"I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song written by

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has alwa ...

. It was released on Edmunds's 1977 album '' Get It'' and a year later in a live version by Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the Shop on ''

Live Stiffs Live ''Live Stiffs Live'' is a live album released in 1978 by Stiff Records. It compiles concert performances by several of the record label's artists recorded during the "Stiff Records#The Stiffs Tours, Live Stiffs Tour", which ran from 3 October to 5 ...

''. Lowe performed the song during a Stiff Records European tour with

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads an ...

Wreckless Eric Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock/ new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in ''Mo ...

, and

Larry Wallis Larry Wallis (19 May 1949 – 19 September 2019) was an English guitarist, songwriter and producer. He was best known as a member of the Pink Fairies and an early member of Motörhead. Biography and career Early bands In 1968, he formed a ban ...

; the tour was filmed for the 1981 documentary ''If It Ain't Stiff, It Ain't Worth a Fuck''. In 1985, Nick Lowe recorded a slower studio version for the album ''The Rose of England'', produced by

Huey Lewis Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950), known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many o ...

(on harmonica) and featuring Lewis' band " The News". It reached #27 on the US rock chart and #77 on the US pop chart. Edmunds released several live versions over the years, from 1987's ''I Hear You Rockin’'', to 1999's ''KIng Biscuit Flour Hour Presents'', to 2005's ''Live and Pickin’'', and 2011's ''A Pile of Rock Live''. He also released a remixed studio version on 1999's ''Hand Picked Musical Fantasies'', which also appeared on the 2004 release ''From Small Things: The Best of Dave Edmunds''. The original recording appeared on many of his compilation releases, including 1981's ''The Best of Dave Edmunds'', 1994's ''Chronicles'', and 2008's ''The Many Sides of Dave Edmunds: The Greatest Hits and More''. NickLowe

Live versions featuring Edmunds and Lowe harmonizing appeared on two albums from

Rockpile Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, gui ...

, the group featuring both singers, as well as

Billy Bremner William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stam ...

and Terry Williams. The official release was on the ''Live at Montreux 1980'' album in 2011, but the song was also on the much earlier

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

album ''They Call It Rock'' from the late 1970s.

Other appearances

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...

's ''

Songs of the Doomed ''Gonzo Papers, Vol. 3: Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream'' is a book by the American writer and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, originally published in 1990. This third installment of '' The Gonzo Papers'' is a chr ...

: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream'', a 1990 anthology of essays and works of

new journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non ...

, has a chapter named after the song. The song is part of the '' Sounds of the Seventies: Punk and New Wave'' from Time-Life Records. British poet

Hugo Williams Hugo Williams (born Hugh Anthony Mordaunt Vyner Williams) is an English poet, journalist and travel writer. He received the T. S. Eliot Prize in 1999 and Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2004. Family and early life Williams was born in 1942 in ...

titled his 11th book after the song; an earlier collection had similarly been named after an Everly Brothers song.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

, upon the release of ''

'', characterized the song as "Lowe's answer to " You Never Can Tell", a 1964 song by Chuck Berry. Decades later, ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show t ...

'' called it a "cheeky

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

/pop tune."

Notable cover versions

Cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of the song have been released on various albums, including: * 1983: ''Promised Land'' by

Johnnie Allan Johnnie Allan (born John Allen Guillot, March 10, 1938) is an American pioneer of the swamp pop musical genre. Career Born in Rayne, Louisiana, United States, Allan, a Cajun, grew up in a musical family, and at age six obtained his first guit ...

* 1987: as "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to be a Moll)" on '' Born Again Piss Tank'' by novelty singer

Kevin Bloody Wilson Kevin Bloody Wilson (born Dennis Bryant; 13 February 1947) is an Australian musical comedian who performs comical songs with his heavy Australian English accent and often including sexual themes. He has won one ARIA Music Award. Early career ...

* 1992: ''Dream on Fire'' by Dion * 1998: ''Very Best of the Knack'', recorded for a greatest hits compilation album by

The Knack The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a no ...

, released by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

* 2003: ''Live at 12th and Porter'' by Trent Summar & the New Row Mob * 2006: '' Under the Influence'' by

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

(

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

on the re-release of the 1999 album) * 2008: ''

Love Must Be Tough ''Love Must Be Tough'' is Eleanor McEvoy's seventh studio album, released in February 2008. Unlike her previous six albums, which, with the exception of a few tracks, were written solely by McEvoy, ''Love Must Be Tough'' is a mixture of covers/i ...

'' by

Eleanor McEvoy Eleanor McEvoy (born 22 January 1967) is an Irish singer-songwriter. She composed the song "Only a Woman's Heart", title track of '' A Woman's Heart'', the best-selling Irish album in Irish history. Early life and beginnings McEvoy's life as ...

References

{{authority control 1977 songs 1985 singles Songs written by Nick Lowe Nick Lowe songs Dave Edmunds songs Dion DiMucci songs The Knack songs Trent Summar & the New Row Mob songs Rockabilly songs Status Quo (band) songs Stiff Records singles Swan Song Records singles Songs about marriage