Cruel to Be Kind

"Cruel to Be Kind"
Cover of the 1979 UK single
Single by Nick Lowe
from the album Labour of Lust
B-side	"Endless Grey Ribbon"
Released	31 August 1979 (1979-08-31)
Format	7-inch single
Genre	Power pop[1]
Length	3:31
Label	Radar
Songwriter(s)	Nick Lowe Ian Gomm
Producer(s)	Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe singles chronology
"Cracking Up" (1979) "Cruel to Be Kind" (1979) "Switch Board Susan" (1979)
"Cracking Up" (1979) "Cruel to be Kind" (1979) "Switch Board Susan" (1979)

"Cruel to Be Kind" is a 1979 single by Nick Lowe, co-written by Lowe and his former Brinsley Schwarz bandmate Ian Gomm, that peaked at No. 12 in both the UK and U.S. charts that summer.^[2] It also peaked at No. 12 in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In the U.S., where it is one of Lowe's most well-known works, it remains his only single to hit the top 40, whereas in the UK "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" remains his biggest hit after reaching No. 7 a year earlier.^[3]

Background

"Cruel to Be Kind" was originally written by Nick Lowe and Ian Gomm while in Brinsley Schwarz, having been recorded as a demo during this period. Lowe stated, "I wrote that when I was with a band, Brinsley Schwarz, that I was with from the early '70s to about the mid-'70s. ... We recorded it on a demo, it never came out, and when I signed to Columbia Records the A & R man (Gregg Geller) there at the time suggested I record it again. And I didn’t think it would do anything, but he kind of bullied me into it."^[4]

Musically, the song was originally closer to a soul style. Lowe later said, “Initially... the inspiration was a song I loved by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes called, ‘The Love I Lost,’ and the bass line was the same... we loved that Philly disco stuff from the 70’s, The O’Jays, all that stuff, we loved that... I can’t really remember much about recording it. It was just another tune that we did, you know, and I sent it over to New York to Gregg and said, ‘Uhh, will this do?’” ^[5]

Release history

The song was originally written and recorded for the final Brinsley Schwarz album, It’s All Over Now, which was never officially released.

This version was eventually issued as the non-album B-side of Lowe's "Little Hitler" single, culled from his first solo album in 1978, Jesus of Cool (retitled Pure Pop for Now People in the US). This is now known as the "original version," as compiled on Lowe’s 1999 box set The Doings: The Solo Years and the 2008 expanded reissue of Jesus of Cool, as well as a bootleg entitled It's All Over Now, based on the unreleased album of the same title.

The song was then re-recorded with Rockpile and appeared on Lowe's second album Labour of Lust in 1979. It was released as a single on the Radar Records label in the UK and Columbia Records in the United States, charting at #12 in both countries.

The single was backed with the non-album Lowe solo song "Endless Grey Ribbon," which Lowe had originally composed for fellow Rockpile member Dave Edmunds, as referred to in the ITV documentary Born Fighters. Lowe included the Labour of Lust version of the song on both the 1984 12" single of "Half a Boy and Half a Man," from his album Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit, as well as the EP version of his single "All Men Are Liars," from 1990’s Party of One. It also appears on the 2010 "soundtrack" album "inspired" by the 2006 motion picture The Ant Bully. Live versions of the song appear on Lowe’s 1998 EP "You Inspire Me," from his Dig My Mood album, and on the 2004 live album Untouched Takeaway.

The Labour of Lust version of "Cruel to Be Kind" has been included on many compilations of Nick Lowe’s work, including 1985’s 16 All Time Lowes, 1990’s Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe, 1999’s The Doings: The Solo Years, 2002’s Anthology and 2009’s Quiet Please... The New Best of Nick Lowe. It has also been included on many various artists compilations of hits of the 70s, such as Poptopia! 70’s Power Pop Classics.

Music video

The video to the song was one of the first music videos aired on MTV, and is a combination of actual footage of Lowe's wedding to Carlene Carter, as well as a humorous re-enactment of the wedding, featuring Carter as herself, Dave Edmunds as their limo driver, Terry Williams as the photographer, Billy Bremner as the baker, and Jake Riviera (Nick's manager at the time) as the best man. The wedding took place on August 18, 1979, at the Tropicana Motel in West Hollywood. All family stayed there for the wedding and reception (also featured in the video). Filming for the video took so long that Lowe was actually late to the wedding.

Cultural reference

The song was featured in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, where it was sung by alternative rock band Letters to Cleo in the prom scene; the cover appears on the film's soundtrack recording.

Chart performance

Covers

The track has been covered by many artists, notably including co-writer Ian Gomm, first on his own 1997 album Crazy for You, then again in 2005 for the various artists tribute album Lowe Profile: A Tribute to Nick Lowe. Japanese- and Greek-language versions have been released by various artists, as well as both instrumental versions and dance remixes.

A Wilco iTunes-only release in January 2012 features Lowe on vocals with the band backing (they were touring together at the time). The original recording was played during the end credits for the documentary I.O.U.S.A..^[11]

Freedy Johnston often performs the song in concert, accompanied by solo ukulele.

The Lowe/Gomm composition should not be confused with the song "You've Got to Be Cruel to Be Kind" which was a UK hit for Unit 4 + 2 in December 1965, nor for the song "Cruel To Be Kind" by Spacehog, released in 1996. No doubt all of these songs owe their inspiration, directly or indirectly, to Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act III, scene 4), in which Hamlet tells his mother, "I must be cruel only to be kind."

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
• Music video of the song on YouTube