WORDS BY HELEN M JEROME
Nick Lowe is at an age when some blokes might be tempted to get out the pipe and slippers and muse reflectively over their past. But despite having much to muse on and nothing to prove, with exemplary back catalogues as producer and artist, this 70-year-old musical chameleon keeps looking forward. He’s constantly setting new challenges, taking on new tours, even playing at Glastonbury 2019 – yet he still maintains he’s lazy. Very much the selfmade music man, his work encompasses rock’n’roll, R&B, skiffle, pub rock, punk rock and even Americana and country, and his influence is felt across the decades.
As a boy, Nick Lowe grew up in far-flung corners of Europe where his RAF dad was stationed, listening to exciting new rock’n’roll sounds on the wireless in the 1950s, learning ukulele and cocking an ear to his mum’s and sister’s record collections. “My older sister used to bring home a lot of good rock’n’roll records, like Buddy Holly [who Lowe has covered] and Eddie Cochran. I was a big fan of him and Gene Vincent. Still am, actually. Although she mysteriously liked Pat Boone too, I don’t know why; even at that age I knew that was kind of duff!”