Music Review: Rockpile - Live At Montreux 1980 - Page 2

Nick Lowe's Labour Of Lust was recorded at the same time as Repeat When Necessary, and also released in 1979. Just imagine if these two records had been combined and released as a double Rockpile set. It could have been huge, as they say. But record company politics did not allow for this, and I suppose it is pointless to pose such a "What if" question. In any case, Labour Of Lust is certainly as good, if not a better record than Repeat. Strangely enough though, the lone representative from Labour is "Switchboard Susan."

Dave Edmunds was the first out of the box with a hit sing with "I Hear You Knockin'," from way back in 1970. Rockpile nail it with ease here, and the crowd is obviously thrilled. Finally the guys land on a classic Sun-era Jerry Lee Lewis number, "Let's Talk About Us," as this smoking show comes to a close. As Malcolm Dome writes in his liner notes, "It all passes in such a blur. Surely we can't have heard the set in its entirety?" Yet that was Rockpile.

As Lowe sings during his great "So It Goes," "So it goes, so it goes, so it goes, so it goes, where it winds up, no one knows." Personal and musical differences blew them apart shortly after this concert. None of that was evident onstage at Montreux however. The quality of the music they blasted out that night 31 years ago still sounds remarkably fresh. In fact, it sounds timeless. It would prove to be a short-lived situation, but when it worked, nobody could touch Rockpile. The proof is right here on Live At Montreux, which captures the band at the peak of their powers.

Article Author: Greg Barbrick

Greg Barbrick is a Seattle native who was first published in 1988, in his hometown music magazine, The Rocket. Since then his work has appeared in print and online for numerous sources. He Googles himself so often that his mother told him it would make him go blind.
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