| "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 | 17 August 1979 (UK)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:31 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Lowe | |||
| Nick Lowe singles chronology | ||||
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| Official video | ||||
| "Cruel to Be Kind" on YouTube | ||||
"Cruel to Be Kind" is a song co-written by Nick Lowe and his former bandmate Ian Gomm while the pair were in Brinsley Schwarz. The song only appeared as the 1978 B-side of "Little Hitler" until Columbia Records convinced Lowe to rerecord it as a potential solo single. Musically, the song was inspired by "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, an influence reflected in more recent performances of the song.[4]
Released as a single in 1979, the song peaked at number 12 on the charts of Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.[5][4] In the US, 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, having reached number 7 a year earlier.[6] The song was accompanied by a music video featuring Lowe's marriage to Carlene Carter.
- ^ "Nick Lowe – Cruel to be Kind".
- ^ Mason, Stewart. Nick Lowe – Cruel to Be Kind at AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ a b Billboard Staff (19 October 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
An ode to tough love and heartache, but with a driving soul-pop rhythm...Heath Ledger's Patrick surprises Julia Stiles' Kat at prom with...an even jumpier version of Lowe's power pop gem.
- ^ a b Watkins, Jack (15 February 2021). "How we made: Nick Lowe on Cruel to Be Kind". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "Nick Lowe, "Cruel to be Kind" Chart Positions". Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ^ "Nick Lowe, "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" Chart Position". Retrieved 2 December 2016.