Nick Lowe, who is coming to Japan this week, was supposed to tour here a year ago in support of his latest album, "The Convincer," but canceled because one of his regular backup musicians wasn't available.
"The guy who plays drums with me, Bob Treherne, also plays with Van Morrison, and Van wouldn't let him go," Lowe said recently over the phone from London. "Van is his main employer, so what Van says goes."
It was easy to discern a note of resignation in the statement. But though Nick Lowe has never been the star Van Morrison is, his position in the rock pantheon is assured, not only for the albums he made in the late '70s as a solo artist and with the seminal power pop quartet, Rockpile; but also for his work as one of the most vital producers of the British New Wave (Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, The Damned) and as cofounder of the great English indie label, Stiff Records.