Nick Lowe And Wreckless Eric: Two Elvis Costello Contemporaries Who Had A Better Second Act Than He Did

Of the five picture in this picture, two are dead and three are not.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,  along came  Stiff records (remember: if it ain’t Stiff it ain’t worth a fuck) and along went Live Stiffs:

Ian Dury And The Blockheads

Elvis Costello

Nick Lowe

Larry Wallis

Wreckless Eric

Ian and Elvis vying for top billing, Nick (before Rockpile) the head producer, Wreckless Eric stuck in bedsitland, and Larry Wallis.

Larry joined Motorhead and died last year, Ian Dury got nailed by cancer, that leaves Elvis, Nick, and Eric. Elvis went to the top of the class, Nick became an everyman Americana, and Eric married Amy Rigby and moved to the states. But Costello was the man in 1978 and he was the man in 1988. And by the time you reach 2020, Elvis had released exactly one great album in the 21^st Century, and so much crap it leaves you stunned and remorseful (the goodie? For The Stars), he can’t be that bad can he? Yes, and no, what I am saying is despite some great songs (he had a better century than Bruce for one), he wasn’t good enough and spends his life selling his 70s-80s material one more time.

Meanwhile, both Wreckless Eric and Nick Lowe have had a great 20 years. Eric kicked off in 2008 with Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, and then got really hot:

The Donovon Of TrashLe beat Group Electrique

AmERICa

Transcience

Each album as string as possible, pyub rock meets Americana in bedsitland, dream albums, each one better than the other. No, they didn’t sell but they sure should have.

The Convincer

At My Age

The Old Magic

Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family

The first three are as great as anything Nick has ever created,  the fourth speaks for itself.

And the point of all this is to note, that what comes round goes round, and artistic integrity is always second to a real good song.