In a recent thread someone wondered aloud if there was anyone in rock who has actually gotten better with age. Mr. Moderator offered up Nick Lowe, who I think falls short but A for effort. I can't find which one of you said it but for you I offer up Robyn Hitchcock.

A bit of my history with The Man Who Invented Himself. I got turned onto the Soft Boys when a DJ at my college station spun "Millstream Pigworker" from Can of Bees. Couldn't find the album version on YouTube but this is close.

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Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3's Propellor Time is an understated release that was recorded, mostly live, in a week's time in 2006, between the recordings for two prior Venus 3 releases, Ole Tarantula! and Goodnight Oslo. Never having been the world's greatest Robyn Hitchcock fan, I can't be sure of the pulse of his fans today, but if anyone's expecting a collection of jangly songs about the sexual lives of insects and fishes, prepare for a letdown.

Hitchcock does not abandon his silly, creepy crawly motifs, such as the verse in "Afterlife" that describes the monarch butterfly's secretion of "royal jelly," but he seems more willing than usual to scratch beneath the surface, to the true themes of his work - love, sex, death, and all that good stuff - and address them directly. In "Star of Venus" he provides the image of a skeletal couple driving well beyond the point when death has done them part, the man's arm around his wife's shoulders: "And that's true love," he sings, "they've still got the radio on." It's a sweet image that he resists spraying with 10cc of jelly.

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, "Star of Venus"

For years Hitchcock played in trios and jangly quartets that had the musical range of his jangly trio: high end to higher end. I've got a nasty, thoroughly unfair theory about musicians who spend too much time leading trios: with the exception of an unmatched talent like Jimi Hendrix, it tells me the bandleader does not play well with others. This is what I figured was the case with Hitchcock until the mid-'90s, when Young Fresh Fellows mastermind Scott McCaughey (who also serves in the Oliver role for REM) recruited Hitchcock to be part of the pop collective The Minus 5. McCaughey and the other American, Minus 5 collaborators who make up The Venus 3, Peter Buck and Bill Rieflin, help Hitchcock swim with the current rather than against it. Propellor Time is loaded with other cool contributors, who sound like they've simply "dropped in": Nick Lowe, John Paul Jones, Chris Ballew, Morris Windsor, and Johnny Marr, among others.

Perhaps Hitchcock's been getting to the heart of the matter for a lot longer than I've paid attention - sorry, Robyn, if that's the case - but with one exception whenever I revisit the albums Hitchcock released in the '80s and '90s I quickly recoil from the dimestore Syd-isms and sophomoric, cosmic observations. Sonically, the high-end jangle of his band-oriented albums never helped, and for some reason it felt to me like he was laying on the British accent a little thicker than necessary.

Element of Light has always been the exception for me. Hitchcock isn't so nervy, sly, and hectoring. The music is more lush. He makes more references to John Lennon than Syd Barrett, and with the richer-than-usual backing tracks his multi-tracked vocals sit atop the mix like Brian Eno. I can listen to tracks like "Winchester" and the funny/sad "Ted, Woody, and Junior" a half dozen times a day - and often I do.

From an interview on his website, Hitchcock mentioned that he couldn't have made this album 10 years earlier:

I didn’t have the stew of people, or the philosophy in the songs. Perhaps I had the wrong kind of wisdom then. You lose speed and you gain depth.

No wonder I like about this album more than most Robyn Hitchcock albums I've bought. He's got a supportive stew of friends who keep him from rushing ahead and offering glib, shorthand observations on the order of the cosmos. As with Element of Light, there's more Lennon at the heart of this album than Syd, and a little Dylan. If you've lived this long you can aspire to Lennon and Dylan. Syd was fantastic in his own way, but he's a dead-end. Maybe Hitchcock has figured this out. "We love you, sickie-boy," he and his sickie friends sing toward the end of an album, rallying around each other - and us.

In honor of the recent RTH interview with Martin Belmont I want to have a look at his first band, Ducks Deluxe, and the later careers of its members to see what it tells us about the evolution of British rock in the '70s and afterwards.

As Martin says in the interview the Ducks specialized in rough and ready rock and worked best when focused on frontman Sean Tyla. Mr. Mod already posted the one good clip of the band playing one of its signature songs live, but here’s the studio version of “Coast to Coast.”

It was the opening track of their eponymously titled first album, and I love the way Tyla welcomes the audience with “All right, kids, are you readuh?” We’re going to talk more about him later, but Tyla was a real character, and he specialized in this kind of straight ahead, almost Springsteenian rock. Here's "Fireball."

Tyla also liked to write about imaginary Americana, so there are songs with titles like like “Rio Grande” and “West Texas Trucking Board.” The problem with Ducks Deluxe as a recording band is that you can’t really have a whole album of uptempo rockers like that, and they faltered a bit when it came to ballads. Also, there were two other songwriters in the band, our buddy Martin Belmont and Nick Garvey, and the vocals on those songs are much less distinctive than Tyla’s. Here’s Belmont’s “Something Goin’ On," with later Ducks bassist Micky Groome on vocals:

The different styles of the songwriters just seem to make it a little hard to get a fix on the identity of the band. Live this probably would not have been so much of a problem, and the excellent covers on their albums (Eddie Cochran’s “Nervous Breakdown,” Bobby Fuller’s “I Fought the Law,” and Bobby Womack’s “It’s All Over Now”) give some other hints of why they were popular on the pub rock circuit. But as usual in this genre their records didn’t sell, and they disbanded in 1975.

They had a decently selected best-of LP named after another of their signature rockers, “Don’t Mind Rockin’ Tonight.”

It was issued in 1978, I assume because the members had achieved some fame in subsequent bands. I don’t think it ever made it out of the vinyl era, but you can probably find a copy. Despite their lack of sales at the time, they are now pretty well-represented on CD. Their two regular albums (the second one is called Taxi to the Terminal Zone) are available as a twofer. And there’s a second twofer with their third record, which was an EP, some stray tracks, and then the first album by the Tyla Gang, Sean’s next band, again about which more in a minute. The Ducks have actually reformed recently for some European dates, and they’ve issued a very nice, newly-recorded EP called Box of Shorts, which, except for being much better recorded, sounds pretty much like the original band. Here's a clip of them performing a song from the EP, "Diesel Heart," in Stockholm last year:

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The guitar playing of Martin Belmont has graced recordings and concerts by Graham Parker & The Rumour, Ducks Deluxe, Nick Lowe, Carlene Carter, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, and many more. He continues to keep a busy schedule, playing the music he loves with a reunited Ducks as well as three other Americana-oriented British artists. In 2009 Belmont released The Guest List, a collection of covers sung by most of the singers he's backed for a significant time over the years. For someone like myself, who grew up listening to Belmont's work in the 1970s and 1980s, it's an intimate, low-key way of catching up with the old gang and getting introduced to some Belmont collaborators who are not as well known in the States.

The first sign that Belmont might get into the spirit of a Rock Town Hall interview is when, as we settle into our trans-Atlantic, webcam chat via Skype, he wants to describe his “top-shelf” CD collection lining the walls behind him. There's a Beatles box set, a Folkways Anthology of American Folk Music, a couple of Elvis Presley box sets. Then he wants to know how we operate in the Halls of Rock. After I basically run him through our mission statement, in which Rock Town Hall serves as a sort of methadone clinic for rock 'n roll addicts with increasingly busy lives, he says, “I know exactly what you mean.”

I describe my experiences finding out about Graham Parker & The Rumour as a teenager, trying not to come off too much like Chris Farley's mouth-breathing Paul McCartney fan from Saturday Night Live. Belmont asks if I’ve seen Parker perform solo in recent years - I have. He raves about his old friend's abilities as a performer and songwriter, and then we get down to talking.

And talk we did. There are a topics we didn't have time to cover, but as we chatted, rock lover to rock lover, I hope you get a sense of Belmont's ultimate sideman's dedication, warmth, and regard toward his collaborators. At one point he talks about the importance of the guitarist serving the song and being able to weave into whatever situation the song and its musicians requires. It was clear to me that these abilities to weave extend well beyond Belmont's fretboard.

The patented Rock Town Hall Dugout Chatter segment that concludes this interview is presented in audio form. Through my space-age, retro technology for recording this interview, I hope the audio Chatter gives you an added sense of Martin's enthusiasm and passion for rock 'n roll. Take it away, Martin!

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We've approached this subject from a few different angles in the past and as Townspeople continue to age and try to figure out what it's all about, Alfie, I'm sure this won't be the last time this comes up. Recently I was listening to my "best of" CD mix that I made of the last three Nick Lowe albums (no surprise that Lowe is already back in the conversation, is it?), and I was thinking to myself, Although Nick's music from the last 10 years is nowhere near as original and energetic as his early burst of activity, these favorte dozen songs of his from recent albums are beginning to make me think less of his first two albums. Jeez, I'm beginning to feel like much of his earlier works was "kids' stuff!"

My conversation with myself continued, as I tried to put these thoughts in proper perspective:

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Here's a story that's been told before, in one way or another, but it's worth telling again.

The whole Pub Rock/Pure Pop for Now People Dream was running its course. Nick Lowe put out an album called Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit. Nick assembled what, on paper, looked to be a band worthy of the legacy of Brinsley Schwarz and Rockpile. His Cowboy Outfit included Rumour guitarist Martin Belmont and Ace lead singer-turned-session man and super-sub Paul Carrack. Rockpile guitarist Billy Bremner even played on a couple of tracks!

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I love pub rock. There’s no clear definition of the style, but it was a mid-70s British phenomenon, a back-to-basics trend that was never wildly popular, a precursor to punk, and many pub rock musicians carried on into the punk era. Brinsley Schwarz is probably the best-known exponent of the style, which I think of as a mixture of black and white musical genres – rock, R&B, country, folk, and pop. The conversation between black and white is what rock & roll is all about to me, and pub rock was a peculiarly British take on that conversation.

I’m going to write an irregular series about pub rock here, and I want to start with a man who could be called one of the progenitors of the style. He was also a player in what could be called the secret history of rock & roll.

Jim Ford is one of those legends that almost no one knows about. If he’s known at all it’s because he wrote the song "Niki Hoeky," which was recorded most famously by Aretha Franklin on the Lady Soul album. Here’s Bobbie Gentry doing "Niki Hoeky" on the Smothers Brothers TV show. Note the authentic Cajun mise en scene:

Ford’s other claim to fame is that Nick Lowe has cited him as his biggest influence. But let me back up a bit and give a little background on Ford himself.

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In their respective solo careers, Stiff Records original Wreckless Eric and singer-songwriter Amy Rigby have mined similar, down-to-earth, '60s-influenced pop material that's both open hearted and appropriately self deprecating. A few years ago they met, jammed together, and fell in love. Today they're married, living in France, on tour together (click here for tour dates), and set for the September 15 release of a joint album, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby.

A few of us had the fortune of meeting Amy in 2002, as she not only contributed an awesome cover of Jane Aire & the Belvederes' "Yankee Wheels" to a Stiff Records tribute album we curated (The Stiff Generation), but introduced us to some other contributors and flew to Hoboken, NJ to play a few Stiff-related songs at the record's release party. She was as cool and approachable as her music, and she had the foresight and good sense to wear a dress that matched the polyester shirt of our bassist, Townsman Chickenfrank. It's only fitting that we, once more, turn back to Amy for yet another Stiff-related introduction. The following chat with Amy and Eric was conducted separately, with one of them in an isolation booth, wearing huge headphones and seen only on a video monitor. This is the first time their responses will appear in one place. Enjoy!

NOT Two Virgins...

Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, "Here Comes My Ship"

RTH: This Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby album and tour is some way to celebrate a marriage! You were married earlier this year, right? How long have you been together? Did the two of you actually meet, as I've read, during one of Amy's concerts, as she covered "Whole Wide World"?

ERIC: We met in Hull, in a pub I used to play in when I was an art student back in the early '70s. It was actually the first place that I ever played "Whole Wide World" in public. Amy sang it and the promoter shoved me on stage to help out. The song went round the world and did the work for me! I don’t think the album is a celebration of our marriage – it’s not Two Virgins or something…

AMY: I'd been playing "Whole Wide World" in my set when I felt I needed a little boost and a promoter in Hull that we'd both worked with had the idea to have Eric DJ for one of my shows. He came in covered in snow with a box of records under his arm and then he got up on stage with me during "Whole Wide World" and said I was playing it in the wrong key.

If you look at the photo collage inside my "anthology," 18 Again, there's a picture of it happening.

RTH: Your new album is on a revived Stiff Records! Are any of the founders of the label involved in its revival? Eric, did you have mixed feelings about going back to Stiff? Amy, you were a fan of the label and its artists in its heyday, right? Were you struck by any teenage fangirl feelings at this opportunity, any need to keep your emotions in check? (For instance, I'd have had to keep my self in check to make sure I didn't agree to sign with Stiff for free.)

ERIC: I had no qualms about going back to Stiff – on the contrary it was my idea. None of the founders or the subsequent employees are involved, which is just as well.

Amy Rigby, "Yankee Wheels"

AMY: To be on the same label that gave us "Yankee Wheels", Lene Lovich, Nick Lowe & Wreckless Eric? It beats being labelmates with Pokemon, which was the big priority album when I was on Koch.

RTH: On the new album, did you collaborate on the writing of the songs, or did you write separately? Were most of the songs written before or after you'd met?

AMY: All of the above.

ERIC: We wrote most of them separately I think. I started "Here Comes My Ship" and Amy finished it off. We wrote "Round" together – I came up with a guitar chord sequence and we got the lyrics together between us, so that was a true co-write. “Trotters” is a group composition that came out of a jam session – we were playing "God Only Knows" and we changed one of the chords. Apart from that I think we wrote separately, Amy upstairs, me downstairs. But we’d definitely met before we started.

RTH: Did you learn anything about each other during the writing process that you may not have learned had you not mixed business with pleasure? Were there ever times when you'd have to stop working on a lyric and ask your partner, "Why didn't you tell me you were feeling that way?"

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Fine Wine

Smelly Cheese

Recent plans and offlist discussions with fellow Townspeople have once again brought the issue of "aging well" to my mind. Being the Schau-obsessed person that I am, when I decided to dabble my 43-year-old toes in the world of live performance again, I officially hung up my rockin' shoes and joined a ska band instead, being quite certain that the sight of me rockin' out on stage would likely be a Very Embarassing Thing indeed.

Fine Wine

Smelly Cheese

Other Townsmen have told me that while they have no self-consciousness about doing the rock and roll thing at age (cough), they get irked when their musical efforts are automatically lumped into the category of the weekend rock and roll party warrior/Georgia Satellites and George Thorogood cover band member -- as in, "oh, you play in a band? So does my husband -- him and his friends played at our beach house a couple of summers ago; it was *great*!"

Fine Wine

Smelly Cheese

But some folks manage to pull the aging thing off with great aplomb, avoiding the need to slather on the Rock Of Olay, or chickening out to join a ska band, fer chrissakes. My question to our current musician townspeople is, how do you stay looking so young? What's your secret? To those who have no stake in that game: what do *you* think makes certain rockers age like a bottle of fine wine, while others merely putrefy?

I look forward to your responses.

HVB

All the fuzzy white and gray tones from the middle-to-right of this clip is purportedly Nick Lowe and Robyn Hitchcock. They're jamming with Elvis Costello. Pretty cool, despite the longtime Rock Town Hall in-joke of this post's title.