The Elvis Costello album-by-album thread

Howdy.

Aside from Costello's growing confidence and inflating ego, the primary differences between MAIT and TYM were:
a real budget,
a real studio,
and a real band.

I think I read Nick Lowe say that somewhere back in the misty distance. Clover was Huey Lewis' band before the News. Their Bay Area folk rock was closer in sound and spirit to the pub rock of Brinsley Schwartz and Ducks Deluxe than to the music Elvis wanted to make. As good as MAIT is, TYM fairly LEAPT off the turntable. The Attractions propelled Elvis in directions the Californians never would have.

While Clover backed Elvis, Lewis lent a tune (Bad is Bad) to Dave Edmunds who misspelled Huey's name in the credits.

 

I always wondered what Huey Lewis though about all this. Although he went on to great success, did he ever regret not being there for the MAIT sessions?

 

Now that's an interesting point. Pathway Studios was (at the time) an 8 track studio primarily used for recording demos, although there certainly were albums recorded there as well.

Here's a page with photos of Squeeze doing demos there in '76, approximately the same era as "My Aim Is True":

http://www.packetofthree.com/po3/html/pathway_studios_1976.html

As you can see it really is quite small. The studios are still there to this day.

Eden Studios, where TYM, "Armed Forces" and parts of "Get Happy!!" and "Trust" were recorded, was a relatively state of the art studio. Here's what it would have looked like at the time:

http://www.edenstudios.com/history5.htm

 

I saw him live at the end of the Seventies in Brussels. He played half an hour and then left the stage never to return. The audience was furious. Nothing had happened that provoked that kind of behaviour.

 

Thank God I never attended a show like that, or I probably wouldn't be here posting right now. I have heard lots of bad things about EC, the biggest of them the racial slur he so famously directed at Ray Charles. What an *******!

But, we're discussing the man's music here, not his personality. Some of my favourite actors <I'm a HUGE film fan> are jerks in real life. Robert Mitchum. Marlon Brando. Steve McQueen. You have to seperate the work from the man, to a certain extent.

 

I'm with Minerwerks (and jsayers); those songs are definitely my top two on MAIT.

I think "Miracle Man" was the first EC song I heard on the radio. That and "Welcome To The Working Week" are in a tie for second faves.

Best of the bonus tracks has to be "Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver)" even though I've never been fond of that Clover-type twanginess. For me, MAIT is all about EC's urgent, killer vocals and the genesis of his nerd-punk image, soon to be altered again and again and again.

3.705 out of 5

(Oh, and having been a fan of Elvis for almost 20 years, I hope I can confess here that "Watching The Detectives" is quite possibly my least favorite Costello song. The album was just fine without it.)

 

I agree - this song and Alison I could do w/o hearing the rest of my life. They both sound hopelessly dated and cheesy to my ears. Hard to believe they actually added strings to the US 7" version of Alison! 50% more torture, if you ask me. To be fair, this also goes for "Pump It Up" and "What's So Funny...". Just overplayed and I'm tired of them. There's just so much more incredible EC for folks to discover....

 

Of course, the band on "Imagination is a Powerful Deceiver" is Elvis' earlier band, "Flip City". The track was recorded at Dave Robinson's Hope and Anchor studios in 1975. Since Dave Robinson formed Stiff Records about a year later it's not totallysurprising that EC ended up on Stiff.

However, you can see why Clover were chosen to be the backing band on MAIT as they have a similar 'American' sounding pub-rocking vibe. A little like Graham Parker's first two albums.

I think EC probably got a little tired of being compared to Graham Parker and by mid-1977 he may well have decided he needed a slightly more cutting edge sound. Hence, the Attractions

 

My intro to Elvis was one evening,back in the days when FM rock stations played entire albums so listeners could tape them,the dj announced he was going to play an album by "Elvis Costello."I thought that was a neat name so I taped it.The rest is history....

 

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Some trivia: Clover went on tour with Thin Lizzy in the late 70's as their opening act. Phil Lynott and Huey Lewis were friends.

 

Cool story! Reminds me of how important radio was way back when..I used to try and stay up late just to hear certain programs..not anymore unfotunately..

 

It looks like it's time to move on to 1978's This Year's Model, Elvis' first album with the Attractions and the winner of last year's Survivor Costello contest on this forum.

I trust Jeff Wong can provide all the cover variations, but here are the basic UK and US versions:



Original UK track list:

Side 1:
01. No Action (2:01)
02. This Year's Girl (3:20)
03. The Beat (3:47)
04. Pump It Up (3:15)
05. Little Triggers (2:41)
06. You Belong To Me (2:22)
Side 2:
07. Hand In Hand (2:36)
08. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea (3:09)
09. Lip Service (2:38)
10. Living In Paradise (3:46)
11. Lipstick Vogue (3:33)
12. Night Rally (2:43)

The US version dropped "Chelsea" and "Night Rally" and added:
13. Radio, Radio (3:05)

The current CDs include all 13 tracks listed above.

In Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, and Argentina, "Watching The Detectives" appeared at the end of side 1 of the original LP! Did anyone here hear that version first?

Rhino bonus disc:

01. Big Tears (3:09)
02. Crawling To The U.S.A. (2:52)
03. Running Out Of Angels (Demo) (2:02)
04. Greenshirt (Demo) (2:20)
05. Big Boys (Demo) (2:58)
06. You Belong To Me (Capital Radio Version) (1:52)
07. Radio, Radio (Capital Radio Version) (2:58)
08. Neat Neat Neat (Live) (3:16)
09. Roadette Song (Live) (5:38)
10. This Year's Girl (Alternate Eden Studios Version) (2:07)
11. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea (Basing Street Studios Version) (2:57)
12. Stranger In The House (BBC Version) (4:15)

(Tracks in bold were also on the Ryko CD.)

 

That's how my album was/is. Bought it in Holland. I asked the man behind the counter if I could hear it first. The intro of 'No Action' came through the headphones and I was sold. That was all I needed to hear.
Fantastic album. He never got better than that for me.

Oh, and there was a free single included with 'Radio Radio' b/w the live version of 'Neat Neat Neat'.

'Watching The Detectives' is the best reggae track a white man ever made.

 

You're right Donald. I had a vague feeling something was wrong, but I was too lazy to go to the cellar where my singles are stored. It's been a while since I played that one.

 

I wasn't sold on 'My Aim', but THIS one got me excited right from the first note.

Still VERY confused as to why such a short album needed to have TWO tracks removed to fit 'Radio Radio' on the US copy. (Heck, Columbia could've fit Radio Radio AND the two tracks from the bonus single)

'The Beat' 's always been my favorite track.

I bought the import about a week after it came out (never owned the US version), but Jem had removed all the singles. There was even an article in the paper about it sparking boycotts from record stores. (I have a vague recollection of Hot Wacks magazine mentioning it as well)

 

This Year's Model is the one album in Costello's career everyone seems to be able to agree on. And why not? It's a tight, tough set of powerful rock songs. Most importantly, it's the debut of the Attractions, the "beat combo" that, with one notable exception, is Costello's regular backing band to this day. Pete Thomas's crisp drumming, Bruce Thomas's fluid bass and Steve Nieve's florid keyboards are the backdrop against which Costello made his most familiar and popular music. They're probably the greatest "and the" band of all time (and yes, I'm counting the E Street Band).

I'm probably the only person out there, though, who doesn't think it's Costello's greatest album. I mean, the album's highlights are unforgettable -- "Pump It Up," "This Year's Girl," "You Belong To Me," "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea." I don't know what genius at Columbia Records dropped "Chelsea" from the American version (they thought Americans wouldn't want to listen to a song about London?) but at least they put the equally great single "Radio Radio" in its place. I suppose it made Taking Liberties worth buying years later. However, that and the missing "Night Rally" left the second side of the album (as I first heard it) a little weak. "Hand in Hand" is good but "Lip Service" and "Living in Paradise" are not particularly memorable songs, and I've always thought "Lipstick Vogue" is just a bunch of clatter, though clearly people dig this song as Costello still plays it regularly. I don't think "The Beat" has the bite of the other material, either. "Big Tears" and "Crawling to the USA" would have been better on the album than any of these tracks. Personally, I don't feel Costello's sense of melody was as strong in the early days as it was later -- many of his earlier songs are stronger on attitude than tune, IMO. But melody is my particular obsession -- to another listener the energy of all this music is what matters.

These are only minor gripes -- obviously this is a classic album. It's always irritated me a little, though, that everything else Costello does seems to get compared to it. As I said earlier, I first connected to Costello's later music, so I've never seen This Year's Model as the ne plus ultra of what Costello can do. Sure it rocks, but to me records like King of America have superior songs.

One thing I find interesting about Costello is that he's one of those somewhat rare rock musicians who doesn't seem especially interested in lead guitar. I don't know whether it was a deliberate choice or just a matter of circumstance, but the formation of the Attractions meant he would henceforward rely on keyboards, rather than guitar, to add colour to his music, and only work with other guitarists in the years when the Attractions were inactive, in particular with James Burton on King of America, and then with Marc Ribot on Spike and Mighty Like a Rose. In part I think this is because he is more influenced by early rock and roll and R&B than he is by the blues or by heavy late 60s/70s rock music, where the guitar was king. And with Steve Nieve around, there's no room for anything but rhythm guitar. He's a great player, if a little busy, but at times I think Costello could use some fresh input on his rock stuff -- Burton and Ribot brought interesting ideas to his music and maybe another guitarist could as well.

 

You know I don't think that Columbia took the songs off because it made the album too long--I think they took it off because they just didn't like them and they felt (whomever was in charge of A&R then for EC) it would strengthen the album. Since I purchased the original UK release when it came out, I would disagree with Columbia on this but that's one man's opinion.

 

Here are the major variants of TYM that I posted previously in another thread. I've got a number of goodies from this period that I'll try to post -- hopefully I can get them lit decently and take an acceptable shot. I know my pics have been less than stellar... my apologies... I'm just eager to share info, but, also don't want to spend an inordinate amount of time setting shots up (convenience is the key).







I know a lot of people often overlook the song "Night Rally", but, I feel it bears closer examination. EC has usually described it as being about the National Front. While I don't doubt that, I believe there may be some anti-American sentiments buried in the song that he has been reluctant to address. The line, "And the corporation logo is flashing on and off in the sky" suggests corporate America more than British fascists.

"Everybody's singing with their hand on their heart
About deeds done in the darkest hours
That's just the sort of catchy little melody
To get you singing in the showers"

I've long suspected this was a reference to the "Pledge of Allegiance" and the National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" ("Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?") with an obvious allusion to the showers at Oświęcim/Auschwitz.

"You can stand to attention
You can pray to your uncle
Only get that chicken out of here"

Again, standing at attention conjures images of the fascist movement, but also reminds one of pledges in American classrooms and honouring Uncle Sam. The chicken seems to be a derogatory and dismissive reference to the American Bald Eagle, at least in the context I've approached the song.

It's easy to read into just about anything, but, a song having multiple meanings is a beautiful thing; whether this anti-American sentiment was intended or not, I don't know (EC never responded to my asking him in a note I gave him many years ago), but, one does wonder if this may have been a reason it was left off the US release.

 

This is where I became interested in Elvis Costello, although it would have been Watching The Detectives which first attracted my attention. I though that was a brilliant single and still do. My Aim Is True left me cold, I found it too traditional, some good individual songs but rather weak overall. This Years Model was more exciting and had better songs. Chelsea has a fantasic guitar riff, and This Years Girl is a cracking rock track. I'm less enthusiastic about it now, Armed Forces blows this out of the water, and it has dated a bit, but overall a good solid album, and showed signs of the great talent he turned out to be. I'd give it 4/5

 

Pure adrenalin rush from the opening phrase of "No Action" to the closing drum and organ fills on "Radio Radio". Contrary to some of the other opinions here, I think the song sequencing on the original U.S. LP is perfect as it is, though I enjoy "Chelsea" and "Night Rally" on their own terms. This and perhaps one or two other records were the recordings that sold me on the whole "punk/new wave" thing way back when, along with Elvis' unforgettable live "Radio Radio" on Saturday Night Live. Always wondered if switching gears so suddenly from the other track was a planned move or completely spontaneous?

 

After "Imperial Bedroom", "TYM" is my fave EC album - and there's a pretty big drop from #2 down to #3. Not that I don't love many of his other works, but to me, "IB" and "TYM" are head and shoulders his best stuff.

Just a flawless album from start to finish - not a note that I'd change. Hard, fast and aggressive!

 

I agree. 5 stars for me. It's among, if not EC's best IMHO. Every song is a winner, and every one has that famous Elvis Costello "bite" to it. I wouldn't change a thing. The perfect Costello album.

That being said, with all due respect to my fellow forum member above, "Imperial Bedroom" is his most overated IMO..but thats for another time!