Cruel to Be Kind

Brinsley Schwarz

With members that would go on to make up Graham Parker's backing band, the Rumour, and featuring English power-popper Nick Lowe on vocals, Brinsley Schwarz (named after the band's lead guitarist) not only defined the sound of early-1970s British pub rock, but were--in retrospect--something of a supergroup. Heavily influenced by the rootsier aspects of 1960s American rock, the band provided an alternative to the bombast of glam rock and the cerebral excess of prog rock that exemplified most British music at the time. The band had broken up by 1975, but left a song book that included early versions of Lowe's great "Cruel to Be Kind" and "Peace, Love and Understanding (What's so Funny 'Bout)," later made famous by Elvis Costello.