Lew Lewis

Harmonica player/vocalist Lew Lewis made one album for Stiff Records in 1979, Save the Wail, as well as a couple of 1979-1980 singles for Stiff, and an earlier one for United Artists. Before going solo he'd been in Eddie & the Hot Rods, though he was kicked out of that notable pub rock-new wave crossover band after their 1976 debut single, "Writing on the Wall"/"Cruisin' in the Lincoln." Lewis was a good, bluesy Little Walter-influenced harmonica player, but only an adequate, colorless singer. His solo records are pedestrian interfaces between pub rock and blues-rock, notable only to pub rock and Stiff Records completists. The 2002 CD reissue of Save the Wail puts most of his legacy in one place by adding the two Stiff singles (though not the United Artists one), as well as live material from 1977 and 1979. Sadly, in 1987 Lewis was sentenced to seven years in prison for holding up a post office with a fake pistol.