Why am I choosing now to write about Nick Lowe? I can offer these three simple reasons:

First, it’s almost his birthday, a nice round 76 years of age (it actually occurs on March 24th, but I just didn’t feel like waiting). Next, he’s a greatly overlooked pop music stud, who was also in one of my favorite bands ever – though their output, technically, was only one album (more on that later). And finally, because I just couldn’t see sitting on a name this good for a collection of his top songs. Yup, it’s up there in the title: “The Highs of Lowe.” C’mon, give it to me. That’s a decent little turn of a phrase, right? Armies of record label marketing staffers, and nobody ever came up with that?! What a waste.

Nicholas Drain Lowe was born in Surrey, England, and would become known primarily as part of the genres of pub rock, new wave, and the one I feel probably most hits the mark, power pop. And, in addition to his substantial works as a recording artist (best known for songs ‘Cruel to Be Kind’ and ‘I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass’), his career also includes noteworthy heights as a songwriter (penning ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding’ for Elvis Costello, among others), and prolific producer (all of Costello’s first 5 albums – the insane run of “My Aim is True,” “This Year’s Model,” “Armed Forces,” “Get Happy!!,” and “Trust” – along with benchmarks from an eclectic list including The Damned, The Pretenders, Graham Parker, John Hiatt, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and even Johnny Cash – who became Lowe’s stepfather during his 11-year marriage to Carlene Carter). Lowe’s early production style, in fact, earned him the longstanding nickname “Basher,” inspired by his supposed instructions to bands to “Bash it out—we’ll tart it up later.”

That favorite band of which Lowe was a huge part was, of course, Rockpile, the British semi-supergroup which he briefly yet boldly co-fronted along with another of my true heroes, Dave Edmunds, and whose entire released catalog was 1980’s glorious “Seconds of Pleasure” – an album of such unequivocal pop perfection that it was once crowned as the best debut (and only) album by this very prestigious site. However, there was also a “technically” cited above, due to the fact that the same four musician personnel who made up Rockpile, Lowe and Edmunds along with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams, also recorded four more outstanding studio albums – but due to other existing recording contracts three were released as Edmunds solo records and the other as a Lowe solo record, 1979’s “Labour of Lust.” That album was actually just preceded by another of Lowe’s best, titled in the U.S. as “Pure Pop for Now People” but originally in the U.K as the audacious “Jesus of Cool.” Come to think of it, let’s make that a solid fourth reason to write about Nick Lowe: he is undeniably one cool cat.

Now, let’s get on with that ingenious headliner item, the brand new SMGM playlist, “The Highs of Lowe.” Sixteen sweet pop confections, with a great deal more than meets the eye or ear, at least initially. Legitimate musicians would know how difficult it can be to write and record tunes that are this effortless to listen to. A lofty aspiration infrequently achieved down Lowe.