Dave Edmunds

Who knows what Dave Edmunds was thinking when he agreed to produce and assemble the soundtrack to 1985's Porky's Revenge! It's easier to see the motives of the movie's producers – they were flush with cash after two successful teen-sex comedies set in the '50s, and who would be better to create a new soundtrack of old-time rock & roll than Edmunds, who was not only well-known for his retro-rock, but was riding a wave of popularity after a pair of MTV-friendly Jeff Lynne-produced albums in the mid-'80s. That makes sense. What boggles the mind is that Edmunds, after accepting the job, decided to treat this soundtrack – which, let's remember, is the second sequel to a film best known for a scene of horny teenage boys spying on the girls in a gym shower and for a female character called "Lassie" who howls like a dog during orgasm – as a prestige project, recruiting such superstars as George Harrison, Carl Perkins, Jeff Beck, Willie Nelson, and Robert Plant (performing under the Crawling King Snakes moniker with Phil Collins on drums!), along with the up-and-coming Fabulous Thunderbirds, to record new material for this exploitation film!

Dave Edmunds assembled a self-consciously eclectic roots-rock album for D.E. 7th, his first post-Rockpile effort. Instead of returning to a one-man band status, Edmunds hired a new band, which prevented him from returning to the studied perfectionism of his early work. Nevertheless, D.E. 7th lacks the pop sensibilities that made early Edmunds a guilty pleasure, concentrating instead on roots musics. While that occasionally means there's mis-steps like "Deep in the Heart of Texas," but it also means the wonderful bluegrass-stomp "Warmed Over Kisses (Left Over Love)," the country-rocker "Bail You Out," the cajun-tinged "Louisiana Man" and the excellent Springsteen cover "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)." The rest of D.E. 7th is uneven, but there a few enjoyable cuts, and compared to what came later, it's certainly more fun.

Information is a 1983 album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. The album was his second release for Arista Records (in the UK) and Columbia Records (in the US). Information marked the first time in Edmunds' solo career that he collaborated with an outside producer. Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne produced two songs on the album: the title track, and the Lynne-penned "Slipping Away". The latter would become Edmunds' first American top-40 hit in 13 years (and his last top-40 hit to date), reaching #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself reached #51 on the Billboard 200 and #92 in the UK.