Nick Lowe's "Jesus Of Cool" Gets Expanded & Reissued.

I know it's only the third week of the new year, but I have the feeling that the battle for "Best Reissue of 2008" is over, with the announcement of Yep Roc's Feburary 19 release date of Nick Lowe's Jesus Of Cool.

Jesus Of Cool was Nick Lowe's debut solo album, released in Europe in 1978, but when it came time to put it out in the States, Columbia Records freaked out about the "controversial" title, and put it out under the very apt name, Pure Pop For Now People, with a different track order and a couple song additions and subtractions. The album's personnel was Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner, and Terry Williams...whom fans of pub-rock history will recognize as the mighty Rockpile. Both versions of the album contained the infectious "So It Goes", which holds a place in modern music history as the first release on the influential Stiff Records label.

Yep Roc's 30th anniversary edition of Jesus of Cool includes "all the tracks from the original release in its original sequencing as well as the bonus tracks available on Pure Pop for Now People and other b-sides and rarities from that era," says the press release.

Check the 21-track line-up:

Music For Money
I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass
Little Hitler
Shake And Pop
Tonight
So It Goes
No Reason
36 Inches High
Marie Provost
Nutted By Reality
Heart Of The City (Live)
Shake That Rat
I Love My Label
They Called It Rock
Born A Woman
Endless Sleep
Halfway To Paradise
Rollers Shaw
Cruel To Be Kind (Original Version)
Heart Of The City
I Don't Want The Night To End

And Yep-Roc's offering these bonus tracks for pre-orders:
"Bay City Rollers We Love You" and "Allorolla" (by Nick Lowe side project Tartan Horde)
"Let's Go To The Disco" and "Everybody Dance" (by side project the Disco Brothers)

Pure and simple, this album is a pop masterpiece and proof that Lowe is one of the world's greatest living songwriters.

Lowe's famously been quoted in the NY Daily News as saying, "I didn't want to become one of those thinning-haired, jowly old geezers who still does the same shtick they did when they were young, slim and beautiful." I hereby implore Lowe to pull that shtick out of the attic, get Rockpile back together, hit the road, and show the indie-popsters how it's done.

Stream the reissue of Jesus Of Cool here.

Nick Lowe - "I Love My Label" mp3 pre-order here

Nick Lowe - "So It Goes" on German TV, 1982: