| "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 for his 1979 album Labour of Lust. 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 of the Billboard Hot 100, whereas in the UK "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" remains his biggest hit, having reached number 7 on the UK singles chart 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". 45cat.com. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
- ^ Mason, Stewart. Nick Lowe – Cruel to Be Kind at AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ a b "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. 19 October 2023. 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". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016.