Rockpile: Seconds Of Pleasure (Remastered + Expanded) CD Track Listing

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Rockpile Seconds Of Pleasure (Remastered + Expanded) (1980)
Seconds Of Pleasure (Remastered + Expanded)\n\nOriginally Released October 1980\nCD Edition Released 1987 ??\nRemastered Universal/Demon CD Edition Released July 15, 1999\nRemastered + Expanded Columbia/Legacy CD Edition Released April 27, 2004\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: At the time of its release in October of 1980, Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure was viewed in some quarters as a little disappointing, which shows that there are considerable pitfalls that come with high expectations. There was a reason why the album was highly anticipated. During the late '70s, Rockpile was considered one of the great rock & roll bands, earning a reputation for blowing away every headlining act they played with, and they were just as good on record, acting as the backing band for solo albums by the group's co-leaders, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. Although they were a strong presence on the road and on the charts, they had yet to release a recording underneath the Rockpile name, so when Seconds of Pleasure finally appeared, fans and critics alike expected a rip-roaring, rampaging rock & roll record, since that's what their live performances were. \n\nWhat they got was a bit different -- it was still a rock & roll record, but it wasn't down and dirty; it was bright, propulsive, and poppy, filled with big melodic hooks and polished until it glistened. Not what was expected of Rockpile in 1980, perhaps, but time has been nothing but kind to this record and, judged on its own merits, it's one of hell of a good time. At its core, Seconds of Pleasure is an invigorating blend of the strengths of Lowe and Edmunds, who may have had a shared love of pre-Beatles rock & roll -- particularly Chuck Berry and the Everly Brothers -- but had very different aesthetics. Edmunds was serious and dedicated to detail, to the point of single-handedly re-creating the sound of Phil Spector and Sun Studios on his early solo albums. On the other hand, there was a reason why Lowe was given the nickname "Basher" -- he loved to get in the studio and bash out the music, preserving the energy, passion, and humor of a band at its peak. Eventually, this caused great conflict between the two -- the band's split was anything but friendly, and a reunion for Lowe's 1990 album, Party of One, was tentative and testy -- but on albums like Nick's Labour of Lust and Dave's Repeat When Necessary (both 1979), it resulted in tremendous music. But both of those records were true solo albums, capturing the personality of each musician. \n\nSeconds of Pleasure is a true band affair, a 12-track album split evenly between the two -- five each for Lowe and Edmunds, with guitarist Billy Bremner taking two lead vocals on "Heart" and "You Ain't Nothin' But Fine" -- and while the alternating sequence of one Nick tune, one Dave song suggests that there might have been some tension between the two in the studio, both benefit from the collaboration. At times, Edmunds' precision and devotion to the past can be a little too dogmatic and rigid, and Lowe lightens him up, while Dave brings focus and a bit of polish to Nick's charmingly ragged pop and rock. As a result, Seconds of Pleasure is both focused and loose, rocking hard but with a savvy pop sensibility. Fittingly, the songs play to Rockpile's strengths as both a pop and rock band, while offering a fitting tribute to their flair for excellent covers. Lowe unearths Gene Chandler's infectious "Teacher Teacher," while Edmunds finds Kip Anderson's "A Knife and a Fork," perhaps the only rock & roll song about overeating, revives the little-known Chuck Berry tune "Oh What a Thrill," and does a barnstorming version of Joe Tex's "If Sugar Was as Sweet as You" -- and with "Wrong Again (Let's Face It)" by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of Squeeze, he proves once again that he's a tremendous interpretive singer of new wave pop songs. \n\nBut when it comes to pop songs, Nick Lowe rules this album with six of his finest tunes. He digs out Brinsley Schwarz's old anthem "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)" and "Fool Too Long," which he tried to give to Dr. Feelgood (here, it's sung by Dave), and both sound rowdy and right in Rockpile's hands; he gives the delightful, infectious "Heart" to Bremner, choosing to sleaze it up with the steady-grooving "Pet and Hold You." With "Now and Always" he camouflages a knowing, mordantly funny suicide note with a sighing hook worthy of Buddy Holly, and on "When I Write the Book," with its tongue-in-cheek defeated autobiography, he has a showcase for the best of his wit and songcraft. The great thing about Seconds of Pleasure is how these wonderful Nick moments dovetail with Dave's piledriving rockers, complementing each other and creating a unique rock & roll album that's inspired and informed by the past, but lives for the moment and crackles with energy. Years later, it sounds fresh, exciting, and vibrant. Rockpile didn't leave a large recorded legacy, but nearly everything they did was great, which is easier to see now, after all the initial negative reviews and dashed expectations have faded, leaving behind just the music -- and, frankly, rock & roll doesn't get better than this. \n\n[Upon its original CD reissue, Seconds of Pleasure included the four-track EP Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers, which was given away as a 45 with early pressings of the album. It's a wonderful and intimate live-in-the-studio concert, with Nick and Dave coming close to matching the Everlys' harmonies on versions of "Take a Message to Mary," "Crying in the Rain," "Poor Jenny," and "When Will I Be Loved." These four songs were also included on Columbia/Legacy's expanded, remastered 2004 reissue, which also featured three other bonus tracks: "Back to Schooldays" and "They Called It Rock," taken from a 1977 BBC session, and "Crawling from the Wreckage," taken from the 1981 LP The Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. While these are good, solid versions, they seem haphazardly selected; it would have been far better to go the whole hog and make this a double-disc expanded edition with a full-length concert on the second disc, since that would have offered definitive proof of how good the band was in concert. Still, what's here is very good, and the remastering alone makes this reissue worthwhile for any fan of the album.] -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine \n \nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nThough Rockpile managed only one, nigh-perfect album at the height of the '80s new wave boom, its members--Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner, and Terry Williams--had played together in various incarnations, in some instances for over a decade: Edmunds and drummer Williams had been in the '60s power trio Love Sculpture; all had played on Lowe's '78 album Jesus of Cool and Edmunds's '79 collection Repeat When Necessary. But Seconds of Pleasure became their most complete and satisfying pop statement--if their ironic swan song, as well. This newly remastered collection features the complete original album, as informed and vibrant a tribute to American rockabilly and R&B roots (with an amped-up take of Joe Tex's "If Sugar Was as Sweet as You" and inviting reworkings of Gene Chandler's "Teacher Teacher" and Chuck Berry's obscure "Oh What a Thrill") as any contemporary group has ever managed--especially considering three quarters of the material is either Rockpile originals or contemporary compositions, like "Wrong Again" by Squeeze songwriters/mainstays Difford and Tilbrook. The generous slate of bonus tracks features all four acoustic, live-in-the studio tracks from the Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers tribute EP distributed with initial pressings of the LP; two fine live BBC recordings from '77; a cover of Graham Parker's "Back to Schooldays"; a band original, "They Called It Rock"; and a blistering live rendition of Parker's "Crawling from the Wreckage" from one of the band's last appearances together at the Concert for Kampuchea. Though Lowe may now downplay them as "a posh bar band" who "specialized in playing Chuck Berry music four times faster than anyone else," Rockpile was truly one of the great rock bands of their--or any--era. --Jerry McCulley \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nMore Than 3600 Seconds of Pleasure, June 19, 2000 \nReviewer: "jay-kar" (New York, New York)\nOne of the great underrated albums of the late '70s/early '80s, this CD captures Edmunds, Lowe, Bremner, and Williams at their peak. Any fan of roots rock and new wave power pop ala "Cruel To Be Kind" will "get it," it's one kickin' classic after another, with Dave and Nick doing their best Everlys impersonation as a bonus. If you like rock, you'll love Rockpile. \n\nHalf.com Album Credits (2004 Remastered + Expanded Edition)\nAldo Bocca, Engineer\nRockpile, Producer\n\nAlbum Notes\nRockpile: Dave Edmunds (vocals, guitar, piano, organ); Billy Bremner (vocals, guitar); Nick Lowe (vocals, bass); Terry Williams (drums).\n\nProducers: Rockpile, Jeff Griffin, Chris Thomas.\n\nRecorded at Eden Studios, Chiswick, England. Includes liner notes by Andy Schwartz.\n\nThe CD contains the four songs from the bonus EP--NICK LOWE & DAVE EDMUNDS SING THE EVERLY BROTHERS--included with the original LP release.\n\nKindred spirits Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe had worked together extensively in different capacities in the 1970s, but their on-again/off-again band Rockpile only recorded one album, 1980's superlative SECONDS OF PLEASURE. It stands as one of the finest examples of the pub-rock/power-pop crossroads that defined the band's aesthetic. Edmunds and Lowe's American influences are worn on the sleeve (literally), as they spark new life into tunes by Chuck Berry ("Oh What a Thrill") and soul man Joe Tex ("If Sugar Was as Sweet as You").\n\nIncredibly, the duo's own compositions stand up just as well. "When I Write the Book" would have been a standout on any classic Sam & Dave LP, and "Heart" is a finer faux-Motown piece than one could ever expect from a bunch of Brits. This 2004 reissue is spiced up with a wealth of bonus tracks, including a quartet of sterling Everly Brothers covers, where Edmunds and Lowe show off their harmony skills, and live versions of a couple of Graham Parker's more roots-conscious tunes ("Back to Schooldays," "Crawling from the Wreckage"). Even with decades of hindsight, a convincing case can be made for SECONDS OF PLEASURE as one of the finest British rock & roll albums of its era.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nGet the reissue!, May 15, 2004\nReviewer: Timothy Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) \nAlbums this effortless sounding are rare jewels. If you're an aficionado of this style of buoyant 80's sound or Brit Pub rock, "Seconds Of Pleasure" is absolutely indispensable. The addition of the original album's bonus EP, "Nick and Dave Sing The Everly Brothers," two unreleased live cuts and "Crawling From The Wreckage" from the "Concerts of Kampuchea" make the reissue an even better buy.\nThe one official recording by Rockpile, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremmer and Terry Williams, this 1980 CD has been in my fave albums pile ever since it came out. Had this foursome not been bar and band mates for each other before "Seconds Of Pleasure," this platter would have been trumped as a supergroup. Edmunds and Williams had already been well established as far back as the sixties with hits, Lowe would be in the history books if only that he released Stiff Records' first single. That Lowe's albums ("Pure Pop For Now People," "Labour of Lust") and as well as Edmunds' solos ("Repeat When Necessary," "Trax On Wax 4") not already given them stature among the cognoscenti, their contributions to the sound of the period as individual producers would.\n\nAfter all, between the two of them, they should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their production library. Edmunds for Stray Cats, kd lang, Fabulous Thunderbirds and (fer crying out loud) Foghat; Lowe for Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Pretenders, and John Hiatt all but sealing their rep as a pair of men that made a decade sound the way it did. Yet for all that star power, when it came time to record a proper album as a group, Rockpile made it sound like no sweat.\n\n"Seconds Of Pleasure" took all things great about basic bar band rock and made it sound fresh. It was almost as if they came at you with the credo that anything that they couldn't make sound as simplistic as a Chuck Berry riff or Everly Brothers' harmony wasn't worth the tape it took. To that end, the band cribbed from the best, covering a pair of classics (Berry's "Oh What A Thrill" and Joe Tex's "If Sugar was as Sweet as You"), then surrounding them with originals that were every bit as perfect ("Teacher Teacher" and "When I Write The Book"). They were even so hot a band that Billy Bremmer got the lead vocal on what should have been a classic single, they bouncy "Heart." \n\nTo paraphrase one of Edmunds' albums. "Git it." Four and a half stars.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nPassionate and Energetic ?No Frills? Rock, August 15, 2000\nReviewer: dev1 (Baltimore) \nI don't want to hear any complaints about how boring the eighties were. Perhaps Billboard's Top-100 was pretty lackluster during the decade, but for fans willing to search through the record store bins, rock'n'roll was alive and well. The original Rockpile LP was so cool because it came with a bonus EP. I had heard of an EP before, but this was my first (and only). Four Everly Brothers covers on a 45 showcasing the exquisite vocal harmonies of Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. The production is austere - Dave and Nick backed by acoustic guitar and a simple base line. It sounds like a first-take recording, with the reverberation of a school gymnasium. Many "unplugged" electric artists should have remained "plugged," but Dave and Nick display their vocal and musical talents "naked." The EP (CD tracks 13-16) is a befitting tribute to the princes of two-part vocal harmony, and an honest example of "less" production in rock often results in "more."\nAs for the "real" Rockpile album (tracks 1-12)? It's a marvelous marriage of two complementary genres: Dave Edmunds' classic rhythm and blues, and Lowe's peculiar Pop perspective. Rockpile is essentially a "live" band. Several songs are faster than customary for studio recordings, and include "live" endings instead of studio fade-outs. Edmunds seems to be in charge. Most compositions are traditional (Chuck Berry) rockers. My favorites are those featuring Nick Lowe's imaginative bass lines and quirky lyrics (Teacher Teacher, Pet You And Hold You, When I Write The Book). Dave and Nick sound like siblings - their vocal harmonies are delectable (Now And Always). It's not too late to start the eighties with passionate and energetic "no frills" rock. Grab a copy of Rockpile.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nHours of Pleasure, July 10, 2000\nReviewer: Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) \nRockpile was formed as a backing band for Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds' solo records and as an outlet for the two the hit the road and play live. Along with Billy Bremmer on guitar and Terry Williams on drums, the unit played on great albums like Lowe's Jesus Of Cool & Labour Of Lust and Edmunds' Tracks On Wax & Repeat When Necessary which were essentially Rockpile records. Seconds Of Pleasure is the only official release under the Rockpile moniker. The album kicks off with a great one-two punch. First is an ode to teenage lust "Teacher Teacher" and then moves into an old Joe Tex rave up "If Sugar Was As Sweet As You". The third song is "Heart" which is probably more familiar in its later incarnation as a slowed down reggae song on Lowe's Nick The Knife album. Here it is a fast paced pop tune, which I think is superior to the remake. Other standout cuts include "When I Write The Book", "Play That Fast Thing", "Now & Always" and the humorous "A Knife & A Fork". The original album contained a bonus 45 with 4 Everly Brothers remakes and they are included as the last four tracks on the disk. The best of the four is "Crying In The Rain". Unfortunately after this album and a supporting tour, Rockpile never recorded as a unit or play live again. They only sporadically worked on Lowe & Edmunds' solo recording. Too bad we couldn't have had a few more albums from this fine band.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nNot up to par with Lowe and Edmunds solo LPs, June 16, 2000\nReviewer: redtunictroll (Earth, USA) \nGiven that the nucleus of this band had played together for several years, and had recorded variously as the backing band for Nick Lowe and Dave Edmund's "solo" LPs, one has to wonder why this LP is so relatively unengaging.\nMy feeling is that it lacks the strong direction and stamp that Lowe or Edmunds give projects that have their name in the lead. The elevation of the band to the title has simultaneously delimited the leadership that Lowe and Edmunds provided on their own albums, and resulted in a rather flat release.\n\nThere's nothing wrong with this LP, and to be sure, there are a few highlights, but it's nowhere near as strong as Lowe's "The Jesus of Cool" or Edmunds "Get It" or "Tracks on Wax 4."\n\nAs another reviewer mentioned, the real highlight is the inclusion of the 4-songs that were originally issued as an add-on 7" single, featuring Lowe and Edmunds' tribute to the Everly Brothers. Seeing as Edmunds is an Everly fanatic, it's no wonder this was the most interesting aspect of the release.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nIf you like this CD..., January 5, 2000\nReviewer: jmack "jmack" (New Joisey) \nI would agree with the other comments here that this is a great, great record and has been an all time fav of mine since college. And all you Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds fans, I would like to turn you onto another CD that I tend to play back to back with this one - The Searchers Sire Recordings. Yes, THOSE Searchers originally from the`60s with Needles And Pins and Don't Throw Your Love Away and that classic 12-string guitar sound, strong lead vocals, and exquisitely arranged harmonies. At the end of the 1970s, their recording fortunes were revived when Sire Records signed them for two albums. Those records, The Searchers and Love's Melodies, were the best work the group ever did, highlighted by beautiful and vibrant playing and singing, and memorable hooks and melodies. If you love good pop tunes in the mode of Rockplie, you won't be disappointed by this other CD. Check it out.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nExactly 2,644 Seconds of Pleasure, December 31, 1999\nReviewer: Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) \nThis is a terrific introduction into the world of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. Though Lowe and Edmunds along with drummer Terry Williams and second guitarist Billy Bremner had been performing on each other's solo albums for years, this is their only true group recording--and what an amazing collection of songs.\nLowe (the only true songwriter of the group--though some songs get a group writing credit) serves up the bouncy "Heart," the tender "Now and Always," the get-up-and-boogie "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)" and several other classic Rockpile tunes. The rest of the material comes from outside sources, including the obscure Chuck Berry "Oh What a Thrill." And the thing is, all of the songs blend into a cohesive whole. Lowe's originals mesh perfectly with the band's selection of covers.\n\nAs an added bonus, the CD includes the four Everly Brothers songs that were included on a separate EP with the original vinyl release in 1980, lovingly and faithfully performed by Edmunds and Lowe.\n\nIf this isn't enough Rockpile for you (and how could it be?), rush out and get the Dave Edmunds Anthology and Nick Lowe's The Doings (The Solo Years). If your budget can't afford that, start with Edmund's Repeat When Necessary and Lowe's Pure Pop for Now People (titled The Jesus of Cool in the UK) and go from there.\n\nWith the new millenmium starting with the Top 40 cluttered with over-hyped vocal boy groups and nymphette singers, it's good to know that some artists still know how to rock 'n' roll. HIGHLY Recommended\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nNot The Best Rockpile Has To Offer, April 22, 1999\nReviewer: A music fan\nTo me, the highlight of this re-release of the 1980 vinyl LP is the inclusion of the 4 bonus tracks that originally comprised a 6-inch EP that accompanied early copies of this recording. Entitled "Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe Sing the Everly Brothers", these were such faithful and loving covers of songs by Don and Phil that I was saddened to lose my original copy in a house fire.\nInasmuch as this band (Edmunds, Lowe, Billy Bremner, Terry Williams), played together on virtually all of Dave and Nick's solo recordings from '77-'80, there are, IMHO, far better examples of Rockpile's output then what is otherwise found here. I suggest either Edmunds "Get it", "Tracks on Wax 4", and "Repeat When Necessary" or Lowe's "Pure Pop for Now People" (known in the UK as "Jesus of Cool").\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nOriginal, clever 50's style music, ideal for Swing, November 18, 1998\nReviewer: bc@wetware.com (Cupertino) \nPut this on at a Swing party, and watch everyone ask you where you got it. \nRockpile is similar to, but in every way better than, Stray Cats, in the same way that James Brown is similar to, but in every way better than, many Rap artists. Rockpile wrote dynamite original material. Stray Cats wrote songs telling you how coooool they are. Both have big drums, sweet twang guitars, and a beat that'll make you jitterbug, but even a scant listen to the music will tell you that Rockpile is original, and Stray Cats is derivative.\n\nDave Edmunds and Nick Lowe wrote scads of extremely famous songs ("(What's so funny about) Peace, Love and Understanding" and many other Elvis Costello favorites), but never really scored on their own, despite having released fistfuls of albums. This record is their BEST music that you haven't heard before. Although there are some songs that are aren't as good as the rest, "Teacher Teacher," "Sugar," and the classic, phenomenal, "Heart" make this album a MUST own for anyone who likes 50's "rockabilly" swinging rock and roll. \n\nAs an added bonus, the CD includes rare "unplugged" live recordings of Nick and Dave performing four classic Everly Brothers ballads. Although it's not swing, it's astonishing to hear such perfect harmony and reverent renditions.\n\nPerhaps the "official" reviewer above is somewhat correct: Rockpile clearly loves what they are doing. But unlike that reviewer, I was happy with the product as it is: original, fresh, and perfect. I don't need to worry about what "might have been."\n\nHere's a sample of the lyrics:\n\nOh Heart, there must be no mistake!\nBeware! Special care from the start!\nHeart, though I'm glad for this first bit of love you've had,\nMake certain now, or you're gonna break!\n\nOh Heart, you motor of emotion!\nHeart, you've never been like this before!\nHeart, at first I thought that you were jokin',\nBut I know, deep down in you, that you're sure!\n\nI cannot praise lyrics like this highly enough. Buy or die!\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nBest Album Ever Bar None, August 8, 1998\nReviewer: A music fan\nI was at a keg party in 1982. A bunch of losers were playing Duran Duran. I put on this album and most of the losers left.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nSeconds of Pleasure, a quarter century of delight, August 16, 2004 \nReviewer: Timothy Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) \nThis was a reissue worth waiting for. The one official recording by Rockpile, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremmer and Terry Williams, this 1980 CD has been in my fave albums pile ever since it came out. Had this foursome not been bar and band mates for each other before "Seconds Of Pleasure," this platter would have been trumped as a supergroup. Edmunds and Williams had already been well established as far back as the sixties with hits, Lowe would be in the history books if only that he released Stiff Records' first single. That Lowe's albums ("Pure Pop For Now People," "Labour of Lust") and as well as Edmunds' solos ("Repeat When Necessary," "Trax On Wax 4") not already given them stature among the cognoscenti, their contributions to the sound of the period as individual producers would. \nAfter all, between the two of them, they should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their production library. Edmunds for Stray Cats, kd lang, Fabulous Thunderbirds and (fer crying out loud) Foghat; Lowe for Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Pretenders, and John Hiatt all but sealing their rep as a pair of men that made a decade sound the way it did. Yet for all that star power, when it came time to record a proper album as a group, Rockpile made it sound like no sweat. \n\n"Seconds Of Pleasure" took all things great about basic bar band rock and made it sound fresh. It was almost as if they came at you with the credo that anything that they couldn't make sound as simplistic as a Chuck Berry riff or Everly Brothers' harmony wasn't worth the tape it took. To that end, the band cribbed from the best, covering a pair of classics (Berry's "Oh What A Thrill" and Joe Tex's "If Sugar was as Sweet as You"), then surrounding them with originals that were every bit as perfect ("Teacher Teacher" and "When I Write The Book"). They were even so hot a band that Billy Bremmer got the lead vocal on what should have been a classic single, they bouncy "Heart." \n\nAlbums this effortless sounding are rare jewels. If you're an aficionado of this style of buoyant 80's sound or Brit Pub rock, "Seconds Of Pleasure" is absolutely indispensable. The addition of the original album's bonus EP, "Nick and Dave Sing The Everly Brothers," two unreleased live cuts and "Crawling From The Wreckage" from the "Concerts of Kampuchea" make this an even better buy. \n\nTo paraphrase one of Edmunds' albums. "Git it." Four and a half stars.
This rock cd contains 19 tracks and runs 54min 19sec.
Freedb: fd0cb913
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