Lowe and behold

In rather thrilling festive music news, Nick Lowe has released a Christmas album entitled Quality Street (and this splendid accompanying advent calendar)! So why is it that all I ever hear on Radio 2 is boyband guff, Michael sodding Buble and - if they're feeling especially edgy - Chris Rea? What sort of world is this? And why am I not listening to 6 Music like any sane human being?!

Buy Nick Lowe's Quality Street here.

How Lowe can you go?

We were lucky enough to see Nick Lowe and band play live in his old stomping ground in Kent last week, as part of the world tour that's about to take him, and indeed them, to Australia and the USA. But if you're in the UK - and especially the south eastern part of it - there's still time to see Mr Lowe and co before they depart these shores, as they're embarking on a a mini-residence at the Leicester Square Theatre in London's fashionable West End for the next five nights (March 7-11). And tickets are, as they say, still available. (Click here for details.)

I can pretty much guarantee that you'll have a thoroughly enjoyable evening anyway - but then you really don't need me to tell you that. Here's one he didn't play the other night, but which still sounds absolutely brilliant almost three decades on: Half a Boy & Half a Man missed out on the UK top 40 when it was released, in 1984, too, peaking at #53. How's that for inexplicable?



Mildly Interesting Lowe Fact: Nick's 1979 hit Cruel To Be Kind (which he did play the other night) peaked at number 12 in the British, American, Australian AND Canadian singles charts. At least it did if you believe Wikipedia.

Three of a kind #4

A pretty momentous day for me, today, music technology-wise. Thanks to a practical demonstration from my co-blogger, followed by her sending me home with an easy-to-follow, step-by-step, idiot-proof written guide (which came in very handy also; ta, Spikey!), I'm now able to convert my old vinyl records to MP3. Hooray. Who knew it was such a straightforward procedure?!

So, with this in mind, today's Three of a kind features three songs plucked from the one box of vinyl I currently have at my disposal (I have tons of records, but most of them are currently languishing in storage at my folks' house - a legacy of the years & years I spent living in a flat approximately the size of a box of Swan Vestas.)

First up, it's Nick Lowe with his 1978 #7 smash I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass. The venerable Mr Lowe is still going strong in 2007 and his new album At My Age is available from all good stores now, as they say.

Secondly it's a fantastic 1984 Peel session track from The Go-Betweens, Second-Hand Furniture. This song is made even better by the fact that Grant is actually ad-libbing the catalogue of objects. Respect very much due.

Completing today's eclectic line-up is Saturday Love, a mid-80s dancefloor/pop 40 smash by Cherrelle featuring Alexander O'Neal. It's ironic that Alex only merits a "featuring" on this one, given that he went on to become a pretty huge star (in more ways than one) off the back of it, while Saturday Love was pretty much as good as it got for Cherrelle, certainly in the UK. Fair play to her, though, it's a terrific number, sprinkled with a healthy dose of the old Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis production magic. Marvellous.

Here we go then, fresh from the vinyl archives - and with apologies to the marketing division of Kellogg's - some snatched crackling pop!

Nick Lowe - I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass mp3

The Go-Betweens - Second-Hand Furniture mp3

Cherrelle featuring Alexander O'Neal - Saturday Love (Extended Version) mp3

(above tracks all available for seven days)

Buy chart-bothering 70s & 80s classics here