Elvis Costello on vinyl

here's the link to the auction i won:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220078053076&rd=1&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

so is it a peckham on the first side, even if there's no "porky" inscription?

 

Yes, the message about Moira is in Peckham's hand. Over the years, the context of the sticker has always bothered me when I've seen it stuck to the LP or single sleeve (the only ways I've seen the sticker, if present at all.) Now it kind of makes sense -- the single might've been in view through the shrink in the front. Congratulations on getting that -- the rarest and most valuable part of what you won is actually the shrink with the sticker being intact, provided it was actually issued that way (both the LP and single are relatively common.) Make sure you keep it! Ephemeral things like that rarely survive. I'm envious.

 

This thread prompted me to dig out the 7" of Watching the Detectives. The CD versions of this song don't sound quite right to me. Possibly just nostalgia.

Tim

 

thanks for the heads up. normally, i don't like shrink on my lp's. the shrink is off the lp, but put in a plasic baggy with the sticker intact. i would've never even thought about it.

 

Hey thanks for all the info on these Lp's a lot I didn't know!
Jeff, your info on MAIT makes me dizzy, and after reading the TYM stuff I feel plain sick. Thanks for the time and kind sharing.

Excuse me while I go vomit,
Jake

 

You're most welcome. It's nice to be able to share minutiae that someone might actually appreciate.

I thought I'd post some pics to help ID the "Less than Zero" single. No one asked about it, but, it might be of interest to a few of you (I hope I'm not boring you guys.) In the 1st pic, the top part shows a 2nd issue sleeve next to a laminated 1st issue sleeve (provided just to show how different they are, and how high the gloss is.) The sleeve with the blue border is the German version -- this 7" is notable because it has the organ intro. The bottom half shows the backs of the correct two 1st pressing sleeves, laminated and uncoated, with "Delga" on the left flap fold. The 3rd sleeve is a later issue laminated sleeve - note the lack of the "Delga" and the moon shaped cut. The 4th sleeve is from the GRAB3 four pack. The cut is smaller and more curved than the one next to it.

The 2nd pic shows the unique puckered lip found around the spindle hole on original Stiff pressings. Next to that is the record that comes in the later issued laminated sleeve and next to that, the record from GRAB3. Notice the lack of lip around the spindle holes. Below those is an acetate for BUY11, with handwritten labels by George "Porky" Peckham.

 

holy mackeral!! that acetate is very mouthwatering...incredible stuff.

 

Mmmm acetates.

 

I saw this post in the other forum where sberger is looking for an Island copy of MAIT (BTW - any of the 11 colours will be a "double Porky" you seek.) The now rare giveaway flyer was mentioned and thought I'd show you what is being talked about. As I've mentioned previously, the first 1000 copies of MAIT were issued with laminated (yellow backs) and included a flyer inviting the buyer of the record to have a free copy of the album sent to a friend (as long as he or she picked up the tab on the postage.) This flyer is shown in the pic below on the left. What the friend received was an uncoated yellow back with a special graphic pasted over the front B&W photo -- some of you may recognise the image, as it was used for the Our Aim is True bootleg, which mistakenly listed the Rumour as EC's backing band (these were the Flip City demos from 1975 in reality.) At the time, a lot of record stores skimmed the flyers to get free stock, and as a result, very few of these giveaway copies ever publicly surface. I have only ever seen 2 copies (including my own) in the last 27 years.

In the pic below that is my Island test pressing with original promo cue sheet. It's neat to see the date on the label. Also shown is a test pressing of the re-cut. I was considering posting a test pressing for the "Less than Zero" single, but, it's not terribly exciting -- it just says "ELVIS A" & "ELVIS B" on plain white labels. I should've posted it with the other stuff, but, it slipped my mind. If I had also remembered, I could've posted a pic of a TYM test pressing from February 16th 1978 several days ago for an anniversary of sorts.

 

I should add that you should be careful if purchasing a laminated copy of MAIT with the flyer. A number of years ago, one of the greatest EC collectors I know (we'll call him Lorenzo, as he is referred to in Bruce Thomas' The Big Wheel to protect his privacy) had a very nice reproduction produced that he gave to friends. I have no idea how many are floating around out there. I no longer have mine (an ex-gf, who is a big EC fan has it.) I forget if he changed the size slightly to prevent people getting ripped off. As I recall, there might even be a slight moire pattern due to the reproduction of the dot screen on the original - the original is cleaner looking.

Below is a pic of the Our Aim is True boot that is made to look like a Stiff promo, which uses the graphic from the giveaway copy of MAIT. It should be noted that the sleeve for the boot is on a slick looking stock. The paper used for the pasteover on the giveaway MAIT is on uncoated paper and features pure line art (no screen pattern), and was printed using traditional offset, and is not a photocopy. The boot sleeve also does not have any dot screen. I just wanted to make anyone aware of the differences in case an unscrupulous dealer cuts up the Our Aim is True sleeve to glue onto an Island MAIT.

 

Thanks Jeff! Verrry interesting info. Particularly the Island test pressing and the info about the fake promo.

It's interesting to see that the 19 April test pressing has the same tracklisting as the released album (or at least as it was released in the UK). There's all sorts of lore that suggests the Riviera, Robinson and Lowe had all sorts of plans, like maybe releasing an album with Wreckless Eric on one side and Elvis on the other etc. I always assumed that was a lot of rubbish, and now I see that over a month before Elvis did his first gig (as "Elvis Costello", I mean) on May 27 1977, the tracklisting had already been set in stone.

 

I was thinking about what you said about there not being that many UK 7" variants, and did a rough tally, not counting Stiff reissues. While it's not an earth shattering number, there are more than you might think at first. These are the ones that come to mind:

Stiff

2 - Less than Zero - Laminated and unlaminated originals

2 - Watching the Detectives - pic sleeve & phonebook sleeve


Radar

3 - Radio Radio - pic sleeve white label, pic sleeve tan label, Radar "bzz" sleeve with green Radar label

3 - Accidents Will Happen - "Fish is Brain Food" sleeve solid label, right side out animation sleeve solid label, outside in sleeve punch out label

2 Tone

2 - I Can't Stand Up - 1st pressing upside down "C" flat label, 2nd pressing correct "C" indented label

F-Beat

2 - High Fidelity - Ear sleeve yellow label, black & yellow sleeve & label

2 - New Amsterdam - pink pic sleeve solid label, pink pic sleeve large hole

4 - New Amsterdam EP - pic sleeve, pic disc black rim, pic disc tan rim, pic disc clear rim

2 - Clubland - coated stock pic sleeve, uncoated paper pic sleeve

2 - Good Year for the Roses - pic sleeve Chestnut label, Chesnut label

2 - Everyday I Write the Book - pic sleeve solid label, punch out label (might've only been in the press kit for Punch the Clock?)

IMP

2 - Pills and Soap - 1st pressing flat label, 2nd pressing indented label

F-Beat cont'd

2 - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - coated stock pic sleeve, uncoated paper pic sleeve

If I think of others, I'll report back.

 

As an artist and collector, I'm fascinated by the thinking process. I love seeing preparatory material for art and books. I thought I'd share something I think is pretty neat. As some of you may know, the UK equivalent of the US B-Side compilation, Taking Liberties, was called 10 Bloody Marys & 10 How's Your Fathers. It was originally issued as a cassette only. Later, it was released on LP. Below, you'll see Phil Smee's original concept sketch for the LP version (some of you will be familiar with his Bam Caruso Rubble releases, or the graphic design he did on Punch the Clock & Goodbye Cruel World.) Next to that is the original cassette release and the final LP cover. Obviously, the designs weren't used for the LP, but, as you can see, nothing went to waste, and the design ended up on one of the Goodbye Cruel World tour shirts in 1984.

 

I got the impression that there aren't a lot of those right side out ones. The outside in version seems to be the most common, although I see a lot of "Fish is Brain Food" covers around lately.

Yes I think it was only in the press kit.

Thanks Jeff. I think I'm on top of things.

Although - what about the Goodbye Cruel World singles? There were multiple versions of the 12" of "The Only Flame In Town" - what about the 7"?

I was getting a little bit jaded about EC at that point. Considering that there was the US 12" of "Only Flame" as well, I was getting close to EC burnout on that song (particularly as it wasn't much of an album to begin with!)

 

I'll have to check on those and get back to you. In '83 and '84, with the 12" discs there were all those remixes with stickers or new sleeves that seemed like they were coming out each week. I might only have 1 UK "The Only Flame in Town" 7" (my fave is the Japanese 12" with the huuuuge label.) I kind of gave up after Spike... it got too difficult to keep up with CDs from all over and I became more content to just get and enjoy all the music... which is probably as it should be.

I recall hearing the right side out "Accidents Will Happen" were only 1 in 1000. That ratio seems unusually low, but, it shows up so infrequently, it might be so. In the early 80s, I remember being warned about outside in ones getting cut up, refolded, and reglued (without flaps showing being the telltale sign.)

I regret never getting the counterfeit of the orange vinyl EC, Nick Lowe, Mink DeVille 12" (it's more milky in appearance, and not as clear as the real one.)

 

I just checked, and have the T&Z designated 12" versions of "I Wanna Be Loved" (type sleeve, black sleeve) & "The Only Flame in Town" (red lettering, yellow lettering) and just one 7" single for each (if there are any UK variants on the 7" singles, I never got them.)

 

i finally got my hands on a few copies of this, uh, sacred, vinyl, and peter said it perfectly. the difference, sonically speaking, between the us and uk versions of MAIT is not subtle, imho. And the difference between the non porky, and the porky, is even more profound. if the peckham version of the first lp had been the version that nitwits like me had listened to back when it was released, and loudly, i believe a few of us would've looked past the dorky look of the guy and bought him hook line & sinker. really folks, if you love costello, and don't have a porky prime cut first(or second, for that matter) lp, find one, buy it, and play it loud. amazing stuff.

 

Hello, please excuse me if this has been addressed I skimmed the thread but came up empty.

I have a Columbia re-issue of MAIT on a white label promo with a timing strip and gold stamp on the back. It has 1B stampers on both sides and Mystery Dance has a fade out ending. Is this a poor sounding pressing compared to the original Island? It sounds ok but I have not heard an original.

thanks for any info

dale

 

That's what I have too. I was just wondering! thanks Jeff

 

check the thread, but has been generally agreed on is that the best sounding version, by far of MAIT is the George Peckham mastered UK Stiff's. As Peter said earlier, you really haven't heard this album(or This Year's Model as well) until you get the original UK, Peckham versions.

 

I have MAIT on Stiff with porky one side but not the other. However I can't honestly say that the non-porky side sounds markedly worse (or even different).

Tim

 

well, that was my conclusion after after finally getting my hands on one the other day. much more bass, much more presence, and more music. could pick up stuff in the instrumentation that i never heard on the non porky's. i did a comparision, and was simply amazed. maybe it's different for different pressings, but for me it was not subtle.

 

Have you compared the "porky/pecko" MIIT to the Rhino 180 gm. reissue? According to Tom Port, the Rhino lp is the definitive version.

Outstanding, the best version (overall) I've ever heard, and one of the greatest rock records of all time! How about them apples!

http://www.dccblowout.com/product.asp?pf_id=24140

 

Ok, I figured out if I entered Columbia in the thread search box that my question had been addressed on point. Sorry for the redundant question and thanks for not blasting me.

 

That link doesn't work anymore, but I did find this:

DCC Blowout

A Hot stamper of Armed Forces, reputed to be better than the standard 1st pressing.