The Jesus of Cool Outtakes

Nick Lowe's Jesus Of Cool album was reissued this week by Yep Roc for its 30th anniversary celebration.  The reissue is available on emusic, and has the original album plus a slew of bonus tracks from the Bowi ep (Nick's answer to Bowie's Low) and the U.S. version of the album (retitled Pure Pop For Now People to not offend us oversensitive Americans).

It could be because it's the version I grew up with, but I think Pure Pop is a much stronger album than Jesus Of Cool. The sequence of songs makes a lot more aesthetic sense. "They Called It Rock" is an improved version of "Shake And Pop", the two-minute studio version of "Heart Of The City" is superior the four-minute live version, and the songs added to the US version like "Rollers Show" were all top shelf. And even though The Jesus Of Cool is a very cool title, Pure Pop For Now People may be one of the best album titles ever.

Lucky for me, it's fairly easy to turn this reissued Jesus into Pure Pop by tweaking its sequence. This album in any name or sequence is certainly one of the gems of the era, a whole bunch of great songs all in a row. I also like that the new title Jesus of Cool [bonus tracks] could be scanned as "the Jesus of Cool bonus tracks".

The folks at Yep Roc left a few stones unturned though, and didn't include every Nick Lowe song from the JOC/PPFNP era. The three singles he cut after leaving Brinsley Schwarz are available as bonus downloads when you order from the label, and one side of each single also available here. I have these on a CD called The Wilderness Years which is really hard to find, but collects all the stray tracks that Nick Lowe recorded between 1975 and 1978. "Bay City Rollers We Love You" was his first attempt to get dropped by UA. It was the other side of "Rollers Show" single. Unfortunately at the height of Rollermania, it became a hit in Japan. Nick's followup single, "Let's Go To The Disco" (by the Disco Brothers) actually did get him dropped by his label. "Truth Drug" is the B-side his second single for Stiff (after "So It Goes"). The A-side was a Dr. Feelgood cover which isn't quite as interesting, but "Truth Drug" is almost punk rock. Take that Rat Scabies!

Three Lost Lowes
The Tartan Horde - Bay City Rollers We Love You
The Disco Brothers - Let's Go To The Disco
Nick Lowe - Truth Drug