Complete List Of Rockpile Songs From A to Z

Feature Photo: Roger Green, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Rockpile came together in England during the mid-1970s around guitarist and vocalist Dave Edmunds and bassist and vocalist Nick Lowe. Both musicians had already established strong identities through their own recordings, but their collaboration produced one of the tightest rock and roll bands of the period. Guitarist and vocalist Billy Bremner and drummer Terry Williams completed the classic quartet, giving the group the precision, swing, and power that became central to its sound.

Rockpile’s recording history was complicated by the separate contracts held by Edmunds and Lowe. The band recorded extensively, but much of its studio work appeared under the names of its two leaders. Rockpile performed throughout Edmunds’s Tracks on Wax 4, Repeat When Necessary, and much of Twangin…, while also serving as the band heard on Lowe’s Labour of Lust. As a result, listeners were often hearing Rockpile even when the group’s name was absent from the album cover.

The quartet released only one studio album under the Rockpile name, Seconds of Pleasure, in 1980. The album brought together rock and roll, rockabilly, pub rock, new wave, and power pop without sacrificing the directness of the band’s live performances. “Teacher Teacher” became Rockpile’s best-known single, while “When I Write the Book,” “Heart,” “Now and Always,” and “Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)” demonstrated the distinct writing and vocal personalities inside the group.

Early pressings of Seconds of Pleasure also included the four-song EP Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers. Its versions of “Take a Message to Mary,” “Crying in the Rain,” “Poor Jenny,” and “When Will I Be Loved” reflected the close-harmony roots that helped shape Edmunds and Lowe as singers and record makers.

Rockpile’s reputation extended far beyond its limited studio discography. The band toured extensively in Britain, Europe, Canada, and the United States, performing songs drawn from the catalogs of Edmunds and Lowe alongside Chuck Berry covers, rockabilly standards, and material by writers including Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Mickey Jupp, and John Hiatt. Archival releases from Montreux, Hamburg, and New York later documented the range and intensity of those concerts.

The band separated in 1981 after tensions involving musical direction, management, and business arrangements. Williams later joined Dire Straits, Bremner continued as a solo artist and session musician, Lowe expanded his solo and production career, and Edmunds remained active as a performer and producer. Their time together was brief, but the recordings reveal a band capable of moving effortlessly between sharp power pop, traditional rock and roll, country harmony, and hard-driving rhythm and blues.

The list below focuses on distinct songs released on recordings credited to Rockpile, including Seconds of Pleasure, its associated Everly Brothers EP, deluxe-edition bonus performances, and the principal authorized archival concert albums. Repeated performances of the same song have been consolidated into one entry, with the relevant releases identified together.

Complete List Of Rockpile Songs From A to Z

“A Knife and a Fork” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Back to Schooldays” – live bonus track on the expanded edition of Seconds of Pleasure
“Born Fighter” – Live at Rockpalast and Live at the Palladium
“Crackin’ Up” – Live at the Palladium
“Crawling from the Wreckage” – live bonus track on the expanded edition of Seconds of Pleasure; also on Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“Cruel to Be Kind” – Live at the Palladium
“Crying in the Rain” – Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers EP (1980)
“Down Down Down (Feel Like I’m Goin’ Down)” – Live at Rockpalast and Live at the Palladium
“Fool Too Long” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Girls Talk” – Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“Heart” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“I Hear You Knocking” – Live at Montreux 1980 and Live at the Palladium
“I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)” – Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“If Sugar Was as Sweet as You” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Jailhouse Rock” – Live at the Palladium
“Juju Man” – Live at Montreux 1980 and Live at Rockpalast
“Let It Rock” – Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“Let’s Talk About Us” – Live at Montreux 1980; performed in a medley with “Let It Rock” on Live at Rockpalast
“Now and Always” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Oh What a Thrill” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Pet You and Hold You” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“Poor Jenny” – Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers EP (1980)
“Promised Land” – Live at Rockpalast
“Queen of Hearts” – Live at Montreux 1980 and Live at Rockpalast
“Singing the Blues” – Live at Rockpalast
“So It Goes” – Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“Sweet Little Lisa” – Live at Montreux 1980 and Live at Rockpalast
“Switchboard Susan” – Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“Take a Message to Mary” – Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers EP (1980)
“Teacher Teacher” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980) and Live at Montreux 1980
“They Called It Rock” – live bonus track on the expanded edition of Seconds of Pleasure; also on Live at Montreux 1980 and Live at Rockpalast
“Three Time Loser” – Live at Montreux 1980 and Live at Rockpalast
“Trouble Boys” – Live at Montreux 1980, Live at Rockpalast, and Live at the Palladium
“When I Write the Book” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“When Will I Be Loved” – Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers EP (1980)
“Wrong Again (Let’s Face It)” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980)
“You Ain’t Nothin’ but Fine” – Seconds of Pleasure (1980) and Live at Montreux 1980
“You’ll Never Get Me Up in One of Those” – Live at Rockpalast