PARTY OF ONE - Nick Lowe

YEAR: 1990

LABEL: Reprise

TRACK LISTING: You Got the Look I Like, (I Want To Build A) Jumbo Ark, Gai-Gin Man, Who Was That Man?, What's Shakin' On the Hill, Shting-Shtang, All Men Are Liars, Rocky Road, Refrigerator White, I Don't Know Why You Keep Me On, Honeygun

IMPRESSIONS: I love this album. It has a sound like no other (especially for 1990) and all I can say is that it reminds me of the song "Bimbombey" by Jimmie Rodgers which I've loved all my life. The sound of the music Nick Lowe makes on this album puts me in a faraway magical place where the Big Rock Candy Mountain probably looms in the background behind the cigarette trees and the sawed-off water fountain. At the time, PARTY OF ONE made scads of "best of" lists for 1990 but somehow it never became the hit it deserves to be. I guess Nick Lowe's no Michael Jackson. And for that -- and this album -- we can be greatful. This album also contains one of my official theme songs: "What's Shakin' On the Hill" which was also awarded the very first Penguin Award for Song of the Year 1990. It also brings back vivid memories of setting up the salad bar every morning at Sizzler; I used to hook up my boom box to the overhead speakers and play music before we opened and this tape was in constant rotation at the time.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: You Got the Look I Like, (I Want To Build A) Jumbo Ark, Gai-Gin Man, Who Was That Man?, What's Shakin' On the Hill, Shting-Shtang, All Men Are Liars, Rocky Road

GUEST ARTISTS: Paul Carrack (piano, organ), Ry Cooder (electric guitar, mandolin), Dave Edmunds (electric guitar, producer)
FACT SHEET: PARTY OF ONE is Nick Lowe's 8th album. It is one of only two Nick Lowe albums that does not contain a cover song. Friends Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds agreed to produce each others albums that year. PARTY OF ONE was re-released in 1995 with a different cover and two additional bonus tracks.