Jesus of Cool

Certain Songs #1332: Nick Lowe – “Heart of the City (Live)”

September 27, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Jesus of Cool
Year: 1978

So let’s get even more convoluted, shall we? While I prefer the U.S. Pure Pop for Now People to the U.K. Jesus of Cool, I definitely prefer the live version of “Heart of the City” that showed up on the later to the studio version on the former.

Why? While the studio version of “Heart of The City” is perfectly fine — it was recorded at the same session as “So It Goes,” so there was definitely magic in the air — it’s lacking a key component found in the live version: Rockpile.

Certain Songs #1331: Nick Lowe – “So It Goes”

September 26, 2018 by Jim Connelly

Album: Pure Pop for Now People
Year: 1976

Yes, I realize that Jesus of Cool is a much better album title than Pure Pop For Now People, but I will argue to my grave that the U.S. configuration — which added “Rollers Show” and used the studio version of “Heart in the City” instead of the live one — is far superior to the original U.K. edition, especially in terms of sequencing.

And that’s because Pure Pop for Now People almost instantly justifies its title by leading off with “So It Goes,” a serious contender for the greatest power pop song ever recorded.