August 7, 2017 7:31PM ET

Nick Lowe: 5 Songs My Son Loves

Veteran songwriter shouts out everyone from Louis Armstrong to Ron Sexsmith

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When Rolling Stone asked him to put together a playlist, veteran singer-songwriter Nick Lowe – whose 1980s records were recently reissued – selected an eclectic mixture of songs he has spun for his 12-year-old son, Roy, to expose him to different kinds of music. He commented on each of his choices, which range from Bing Crosby to Shalamar.

This sounds like a nursery rhyme with a very agreeable skiffle beat, which was an English version of rockabilly. Eddie Cochran had it all going on.

It sounds like an aural cartoon, since the
voices have so much character. Bing Crosby was able to swing in this very white
kind of way.

This is John’s dream of being pursued by a posse of fairy-tale characters set to a monster Studio One groove. Exquisite.

A beauty from the last songwriter to know where
the bucket to the melody well is stashed.

I would describe this as a fantastic 1980s floor filler. It has such a great groove and sounds so fun and clever. My son Roy got a big kick out of it.