Repeat When Necessary

Repeat When Necessary
Repeat When Necessary
Studio album by Dave Edmunds
Released	8 June 1979
Recorded	1978
Studio	Eden, London
Genre	Rock
Length	34:10
Label	Swan Song
Producer	Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds chronology

Repeat When Necessary is the fifth album by Welsh rock musician Dave Edmunds. Produced by Edmunds, it was released in 1979 by Swan Song Records. It was recorded and released at the same time as Nick Lowe's Labour of Lust, and features the same lineup of musicians: Edmunds, Lowe, Billy Bremner and Terry Williams.

Content

"Girls Talk", written by Elvis Costello, Graham Parker's "Crawling from the Wreckage" and the Hank DeVito-penned "Queen of Hearts" are among the highlights of this album. Juice Newton would cover "Queen of Hearts" in an arrangement virtually identical to Edmunds' on Juice, her 1981 breakthrough album.

Other covers on the album include "Dynamite" (originally recorded by Cliff Richard (1959)) and "Take Me for a Little While" (originally recorded by Evie Sands and later covered by Jackie Ross (1965), Dusty Springfield and Vanilla Fudge). "Home in My Hand" had been recorded seven years previously by Nick Lowe's old band, Brinsley Schwarz. "Bad Is Bad", written by Huey Lewis, would later be recorded by Lewis and his band the News for their 1983 multi-platinum album Sports.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Music Week	^[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[5]
Smash Hits	7/10^[6]
The Village Voice	A−^[7]

The Globe and Mail wrote that "Edmund's pub-crawling rock doesn't wear thin if you're sipping and stomping along, but in the confines of your living room his Chuck Berry retakes are liable to send you back to an old Berry collection to find out where he copped the licks."^[8]

Track listing

Side one

"Girls Talk" (Elvis Costello) – 3:25
"Crawling from the Wreckage" (Graham Parker) – 2:53
"The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (Billy Bremner^[9]) – 3:52
"Sweet Little Lisa" (Donivan Cowart, Martin Cowart, Hank DeVito) – 3:38
"Dynamite" (Ian Samwell) – 2:33

Side two

"Queen of Hearts" (Hank DeVito) – 3:17
"Home in My Hand" (Ronnie Self) – 3:20
"Goodbye Mr. Good Guy" (Pat Meager, Bremner) – 2:40
"Take Me for a Little While" (Trade Martin) – 2:39
"We Were Both Wrong" (Bremner) – 2:42
"Bad Is Bad" (Alex Call, John Ciambotti, Sean Hopper, Huey Lewis, John McFee, Michael Schriener)^[10] – 3:11

Personnel

Dave Edmunds – guitars, piano and vocals
Billy Bremner – guitar and backing vocals
Nick Lowe – bass and backing vocals
Terry Williams – drums

Additional personnel

Huey Lewis – harmonica on "Bad Is Bad"
Albert Lee – guitar on "Sweet Little Lisa"
Roger Bechirian – piano on "Girls Talk"

Charts

Chart (1979–80)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[11]	37
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[12]	45
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[13]	17
UK Albums (OCC)^[14]	39
US Billboard 200^[15]	54

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[16]	Silver	60,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ "Random Notes". Rolling Stone. No. 293. 14 June 1979. p. 46.
^ Harford, Jeff (8 December 2012). "Long Player: Rockpile delivered guitar-driven treasures". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Repeat When Necessary – Dave Edmunds". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
^ "Album Reviews: Dave Edmunds — Repeat When Necessary" (PDF). Music Week. Gwent: Pensord Press Ltd. 23 June 1979. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
^ Hull, Tom (2004). "Dave Edmunds". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 272–73. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
^ Starr, Red (12–25 July 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits. Vol. 1, no. 16. p. 25.
^ Christgau, Robert (30 July 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
^ McGrath, Paul (25 August 1979). "Repeat When Necessary Dave Edmunds". The Globe and Mail. p. F4.
^ Billy Bremner used the pseudonym "Billy Murray" for all his writing credits on this album; "Murray" is his middle name.
^ Original pressings of Repeat When Necessary (Swan Song/Atlantic cat. no. SS 8507) credit "Bad is Bad" to Huey Lewis alone; the revised credit given on Lewis' 1983 album Sports (Chrysalis cat.no. FV 41412) is shown here.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 100. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "Charts.nz – Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^ "Dave Edmunds Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
^ "British album certifications – Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[RS_#293-1] "Random Notes". Rolling Stone. No. 293. 14 June 1979. p. 46.

[2] Harford, Jeff (8 December 2012). "Long Player: Rockpile delivered guitar-driven treasures". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

[3] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Repeat When Necessary – Dave Edmunds". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 June 2017.

[mw_rev-4] "Album Reviews: Dave Edmunds — Repeat When Necessary" (PDF). Music Week. Gwent: Pensord Press Ltd. 23 June 1979. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2025 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.

[5] Hull, Tom (2004). "Dave Edmunds". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 272–73. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

[6] Starr, Red (12–25 July 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits. Vol. 1, no. 16. p. 25.

[7] Christgau, Robert (30 July 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 16 June 2017.

[8] McGrath, Paul (25 August 1979). "Repeat When Necessary Dave Edmunds". The Globe and Mail. p. F4.

[9] Billy Bremner used the pseudonym "Billy Murray" for all his writing credits on this album; "Murray" is his middle name.

[10] Original pressings of Repeat When Necessary (Swan Song/Atlantic cat. no. SS 8507) credit "Bad is Bad" to Huey Lewis alone; the revised credit given on Lewis' 1983 album Sports (Chrysalis cat.no. FV 41412) is shown here.

[11] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 100. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[ac_New_Zealand_Dave_Edmunds-12] "Charts.nz – Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[ac_Sweden_Dave_Edmunds-13] "Swedishcharts.com – Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[ac_UK2_-14] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[ac_Billboard200_Dave_Edmunds-15] "Dave Edmunds Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

[United_KingdomDave_EdmundsRepeat_When_NecessaryalbumCertRef-16] "British album certifications – Dave Edmunds – Repeat When Necessary". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

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v t e Dave Edmunds
Studio albums	Rockpile Subtle as a Flying Mallet Get It Tracks on Wax 4 Repeat When Necessary Twangin... D.E. 7th Information Riff Raff Closer to the Flame Plugged In Hand Picked: Musical Fantasies ...Again On Guitar...Rags & Classics
Live albums	I Hear You Rockin'
Singles	"I Hear You Knocking" "I Knew the Bride" "Girls Talk" "Queen of Hearts" "Crawling from the Wreckage" "Almost Saturday Night" "The Race Is On" with Stray Cats "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" "Slipping Away"
Related articles	Love Sculpture Nick Lowe Rockpile Seconds of Pleasure "Teacher, Teacher" "And the Night Stood Still"

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