Repeat When Necessary

"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.

Among the more obscure covers on the album are "Dynamite" (originally recorded by Cliff Richard and the Shadows) and "Take Me for a Little While" (originally recorded by Evie Sands and later covered by Jackie Ross, 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.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/repeat-when-necessary-mw0000674270|title=Repeat When Necessary – Dave Edmunds|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=16 June 2017}}

| rev2 = Music Week

| rev2score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite magazine|date=June 23, 1979|title=Album Reviews: Dave Edmunds — Repeat When Necessary|magazine=Music Week|page=40|publisher=Pensord Press Ltd.|location=Gwent|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-06-23.pdf#page=46|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520093134/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1979/Music-Week-1979-06-23.pdf#page=46|archive-date=May 20, 2024|access-date=March 28, 2025|via=WorldRadioHistory.com}}

| rev3 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|chapter=Dave Edmunds|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/272 272–73]}}

| rev4 = Smash Hits

| rev4score = 7/10{{cite magazine|last=Starr|first=Red|title=Albums|magazine=Smash Hits|volume=1|issue=16|date=12–25 July 1979|page=25}}

| rev5 = The Village Voice

| rev5score = A−{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv7-79.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|work=The Village Voice|date=30 July 1979|access-date=16 June 2017}}

}}

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."{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Paul |title=Repeat When Necessary Dave Edmunds |work=The Globe and Mail |date=25 Aug 1979 |page=F4}}

1. "Girls Talk" (Elvis Costello) – 3:25
2. "Crawling from the Wreckage" (Graham Parker) – 2:53
3. "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (Billy BremnerBilly Bremner used the pseudonym "Billy Murray" for all his writing credits on this album; "Murray" is his middle name.) – 3:52
4. "Sweet Little Lisa" (Donivan Cowart, Martin Cowart, Hank DeVito) – 3:38
5. "Dynamite" (Ian Samwell) – 2:33

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

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

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

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Repeat When Necessary|artist=Dave Edmunds|type=album|award=Silver|accessdate=3 November 2020|certmonth=1980|id=5464-2558-2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Dave Edmunds}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Dave Edmunds albums

Category:Swan Song Records albums

Category:1979 albums

Category:Albums produced by Dave Edmunds