1989, I'm 14, getting into EC and I go to see the man in concert. The ticket said "No Support" but a support came on called Nick Lowe. Didn't know who he was but halfway through his accoustic set he went into CTBK and my brain went "he's the guy who does this song!!!" and fuzzy memories of the song from Swap Shop days filled me all over...
Great song, the video is mental with NL at a wedding and is waaaay too
cool.
Jackson Doofster wrote:The Beat are on now - 'Too Nice to Talk to'
I remember thinking this about Marie Cooney - the leggy blonde 15 yo on my street.
Her Dad hated me............mind you, I was thirty years old. ...
...only kidding!!
oooooooohh.......hang on.........it's their version of 'Can't Get Used to Losing You' now.
".....gonna spend my whole life through......loving you......"
Ah, the English Beat. One of the first real concerts I ever attended, with my brother at the Hollywood Palladium, was the English Beat with The Bangs (later to become the Bangles). I can remember the entire crowd dancing like crazy and emerging from the auditorium drenched in sweat. What a fun band.
Who Shot Sam....the Palladium would be such a great place to see bands if it wasn't for the dreadful acoustics -- if the Beat could burn down that place, it's really saying something! (I missed that show, getting somewhat late to that particular bandwagon, but I think several friends were there. One of my best pals was kind of a leader in the whole L.A. mod scene....)
Getting back to CTBK -- I had a similar moment on the Elvis and Nick Tour from the mid-to-late eighties (sort of a mini acoutic version of the spining-songbook tour). I hadn't heard it in awhile and I just kind of went into a mild swoon that also recalled some memories. A near perfect pop song indeed!
(And I'm also suddenly recalling some article I read about Nick, I guess. In the article, some kind of music tipster fella accosts Nick and predicts that CTBK would net him "elephant dollars", much to Basher's amusemnt....Anyone else remember this???)
In 1979 on the last day of term, our class (Coolmine Community School) were told we could bring in 2 records (45s) each to play on the decrepit school record player.
I brought in 'CTBK' and 'Back of My Hand' by The Jags
All the Abba and Disco fans sat slack jawed throughout!
"But they can't hold a candle to the reciprical war crimes which have plagued our policy of foriegn affairs."
I've just got Basher - The Best of Nick Lowe and love Cruel To Be Kind. Don't forget (I Love The Sound Of) Breaking Glass and So It Goes - all great great pop songs. I grew up hearing CTBK and (ILTSO)BG and not knowing who it was until years later.....(I Love The Sound Of) Pennies Dropping.
I spent the 2nd half of the 80's in a remote part of Canada. There were only 2 AM stations worth listening to on the radio, and even they were truly awful. Still, every now and then they'd play CTBK and it was like a blast of fresh air. That acoustic guitar flourish intro, Billy Bremner's divine guitar break... it made life worth living. Great, great track.
Last edited by martinfoyle on Fri Oct 31, 2003 10:45 am, edited 1 time in total.