**Rockpile- Seconds of Pleasure**- Official album discussion

The second album I'd like to discuss is Seconds of Pleasure by Nick Lowe and Dave Edmonds 'supergroup' Rockpile.

In the U.S., the only song that received much airplay was "Teacher, Teacher", which is a shame, as this album has so much more to offer.

Some of my other favorites are "Heart", "Pet You and Hold You", and "When I Write The Book".

If you like the sound od Lowe's Labour of Love album, then this is a must-have.

Question for guys from other countries, were there any other chart singles from this album where you are from?

 

"Teacher, Teacher" was the only number I heard on the radio over here (Denmark, Europe).
A nice little album but all the songs seems a little rushed so I'm almost out of breath when having listnened to it.
I prefer Dave Edmunds "Repeat When Necessary" and "Twangin'" to this one ...

 

You may be aware of this but in case everyone doesn't:

Rockpile wasn't really a supergroup. All of Edmond's albums beginning with "Tracks On Wax" and all of Lowe's up to that point had been Rockpile albums. It was a contractual mess that required the group to make the records as they were for the two different labels. "Seconds Of Pleasure" was the 'first' Rockpile album because the legal situation had changed.

I like the album a lot. The songs you mention are as good as most anything released by Nick or Dave under their own names.

 

Actually, I didn't know that. I always thought they were popular before forming Rockpile. Good info.

 

Just a nit picky thing... it's Dave Edmunds.

Defintiely not a super group in the traditional sense of the word but I guess for pub rocks fans it was a good match up. Billy Bremner had made a shot at a solo career but was mostly doing studio work.

 

jstraw wrote: "Rockpile wasn't really a supergroup. All of Edmond's albums beginning with "Tracks On Wax" and all of Lowe's up to that point had been Rockpile albums. It was a contractual mess that required the group to make the records as they were for the two different labels. "Seconds Of Pleasure" was the 'first' Rockpile album because the legal situation had changed."

A very good point.
I even seem to recall that on the back of Dave Edmunds' albums it says "A Rockpile Production" ...
The funny (or sad) thing was that when the legal situation finally changed and they could record as "Rockpile" then they only made one album, Nick and Dave got uptight with each other and that was end of story.
What a shame.

 

I love the album. I also have the original lead-off single, on F-Beat: "Wrong Way" c/w "Now And Always" (<- that song is probably my favorite - great harmonies on that one).

 

Great group and album
When I was stationed in England, I remember listening to a BBC radio show special to promote the album, I think the guest were Terry Williams and Billy Bremmer,they were very funny.
All I remember after all this time is ,they wanted to call the record,Rockabilly and Rockaterry
and they may mention that the actual title ,Seconds of Pleasure, was a description of Nick Lowe's love life

 

Knife and Fork has been a popular Southern Beach Music Shag Dancing cut. I just listened to the deluxe edition last week.

 

One of my favorites... I have like 8 copies of this...

One thing I really love about this is that Edmunds had the bright idea of covering a Chuck Berry track (OH what a thrill) which CHuck recorded for his last album which had jjust come out (rock it)... whats cool also is that the cover smokes the original because edmunds/lowe produced it perfectly....

i always thought it would have been really cool if edmunds had produced chuck berry!

 

They also had the good sense to record a Difford and Tillbrook song for the album.

 

who has the bonus ep that came with the first pressing by the way???

 

..One of my fave albums..Dave Edmunds was quoted as saying "Billy Bremmer should have sung all the songs on this album"...

 

got rid of it when the cd came out. It was a studio track, and three songs from a very enjoyable BBC session where Dave and Nick played acoustic.

 

That would be this I believe:



I still have mine. I think I played it once.

 

I enjoy this lp a lot, but it's a shame there are so many covers (probably due to the fact they had used so many originals on their solo things). It's very enjoyable, if a little White Album-ish (the Dave songs sound very different from the Nick ones). I too love this version of Heart. The guitar solo is one of my favorites. I don't think they improved on the Squeeze version of Wrong Again, though.

I had always heard that Dave really disliked Jake Rivera and that when the legal hurtles were cleared and Rivera seemed to be stepping in as the group's manager/guru, Dave couldn't take any more.

 

I loved that song I think it was called "You Ain't Nothing But Fine". Great, good old fashioned rock and roll song.

Saw them live several times and they were really great. Billy Bremner doesn't get enough credit. Believe Terry Williams ended up with Dire Straits. Also, a great, underrated drummer.

Those pre Rockpile Dave Edmunds albums were pretty great too! (as were the Nick Lowes, but I still prefer Dave's).

 

So how does the original US vinyl stack compared to the Deluxe
Edition cd?

Alan

 

As much as Nick's music has changed (matured?) since the 80s, this is the one band that I would love to see reform. I think kids today should have the priviledge of seeing the last great rock and roll (as opposed to rock) band in the flesh. I remember in the spring of '78 a triple bill tour coming to town - Elvis Costello/Mink De Ville/Nick Lowe and Rockpile. Hard to believe that they would be third billed! Harder still to know they won the crowd over that night. 5 months later, I saw them open for Van Morrison as Dave Edmunds and Rockpile. Always a great live act, their records never captured their true thunder and momentum. Not that the records were bad (they had to be great cuz I bought every single one), but live they were killer. Seconds of Pleasure initially disappointed me because it did not sound like Rockpile. After years of therapy, I am able to enjoy this final parting gift from a great band.

 

I saw Dave Edmunds and Rockpile in 1977 as openers for Bad Company, neither band was that great. I saw the "Rockpile" Seconds of Pleasure tour in 1979 at a small club and they rocked!! Moon Martin opened and he was also good.

 

I have mine too.

 

I loved the EP as well as the LP. The UK LP had great packaging with the EP slipped into a die-cut pouch on the front cover. Anyone have a photo?

Dave

 

Now And Always is a powerful and introspective lament, but the lyrics confuse me somewhat.

 

We were just talking about Rockpile over on the Audities List...

I know Terry Williams from his days with Man, a band I saw play numerous times in the Bay Area. I'd also encountered Edmunds back in 1975. As a result I saw them play live a number of times. Always great, if not amazing. I think by the time they got to do a proper Rockpile lp, they were burnt out. If you remember from 1976 to 1980 they'd done four of Dave's lp, Nick had done two, and they'd done a Carlene Carter lp. And then Seconds Of Pleasure. Repeat and Labor Of Lust were done at the same time, just after returning from a long US tour. Add to this, non-stop drinking and other tomfoolery, and you are looking at an implosion. Repeat is good. Look at all the great songs you have mentioned. It just seemed a little clinical compared to the previous ones.

I don't know if anyone remembers their only US TV appearance on the show Fridays. They played two from the lp, plus Big Blon' Babe, which I know from Jerry Lee Lewis.

While some find Nick's recent solo stuff engaging, I find it pretty limp. Edmunds tried to put Rockpile back on the road with Billy, Terry and two Swedish guys. In the end Terry wasn't up to it, and his replacement in Man, Bob Richards did the gigs. After Dire Straits, Terry lost his confidence to play. He rejoined man for a while in 1995, but just couldn't keep up anymore. I know he plays locally, but only casual gigs.

You must read Deke Leonard's book Rhinos Winos and Lunitics for some really funny Edmunds stories.

For that short period, Rockpile were the best band around. It's a shame there isn't a good live compilation to be had. A lot of shows were recorded. I think some of the live versions were better than the recorded ones, but I like everything they did starting as far back as the DE album, Rockpile, and up through Billy's solo lp Smash.

 

The remaster is clearer sounding.