rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and c ...

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Billy Bremner (vocals, guitar) and Terry Williams (drums). Rockpile recorded almost enough material for five studio albums, though only one (''

Seconds of Pleasure ''Seconds of Pleasure'' is a 1980 album by Rockpile, a band consisting of guitarists/vocalists Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner, bassist/vocalist Nick Lowe, and drummer Terry Williams. The band had played together on various solo albums by Edm ...

'') was released under the Rockpile banner. Three other albums (''

Tracks on Wax 4 ''Tracks on Wax 4'' is the fourth album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. The record was the first Edmunds solo effort to feature all four members of the band Rockpile: Edmunds, Billy Bremner (who also wrote two of the album's songs under t ...

'', ''

Repeat When Necessary ''Repeat When Necessary'' is the fifth album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. Recording and release Produced by Edmunds, it was released in 1979 by Swan Song Records (see 1979 in music). It was recorded and released at the same time as Ni ...

'', and '' Twangin...'') were released as Dave Edmunds solo albums, and one more ('' Labour of Lust'') was released as a Nick Lowe solo album. Scattered Rockpile tracks can also be found on a few other Lowe and Edmunds solo albums. Additionally, Rockpile served as backing group on tracks recorded by

Mickey Jupp Michael Graham "Mickey" Jupp (born 6 March 1944, in Worthing, Sussex, England) is an English musician and songwriter, mainly associated with the Southend music scene. Career Jupp played in several Southend bands after leaving art college in 196 ...

in 1978 and

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. As of 2020, since 1978, Carter has recorded 12 alb ...

in 1980.

Band history

Guitarist/vocalist Edmunds had recorded a 1972 solo album titled ''

Rockpile Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, g ...

'', and on his tour in support of the album, he billed his band, which included Terry Williams on drums, as Dave Edmunds and Rockpile. However, the band broke up after the tour, and Edmunds returned to studio work. One of the artists that he produced was the pub rock band Brinsley Schwarz, managed by Dave Robinson and led by bassist/singer

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz'', produced by Edmunds, pushed the band into a power pop mode and included the original version of "

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is a 1974 song written by English singer/songwriter Nick Lowe. Initially released by Lowe with his band Brinsley Schwarz on their 1974 album '' The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz' ...

". Brinsley Schwarz broke up after the release of the album, and Lowe began doing session work with Edmunds, including Edmunds' 1975 solo album ''

Subtle as a Flying Mallet ''Subtle as a Flying Mallet'' is the second solo album by Dave Edmunds, principally focused on sound-alike remakes of late 1950s and early 1960s hits. All of the vocals (except on the live tracks) are by Edmunds, and many of the songs are true s ...

''. When Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera co-founded Stiff Records, Lowe was the first artist signed to the label, and he and Edmunds recorded new material for release under Lowe's name. Stiff promoted its ties to Edmunds. However, the relationship between Edmunds and Riviera was always rocky, and in 1976 Edmunds signed a solo contract with

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's Swan Song Records, rejecting Riviera and Stiff. With help from Lowe and Terry Williams, Edmunds recorded a new solo album, '' Get It''. Lowe and Edmunds then formed a new version of Rockpile, with Williams returning on drums and Billy Bremner joining as rhythm guitar and third vocalist. Despite the pressures from having its two leaders signed to different labels, Rockpile toured in 1976-77 as the opening act for Edmunds' new labelmates

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...

, and Edmunds also provided some archive tracks to Stiff for release on Stiff compilations. However, as Lowe and Stiff became increasingly popular, Rockpile went into an on-again, off-again status. In 1977, Lowe became part of the "Five Live Stiffs" tour without Rockpile. Only Terry Williams was intended to be included in Lowe's backing band, which was called 'Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the Shop'. At the last minute, however, Edmunds also joined the band, and, although Bremner did not participate in this tour, Rockpile was soon back in business full-time. Rockpile appeared as a backing band on one track of Lowe's debut solo album, released in March 1978 with different track listings and titles in the UK and the US. The UK version ('' Jesus of Cool'') featured Rockpile on the live recording of "Heart of the City", while the US album ('' Pure Pop for Now People'') featured the Rockpile studio track "They Called It Rock", credited as being written by Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds/Rockpile. Meanwhile, Edmunds' 1978 solo album (''

Tracks on Wax 4 ''Tracks on Wax 4'' is the fourth album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. The record was the first Edmunds solo effort to feature all four members of the band Rockpile: Edmunds, Billy Bremner (who also wrote two of the album's songs under t ...

'') was the first album to be completely a Rockpile album; Edmunds sings all lead vocals. The album included the same live version of "Heart of the City," except with Edmunds' lead vocal overdubbed in place of Lowe's. Rockpile toured behind both the Lowe and Edmunds releases in 1978. The band also backed

Mickey Jupp Michael Graham "Mickey" Jupp (born 6 March 1944, in Worthing, Sussex, England) is an English musician and songwriter, mainly associated with the Southend music scene. Career Jupp played in several Southend bands after leaving art college in 196 ...

on side one of his Stiff album ''Juppanese'', produced by Lowe. In 1979, Rockpile simultaneously recorded Edmunds' ''

Repeat When Necessary ''Repeat When Necessary'' is the fifth album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. Recording and release Produced by Edmunds, it was released in 1979 by Swan Song Records (see 1979 in music). It was recorded and released at the same time as Ni ...

'' and Lowe's '' Labour of Lust''. The recording process was the subject of the TV documentary ''

orn Fighters Orn or ORN may refer to: *Orn (name), a given name and surname * ''Orn'', the second book in Piers Anthony's trilogy Of Man and Manta * Offshoring Research Network, an international network researching the offshoring of business processes and ser ...

'. Jake Riviera left Stiff Records and, taking his artists (Lowe, Elvis Costello, and

the Yachts Yachts were a British power pop/ new wave band, best remembered for their 1977 single "Suffice to Say" and the minor new wave classic "Love You, Love You". Career Formation The Yachts was formed by art students in Liverpool in April 1977, evolv ...

), moved to

Radar Records Radar Records was a UK-based record label formed in late 1977 by Martin Davis (managing director) who had previously worked at United Artists Records, and Andrew Lauder, who had previously been head of A&R at the UK divisions of Liberty Recor ...

in the UK (although Riviera Global Productions stayed with Columbia Records in the US). Edmunds' contract with Swan Song was unaffected by this change. Rockpile (under solo artists' names) enjoyed hits in 1979 on both sides of the Atlantic with Edmunds' " Girls Talk" (a top 20 hit in both the UK and Canada) and Lowe's "

Cruel to Be Kind "Cruel to Be Kind" is a song by Nick Lowe, co-written by Lowe and his former Brinsley Schwarz bandmate Ian Gomm. Written by Lowe and Gomm while the pair were in Brinsley Schwarz, the song was saved on a demo until Columbia Records convince ...

" (top 20 in the UK, Canada and the US). ''Labour of Lust'' was awarded a gold album in Canada and ''Repeat When Necessary'' was awarded a silver album in the United Kingdom. Rockpile also played in the 29 December 1979 ''

Concerts for the People of Kampuchea Concerts for the People of Kampuchea was a series of concerts featuring Queen, The Clash, The Pretenders, The Who, Elvis Costello, Wings, and many more artists which took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London during December 1979 to raise m ...

'' with Elvis Costello & the Attractions and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

, where they were joined onstage by Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant (co-owner of Swan Song). Robert Plant also joined when Rockpile played a UK university tour (at least Warwick University) at about this time. Two of the band's songs were included in the concert album.

''Seconds of Pleasure''

In 1980, Edmunds submitted the solo album '' Twangin...'', which was mostly a collection of outtakes from his previous solo albums, to complete his Swan Song contract, freeing Rockpile to record a true band record for Jake Riviera's new label

F-Beat Records F-Beat Records was a record label set up by Jake Riviera in 1979. Its first release, " I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" by Elvis Costello & the Attractions, reached number 4 in the UK charts, the highest singles chart position the label attain ...

. Released in autumn 1980, ''

Seconds of Pleasure ''Seconds of Pleasure'' is a 1980 album by Rockpile, a band consisting of guitarists/vocalists Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner, bassist/vocalist Nick Lowe, and drummer Terry Williams. The band had played together on various solo albums by Edm ...

'' featured lead vocal turns by Edmunds, Lowe and Bremner, and spawned the minor hit " Teacher, Teacher", sung by Lowe. ''Twangin...'' was issued six months after ''Seconds of Pleasure'', and featured Rockpile on nine of its eleven tracks. Rockpile also backed Lowe's new wife

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. As of 2020, since 1978, Carter has recorded 12 alb ...

( Johnny Cash's stepdaughter) on most of her 1980 album '' Musical Shapes''. In August Rockpile played the noted

Heatwave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in th ...

festival near Toronto, which with 100,000 attendees was the first large punk or new wave music event, and where Rockpile were the most experienced of the several major bands. But tensions between Lowe and Edmunds led to the band's dissolution in 1981. As Lowe put it, "We got together for fun and when the fun had all been had we packed it in." Edmunds said the breakup was due mainly because of his displeasure with the band's manager, Jake Riviera. Bremner and Williams appeared on several Lowe albums throughout the 1980s, but Lowe and Edmunds did not work together again until Lowe's 1988 album '' Pinker and Prouder Than Previous''. Edmunds also produced Lowe's 1990 album "Party of One." In 2011, "Teacher, Teacher" appeared in the opening credits of the film ''

Bad Teacher ''Bad Teacher'' is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Jake Kasdan from a screenplay by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins and Jason Segel, the film tells ...

''. Since 2011, there have been a total of five different live Rockpile album releases, the most recent being in 2021. ''Live at Rockpalast'' from 2013 also includes a DVD of their 1980 live show. The listings for each of their live releases are in the discography section below.

Members

* Billy Bremner – guitar, vocals (1976–1981) * Dave Edmunds – vocals, guitar (1976–1981) *

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Terry Williams – drums (1976–1981)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

* ''Live at Montreux, 1980'': released in 2011 by Eagle Records * ''Live at Rockpalast, 1980'': released in 2013 by Repertoire Records * ''Live at The Palladium, 1979'': released in 2017 by Vogon * ''Live in New York, 1978'': released in 2020 by Laser Media * ''The Boston Show, 1979'': released in 2021 by Laser Media

Singles

References

External links

* * {{Authority control British rock and roll music groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Columbia Records artists English new wave musical groups