Labour of Lust

Studio album by Nick Lowe

Released

June 9, 1979

Recorded

1979

Studio

Eden Studios, London, England; Love Studios, Helsinki, Finland (except: "American Squirm": 1978)

Genre

New wave, pub rock

Length

32:40

Label

Radar (UK)
Columbia (US)
Demon (UK reissue)
Proper Records (2011 UK reissue)
Yep Roc (2011 US reissue)

Producer

Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe chronology

Jesus of Cool
(1978)

Labour of Lust
(1979)

Nick the Knife
(1982)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	(A) link
Smash Hits	7/10

Labour of Lust is an album by British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. Also produced by Lowe, it was released in 1979 by Radar Records in the UK and Columbia Records in the US. It was recorded and released at the same time as Dave Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary and features the same Rockpile personnel. It led off with the arch "Cruel to Be Kind," Lowe's only major US hit.

The American version of this record had a slightly different track listing, with "Endless Grey Ribbon" being deleted and replaced with the UK single A-side, "American Squirm." The latter song includes members of Elvis Costello & The Attractions, namely Elvis on backing vocals, Bruce Thomas on bass and Pete Thomas on drums. Credited to "Nick Lowe and His Sound," the B-side of this single was Elvis & The Attractions' version of the Lowe-penned "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?" "Endless Grey Ribbon" did get an American release as the B-side of the "Cruel to Be Kind" single.

Released on CD by Demon/Fiend (EU) and Columbia (US and Canada) in 1990, it fell out of print quickly and was available only in used CD stores and web sites.

Yep Roc Records reissued the album on CD on March 15, 2011, containing all tracks from the US and UK versions, as well as the B-Side "Basing Street."

All written songs by Nick Lowe except where noted.

Album

Single

Canada-Gold (50,000 copies sold)

...
Wikipedia