Pure Pop for Now People by Nick Lowe

Pure Pop for Now People is the American edition of Nick Lowe's 1978 solo debut, known in Britain as Jesus of Cool, and it borrows its title from a slogan printed on the original UK cover. Lowe produced it himself, and it's a wisecracking, magpie-minded blast of power pop and new wave from the pub-rock veteran, bouncing from glam stomp to sweet pop to punky sneer.

The US version shuffles the running order and swaps some tracks: "They Called It Rock" comes in, in a slightly different take by Lowe's other band Rockpile, in place of "Shake and Pop", a studio "Heart of the City" from the B-side of his "So It Goes" single replaces the live one, and "Rollers Show", a 1977 novelty single he'd released as Tartan Horde, gets added. "(I Love the Sound of) Breaking Glass" was a top-10 hit in the UK, and "So It Goes" turned up in the 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School. Critics have heaped praise on it ever since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.