“Lady Eleanor” is a song written by Alan Hull, featured on the first Lindisfarne album, Nicely Out of Tune. Initially released as a single in May 1971, it failed to chart. In 1972, following the success of the band’s single “Meet me on the Corner” (which reached No. 5 in the UK), and the highly successful second album Fog on the Tyne, it was re-released and became their second consecutive hit single, reaching Number 3 in the UK charts. Its B-Side was “Nothing But the Marvellous is Beautiful”. The song features Lindisfarne’s characteristic combination of mandolin playing and close harmony singing. Its lyrics are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 short story “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
“Lowdown” is a song originally recorded in 1976 by Boz Scaggs for his album Silk Degrees. The song was co-written by Scaggs and keyboardist David Paich. Initially, the album received a lukewarm commercial response. One day, however, a Cleveland R&B radio DJ began playing “Lowdown” straight off the album. This was during a time when DJs had much more say in what was played. Public response was very positive. It broke big when it was officially released as a single. It became Scaggs’ first major hit, hitting #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 and reaching number three on the Billboard chart. It was also successful on the R&B and Disco Singles charts, peaking at number five on both. The song was also a major hit in Canada, cresting at number two. It was a minor hit in the UK, topping out at No. 28. Paich, along with fellow “Lowdown” session musicians bassist David Hungate and drummer Jeff Porcaro, would later go on to help form the band Toto.
“Cool for Cats” was the second single released from the English band Squeeze’s album of the same name. The song features a rare lead vocal performance from cockney-accented Squeeze lyricist Chris Difford, one of only three occasions he sang lead on a Squeeze single A-side. “Cool for Cats” was written about the social scene the band experienced in youth. Tillbrook recalled, “Originally it was written about the social circle we were moving in at the time, being young and being… we were almost entirely centered in our own little world. I remember hearing Chris sing those lyrics for the first time and thinking he’s just nailed what our lives are about now. It’s lovely to be able to look back on that and see how we were as youngsters.” The title phrase is a reference to the 1950s/60s UK TV series Cool of Cats, the first English series to regularly feature rock ‘n’ roll music acts. The song, slightly edited from the album track, peaked at No. 2 in the UK in 1979, making it one of the band’s biggest hits.
“I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” is a song written by Nick Lowe, Andrew Bodnar, and Steve Goulding and performed by Lowe. The song was produced by Lowe. It shared a title with the David Bowie song “Sound & Vision”; Lowe commented, “This sounds so unlike me, but I wasn’t aware he had a song called ‘Sound & Vision.’ … But Bowie was the guy who had that title first of all. I think the music on my ‘Breaking Glass’ has something to do with him. I think I pinched something off of him in the music.” It reached number 7 in the UK in 1978. The song was featured on his 1978 album, Jesus is Cool.
“Is She Really Going Out with Him?” is a song written and performed by British musician Joe Jackson. It was released in October 1978 as his debut single and was later included on Jackson’s debut album, Look Sharp! The track was one of the first Jackson recorded with his new backing band, a band he would perform with for his first three albums. Written as a humorous commentary on women dating unattractive men, the song contains a prominent bass line and a chorus praised by critics as memorable. Jackson has since stated that the song’s reputation for being angry was untrue. On its initial release, the single was commercially unsuccessful and failed to chart. Two However, when “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” was rereleased in 1979 after Jackson’s reputation and new wave music grew in popularity, the single saw more attention and became a chart success. This second release reached the top 20 in the UK and top 30 in the US, becoming one of Jackson’s highest charting singles worldwide.