"I seem to occupy a funny sort of position in the music business," Nick Lowe says with a trace of a grin and a sigh. "I'm considered to be something of an eccentric, so people kind of indulge me and my flights of fancy. I've always felt like an outsider and that's really the way I like it. It leaves me free to sort of snipe away on the outskirts. I earn a living; I have my mates; I have a certain measure of respect from people I respect, and that's the way I like it."