OL’NICK THE KNIFE’S BACK IN TOWN!

Nick Lowe is one of the nicest and most down-to-earth, guys in rock ’n’ roll. He’s the type of person you might have imagined your favorite pop stars to be like when you were a kid, but a type that appears to be more exception than rule these days. “Talent” is a trait that sometimes gives one the exclusive right to be an egocentric, temperamental jerk if one so desires, but—-make no mistake about it—Nick Lowe has loads of talent. It sounds a bit hokey and pretentious to label him a pop genius, so let’s just say he’s a master pop craftsman (songwriter, producer and performer) and one of the most important architects of the late. 70’s pop-rock revival.

Nick helped set the standard for what many people felt the new wave should have been, and that is drawing and building on the best elements of rock’s great past (with all due apologies to Ms. Burchill) to create a vital, refreshing form of modern pop-rock music. Of course, this device also had its negative effects, as anyone who remembers the glut of mediocre “power pop” groups that thrived during the last two years of the 70’s will surely testify. But blaming Nick Lowe for that would be akin" to blaming Bob Dylan for Sonny Bono or even the Beatles for the Knack. A lot of today’s best music is still being created by groups who synthesize and rebuild some of the best and most basic rock archetypes (bands ranging from Springsteen’s E Street crew and the Ramones to the Blasters and Human Switchboard come immediately to mind). Nick Lowe has been restructuring the archetypes for well over a decade now— adding his own rather detached form of black humor to the mix—and creating some of the best pop songs of our time. Or any time, for that matter. Buddy Holly probably would have adored his “Now And Always,’’ while “Heart” and “Cruel To Be Kind” surely would have been #1 smash hits if they’d been released during the mid-60s, fitting right in with the latest from Lesley Gore, Lou Christie, the Beatles, the Monkees or Tommy James & the Shondells. Somehow, they just don’t seem to make as much sense on today’s playlists between the latest drivel from Foreigner, Journey, Paul Davis or Sheena Easton.