Can’t take the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seriously if these guys aren’t in it. Not just Dave and Nick but Terry and Billy too!

This is a priceless artefact, Rockpile at the peak of their powers. Show me a swinging rock & roll band today that peaks the talent of Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Terry Williams & Billy Bremner. CHEERS

In the opening scene. when Dave and Nick are talking about their heroes such as Eddie Cochran, it had been only 20 years or so since those first rock and roll records were made. At the time that this documentary was filmed, rock and roll was still very young. Now it is over 40 years later, and we are still listening to Rockpile, and all of their influences. I wonder whether Dave and Nick knew in 1979 that their music would have such staying power. Rock and roll is forever.

Nick Lowe turns to Albert Lee after he’s just pulled off a face melting solo ‘listen, you’ve obviously read my pamphlet on guitar. . .’ Had me in stitches..

Nick Lowe was 29 here. He looks 49, has the wisdom you would acquire at 59. The nicotine overload here is truly frightening. A different time. Stress and alcohol overload. Born Fighter is a class track. And really respect all of the music here. Dave Edmunds comes across as strong and measured; whilst Nick Lowe is ambitious and pre-occupied. The four of them are brilliant together Thanks so much for posting

That is just a piece of buried gold. Brilliant film. Rockpile were absolute masters of their craft.

'Repeat When Necessary'. One of the Best (and underrated) Records of the Seventies.

Nick Lowe produced Elvis Costello, The Pretenders etc. The Rockpile album was played at every party I had... Juice Newton and her cover of Queen of Hearts from Edmunds was terrific. The Endless Grey Ribbon is very George Jones...

I took my girlfriend of a few months to see Dave Edmunds at a bar in St. Louis in 1981. When they ran out of beer, the patrons were not happy. One threw his (thankfully) plastic beer pitcher at the stage. Dave caught it and whipped it back it him, bouncing it off his head and right toward my girl. We ducked and headed for the door as a massive brawl ensued. We rounded the corner by their tour bus to see the band flying out the stage entrance, laughing like lunatics.

I saw Rockpile open for Van Morrison in Toronto about 1978. They were incredibly loud and brilliant.

These guys are still relatively young at this point, but you can see and hear that they're at least 15 years into the professional game already, and not many people knew about them in North America yet. At the time I was finding it as it came out, I was delighted how much they were really inside the music yet always chose to f*** with the fomulae in order to find something new and fresh, even while paying tribute to this music's origins in ways that are almost religious. This new/old rock n roll, with hilarious lyrics, and mental LP covers, was being brewed up by the very guy behind STIFF Records, a guy producing Elvis Costello, and other lifers from the UK 'pub-rock' scene. Invisible stars, from beer-soaked bars. Their approach was like lighting a whole packet of firecrackers and tossing it into an empty phonebooth. A glorious racket that was so much fun and such a laugh! I almost jumped out of my skin the day I put Labour of Lust on the turntable. I'd heard a bit of Dave's 'Get It' years earlier, and a little of the Love Sculpture stuff, and I was into Graham Parker, but I didn't really clue in totally until that very bright moment. This is the kind of stuff that is SO true and SO good that it's always going to be a little under the radar, but it will live on forever. New Wave couldn't just be about haircuts and synth keyboards. This was part of post-punk too. It was taking all the kids like me to school; and I am so thankful for that. Cheers, gents!!

Rock and roll at it's best and when Albert Lee lays down his solo well it's out of this world Graham Parker,Phil Lynott huey Lewis Well how respected were the Rockpile guys Saw them when i was 17 One of ny faciurite gigs 🤘🎵🎸

Edmunds & Lowe were like fire & ice. It was Billy Bremner's job to be like lukewarm water......

Exactly what rock lacks today, that raw 50s-esque rockabilly flavour... And these guitar gods were masters of it.... 👍👍👍👍👍

Brilliant. Thank you. What a tragedy these two fell out.

Nick...'sounds like a wasp in a jam jar'. The master of the one liner.

So many great musos and songwriters came out of the whole British pub rock scene and this documentary captures that time brilliantly.

Glad that Phil Lynott got to hear how the guitar is meant to be played - without distortion, without double leads in harmony and by Albert Lee!

Rockpile is a SERIOUSLY underrated great band! Still listen to them to this day....

Every aspiring musician (and sound engineer) should take a look at this. There are some invaluable production insights in here … a few real-world gems!

Rockpile, what a crew! How se danced in Madrid those years with their beat!

The harmony of these voices gives me chills.

This is priceless example of 2 guys being brothers in a band... rare,.... the recording sessions are awesome. For someone who has been there, the memories are fresh, the wounds deep and the music is in the can.... having a few on the radio, this is the struggle we all have had.... ideas bursting to get on tape,... meanwhile,... the drummer is still setting up and tuning those damn drums... words are still being thrown around to make sense... or not.

Wise words from Edmunds to Nick at end.

this is completely mindblowing, there's just no other way to describe it. thanks for posting this priceless gem

20:30 - CityTV. I saw this on the telly in Canada back in the eighties. Been looking for it ever since. Thank you internet!

This is great! I'm sitting here with an old K-Electric circa '60, single pickup, volume control, and input; playing along with these fellow afternoon players having a few tokes, and I say to myself, "Yeah, here we are." I have had, on another level, the experience of doing overdubs with different instruments in a studio. It's really cool seeing Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Rockpile, and Friends. Doing their behind-the-scenes-stuff. This is where it comes from! Different melodies on a common, human musical theme. Thank you for this worthy video. It's impressive how un-affected these guys are, and speaks well for the positive benefits of Art and Cultural Expression through time. Life through a posse of Artists lives.

These were the guys who wrote the soundtrack to my youth. The best show I've ever seen is STILL the 1979 club date in Chicago. Took me three days to get my hearing back, but totally worth it. Reading Will Birch's "Cruel to be Kind," a biography of sorts about Nick, led me to this film. It fills in all the gaps that link everyone from Elvis Costello to the Pretenders and more, all the music that made the 80s so fabulous.

They were masters of their craft, weren't they. They knew exactly what they were doing and how to do it!

anybody else spot Phil there? This was amazing! Thanks for uploading!

Fabulous.

I saw them at the Decorum in Hemel Hempstead. Unforgettable. This is the programme I learned of Albert Lee who can play ANYTHING except Apache. 😊

It’s worth noting that cameo-man Huey Lewis does play Harmonica on the track Born Fighter.

Every aspiring musician (and sound engineer) should take a look at this. There are some invaluable production insights in here … and, a few real-world gems - musical, technical, and philosophical!

Have several récords from this artists❤

Nick and Dave were the finest young junkies ever. The most wholesome and responsible also. Thank you very much.

Yes!!! Knew of Rockpile but this was eye opening...

Love Sculpture.

hot damn...what a group...at about 41, there is Lee, Huey Lewis with Clover, Phil Lynott, chriminy!

I loved Rockpile…! Saw them live twice.

Even Nick's coughing is world class ( 1:42) and that is also a tribute to *Senior Service* untipped, high tar cigarettes, a proper smoke for top-flight rock and rollers!

Thank you so much for this. I absolutely love every moment of this documentation of the studio process from back then. The high point is Albert Lee's guitar solo, but I also love seeing them listen to the demo for "Sweet Little Lisa" (a demo I have never been able to find) and figuring it out from there. It's so organic and real, and both of the records are FANTASTIC. For age reference, if it matters at all, I was born a week after Repeat When Necessary was released. I'd like to see this kind of music return in my lifetime, but as that is highly unlikely I'm glad we have this document.

Roger Bechirian on the board. He engineered many many great records in the late 70s - early 80s.

@37:50 Albert Lee is AMAZING.

Great stuff - proper musicians! thanks

Am i the only one who sees a great similarity to Nick Lowe and Gram Parsons?

That last conversation between Nick and Dave clearly shows who had been "imbibing" more !

Great documentary, thanks for uploading this

Thank You from Sweden!

Couldn't love it any more than I do!

Thank you. This is priceless and beautiful.

Now I know where a lot of the dialogue from This is Spinal Tap came from.

Hughie Lewis sighting @ 40.21, Phil Lynott @ 40.38

Granada TV was so ahead of the curve when it came to rock music. Did documentaries on the Doors visiting Britain and of course had the Pistols on before they had a record deal.

Love them then and now together or separately!❤

Thank you so much! This is one of my all time favourites. I've been absolutely lost since the last version disappeared off the tube.

Thanks for sharing this entertaining peek behind the curtain of their creative process.

Great Hair

MISCchout: thanks for posting. Roger Bechirian producing? Lots of artists worked at Eden Studios(London). Cheers!

At a time when punk ruled in England it was quite brave for an Englishman,Welshman & Scotsman to be singing in American accents.😅

Thanks so much for this. Rockpile album is one of my favorites.❤🎵

39:46: Huey Lewis.

Oh, damn..they guys are a riot. Listen to them talk. So, fun.

Tracking vocals while smoking! Lol the 70's ruled!

Thanks for the upload I've been searching this for ages

Wow. What a monument to rock n roll. Does anyone here remember a guy called Gareth Davies from Ruthin I think. He was my daughter's headmaster, used to teach in Switzerland before he took that job on. He once told me he was a sound engineer with Rockpile back in the day. Bloody good drummer. Also, Martin Gruffudd-Jones, a dear friend of mine who told me that the bass player in his band, Sentinel, would jam in front of Dave Edmunds' mum c1980. Alec Ansons. He became consultant opthalmologist in the NW. Small world.

WOW! Thanbks for this - I had only seen excerpts and this was a true treat! Amazing band.

Wow! Thanks for uploading!

Brilliant stuff. Thanks for uploading.

Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds smoking, getting pissed on Special Brew and Black Tower and jamming ..like a scene out of the history of Spinal Tap, what's not to like. First time I've seen DE playing a Telecaster, I always thought he was strictly Gibson.

“Endless Grey Ribbon” is basically “Long Black Veil”…

Did I see Huey Lewis in there? Think I did!

Excellent!

i was hoping they were going to play some more familiar stuff like from "seconds of pleasure." one of my favorite parts was an ep that was included with album "nick lowe and dave edmunds play the everly brothers. "when will i be loved" and "poor jenny" are just great. and the album is real good too. the cover of berry's "oh what a thrill," the single "teacher teacher," the weirdly blues of "a knife and fork," the quick rocker "you ain't nothing but fine" and everyone loves "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)." they're all great songs. thanks for the upload.

At 13:22 "See, the thing is, you can't do this sort of thing unless your are on drugs." - Nick Lowe.

Loved them back in the 70s. Doesn't look very glamorous though. Sitting around and slogging through it.

Billy's guitar part is so fucking great.

Great video!! Thanks so much for sharing this!! And amazing peek behind the curtain with some incredible talent!!

Love Rock;pile !!

Is that Chris Spedding standing beside Huey? What a huge amount of talent in one room.

Is that Black Tower Liebfraumilch they're quaffing?!! Wow that takes me back :-)

Listening to “Born Fighter”, I am reminded of a fiercer, less-polished “Girls School” by WINGS!..

in the room, phil lynott, huey lewis etc

English guys sounding like American guys. Kind of rationalising rock and roll. But still a nice bit of footage this. Very enjoyable. Great players all. And funny! ;)

I ran into Nick Lowe on Euston Station around '79/'80 . I asked him to sign the only record I had with me - a new 7" single in a picture sleeve by Delta 5 . Nick was gracious and friendly and willingly obliged . Dave Edmunds was with some other band members a little way off , and seeing Nick signing a record he rushed over , excitedly asking "Is it one of ours?" . Upon seeing that it wasn't one of theirs , he scowled and wandered off muttering . It was OK - I didn't want his autograph anyway

Great film. 50:29 Phil digging it.

Nick's hair!!!!

These guys had the lot. Bet they were good live.

Black Tower wine from a Spar supermarket will not make you feel any better.

This is fantastic! A memoir of what it's like to record songs with a group of top musicians, and for sure toppermost, who all seem to be good friends having a great time. Is that Graham Parker in the control room audience for a bit? Also, guitars/bass straight into the desk? SSL?

Sadly still missing the first 3 minutes.

I'm playing these guy's tunes at Open Mic's in 2023 - They would never have believed it when they were making this - wonderful normal, unassuming and humble blokes. Also, I wonder why they actually sing 2 vocal tracks exactly the same when they could simply ping the 1st vocal onto another empty track. Maybe the tiny nuances of the 2nd take make it worth doing?

I'm going to figure out how Edmunds sings Endless Grey Ribbon

3 chords....that reminds me of ........

Nice! WooF!

2:45 Special Brew & Senior Service 🤣

Cool. Hat

I swear David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap sounds like Nick Lowe's brother. Just sayin.That said, it's a great piece of work about how Rockpile worked. They were an amazing band. Wish they'd stayed together. What they cranked out was first rate Rock and Roll.

Spinal Tap with added Phil L

Did ‘Endless Grey Ribbon’ ever end up on a Dave Edmunds album?