the late '70s. As the house producer for Stiff, he recorded many seminal records by the likes of the Damned, Elvis Costello, and the Pretenders. His rough, ragged production style earned him the nickname "Basher" and also established the amateurish, D.I.Y. aesthetics of punk. Despite his massive influence on punk rock, Lowe never really was a punk rocker. Lowe was concerned with bringing back the tradition of three-minute pop singles and hard-driving rock & roll, but he subverted his melodic songcraft with a nasty sense of humor. His early solo singles and albums Jesus of Cool and Labour of Lust overflowed with hooks, bizarre jokes, and an infectious energy that made them some of the most acclaimed pop records of the new wave era. As new wave began to fade away in the early '80s, Lowe began to explore roots rock, eventually becoming a full-fledged country-rocker in the '90s. While he never had another hit after 1980's "Cruel to Be Kind," his records found a devoted cult audience and were often critically praised."

From Wikipedia:
"Labour of Lust is an album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. Also produced by Lowe, it was released in 1979 by Radar Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US. It was recorded and released at the same time as Dave Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary and features the same Rockpile personnel. It led off with the arch "Cruel to Be Kind," Lowe's only major US hit.

The American version of this record had a slightly different track listing, with "Endless Grey Ribbon" being deleted and replaced by the UK single A-side, "American Squirm." The latter song includes members of Elvis Costello & The Attractions, namely Elvis on backing vocals, Bruce Thomas on bass and Pete Thomas on drums. Credited to "Nick Lowe and His Sound," the B-side of this single was Elvis & The Attractions' version of the Lowe-penned "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?" "Endless Grey Ribbon" did get an American release as the B-side of the "Cruel to Be Kind" single.

Released on CD by Demon/Fiend (EU) and Columbia (US and Canada) in 1990, it fell out of print quickly and was available only in used CD stores and web sites.

Yep Roc Records reissued the album on CD on March 15th 2011, containing all tracks from the US and UK versions, as well as the B-Side "Basing Street."

U.S. version
All songs by Nick Lowe, except where noted.
"Cruel to Be Kind" (Lowe, Ian Gomm) – 3:31
"Cracking Up" – 2:59
"Big Kick, Plain Scrap!" – 2:28
"American Squirm" – 2:29
"You Make Me" – 1:53
"Skin Deep" – 3:12
"Switchboard Susan" (Mickey Jupp) – 3:50
"Dose of You" – 2:21
"Without Love" – 2:29
"Born Fighter" – 3:09
"Love So Fine" (Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner, Terry Williams) – 3:52

Nick Lowe – bass and vocals
Dave Edmunds – rhythm and solo guitars and backing vocals
Billy Bremner – rhythm and solo guitars and backing vocals
Terry Williams – drums

Additional personnel
Huey Lewis – harmonica on "Born Fighter"
Bob Andrews – Oberheim on "Endless Grey Ribbon"
Elvis Costello – backing vocals on "American Squirm"
Bruce Thomas – bass on "American Squirm"
Pete Thomas – drums on "American Squirm"
Roger Bechirian – Tape Engineer




LP > Rega P1 with Ortofon Super 30 > TC-750LC > E-Mu 0202 > Adobe Audition 3 (AA) @ 96kHz 32bit float > Manual click removal in AA > Click Repair set @ 20 > Equalizer (from the ClickRepair guy) used to combine into mono) > AA used to split tracks, fade in/out, and for manual click removal > RX Advanced to resample > RX Advanced to dither MBIT+ > TLH to FLAC and sector align (16bit, pad) > MP3 Tagger to edit tags.

"16bit" = 16bit at 44.1kHz
"24bit" = 24bit at 96kHz


No music was harmed in the making of this vinyl rip.