ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS ARMED FORCES @ 45

 

Celebrating its 45th anniversary today is the third LP from Elvis Costello, Armed Forces, which was released on January 5th, 1979. It's the album where Costello firmly established himself as in control of his product and where he most fully refined his abilities to write tight, concise pop songs with biting sociopolitical commentaries. 

 

Recorded over an economic six week period beginning at the end of August of the previous year, this was Costello's second outing with his permanent backing band, The Attractions, and the first to credit the band on the album cover. By this time, thanks to an extensive touring schedule, they'd developed a close rapport, and keyboardist Steve Nieve in particular, was much more involved in working out song arrangements. Nick Lowe was back in the producer's chair and even contributed a song for the US version of the album, What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding. 

 

With his first two albums skewed towards a relatively "punk" aesthetic, Costello was conscious about making a move to a more accessible pop sound with this production, moving the band into a more "new-wave" friendly style of performance. The result was a collection of razor-sharp songs that were easy on the ears while still offering his acerbic trademark sense of cultural insight. The working title for the album at the time production began was "Emotional Fascism", which didn't stick, though it may have been more apt given Costello's attitude in the studio. By the time of its production, he'd established himself as the de facto "last word" when it came to any and all creative decisions, a stance which occasionally created tensions between him and Lowe. These strains were minor in comparison to the results that they achieved in the studio, however, with Lowe proving instrumental in delivering the results that Costello demanded. Overall, Lowe maintained a steady hand in the production and engendered a high standard of morale, creating a level of musical agreement within the band that some would say was never matched again.

 

For the record's packaging, the original UK release featured an elaborate gate-fold design with a herd of stampeding elephants on the cover. The North American version, however, had the package simplified and featured an abstract splatter painting instead, with the inner slip utilizing the UK's front image. The US version also omitted the song, Sunday's Best, in favour of Lowe's song.

 

Critical reception and audience response were consistently positive and have remained so over the decades since its release. Many consider the album to be Costello's best work of his career. Personally, this was my introduction to Elvis Costello after having seen his controversial appearance on Saturday Night Live. At the time I picked up the album, I was just beginning my foray into the new territories of "punk" and "new wave", with this album being among the first half dozen records I'd add to my collection from those genres. Along with RAMONES, The Clash, DEVO and Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello was one of the foundational artists who started me along a path of musical exploration that would take me to so many far flung creative shores. 

 

ELVIS COSTELLO - THIS YEAR’S MODEL @ 45

Marking its 45th anniversary today is Elvis Costello’s sophomore LP, This Year’s Model, which was released in the UK on March 17th, 1978. Building on the success of his debut, My Aim Is True, and thanks to the arrival of his new backing band, The Attractions, Costello would perfect the tight, tough modern sound he had struggled to find the first time around.

For Elvis Costello’s first outing, he was working with a Californian country rock band, Clover, a pairing that struggled to align to Elvis’ vision, given the band’s west coast hippie disposition. Costello was eager to deliver a sound that put him in line with the punk & new wave edginess that was taking the UK & US music scenes by storm. After completing work on his first album, he immediately set about putting together his own band, hand picked to deliver the kind of music he wanted to play. His efforts produced The Attractions, with keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). Together, they would help him craft a sound that was contemporary, yet slightly nostalgic, bringing in a ‘60s pop quirkiness that fused with the raw edges of punk to become an entirely updated sound.

With a busy touring schedule, Costello and band were able to spend a lot of time perfecting their new songs on stage before bringing them into the studio. This Year’s Model was actually recorded very economically, with the band generally working live in the studio and nailing takes with few difficulties or internal conflicts. The mood in the studio was generally upbeat and productive. They all knew the songs so well that it was akin to the Motown methodology of bashing them out with precision and energy. Nick Lowe was back in the producers chair again and he worked perfectly with Costello and band to keep them hyped up and able to knock the songs out without any difficulty. The results are readily apparent in the album’s songs as they pump and snap through each piece, displaying a crackling sizzle of determination and intent.

Its release was met with immediate critical praise and, commercially, it ramped up sales. It’s hard to argue with either response given the remarkable consistency and perfection of what got captured on that record. On it’s cover, Costello glares out at the world from behind a camera, highlighting his role as cultural observer and social commentator, documenting the foibles and follies of humanity. Costello’s song writing was firing on all cylinders with the singer amassing a large stash of material to cherry-pick for the album, ensuring the best of the best made the cut. It remains my favorite of his records and is regularly cited as his best in critic’s poles and “best of” lists.

ELVIS COSTELLO - MY AIM IS TRUE @ 45

 

Marking 45 years on the shelves today is the debut album from Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True, which was released by Stiff Records in the UK on July 22nd, 1977. Though it was recorded before his band, The Attractions, were assembled, and the production is a bit on the brittle side, it is still considered one of the strongest debuts to come from the late ‘70s punk/new-wave movement.

Before he was Elvis Costello, he was Declan Patrick MacManus and he’d been slugging around the clubs of Liverpool and London trying to get his career off the ground since 1970. By the time his demo tape caught the attention of Stiff founders, Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera, he was performing under the name of D.P. Costello, a name chosen to honor his great-grandmother. He was also paying his bills by working a day job as a data entry clerk for Elizabeth Arden.

Though Costello was the first artist to sign to the newly minted record label, he did not release its first title. Robinson & Riviera felt they needed to work on his image to get him into a position which would leverage the burgeoning punk scene that was taking the country by storm. Costello’s performances were considered lackluster and without a sense of edginess or anger and he basically looked like a mild mannered computer geek. To remedy this, they decided to exaggerate his appearance and got him some heavy Buddy Holly style glasses, tight blazers and turned up strove-pipe jeans. The transformation was completed with the D.P. dropped and replaced by “Elvis”, a move most considered insane given its connection to the legendary Presley. But Costello was into it and the method of the madness would prove itself sound as it gave record buyers pause when encountering him in the record bins.

When it came to putting together a band for the album, Costello had no money to support musicians, so the label recruited a San Francisco country-rock band named Clover who’d managed to gain something of cult following in the UK and had moved there to take advantage. They were based in Headley Grange, where Costello would travel for rehearsals before coming back to London to record. While the band were competent and Costello would later praise them for their skills, creatively, they didn’t always see eye to eye and, ultimately, their association with Costello would end after the sessions for the LP were completed. They were not credited on the album either due to contractual disputes with another label. Interestingly, the lead singer for Clover at that time was none other than “The News” future front-man, Huey Lewis, who didn’t take part in the LP sessions, taking a vacation while the rest of the band worked on the album. Besides the creative frictions, Clover didn’t fit in with the “punk” aesthetic the label were courting, looking like American West Coast hippies, so they were replaced by what would become The Attractions before Costello began performing in support of the album and its singles.

The album was recorded during a series of six four hour sessions booked from late 1976 through the beginning of 1977 with the band often cutting the bed tracks live and in one take. Costello continued to work his data entry day job during the sessions, but would call in sick when he needed to rehearse with the band. The songs for the album were written by Costello over the course of a couple of weeks. The album was produced by Nick Lowe, who also contributed musically to the album on bass and some backing vocals. The LP was recorded at Pathway Studios, which Costello described as a “phone booth” due to its cramped size. It must have been a pretty basic facility because the album does suffer slightly from underproduction and shrill sound, especially compared to the crisp, full bite of This Years Model the next year.

Despite weak production, the quality of Costello’s songs and the energy of his performances won over critics, though the fans took a little longer to catch on. The death of Elvis Presley in August of that year, less than a month after the release of Costello’s album, gave sales an unexpected boost and suddenly record buyers were getting converted to the spindly bespectacled troubadour with anger issues. That name change started to pay off with the record buying public getting curious about this fellow with the audacity to use that sacred name!

Personally, it’s not my favorite of his early albums, those being This Year’s Model and Armed Forces, but it does have a clutch of really great songs, especially the back half of the record and the bonus single of Watching the Detectives, which was not originally on the album, but came as a single that was later included in reissues. It still showcases Costello’s raw power at it’s beginning and many continue to appreciate and praise it as one of his best albums. It certainly made a great statement for the times as an important young artist first making his mark on the world.

INFLUENTIAL ALBUM - DEVO, Q: ARE WE NOT MEN? A: WE ARE DEVO!

I was spending the night with my brother and cousin at my great grandma's house the weekend DEVO appeared on SNL in 1978 and performed Satisfaction and Jocko Homo.  I had just started to dip my toe into the waters of "punk" and "new wave" music with the likes of The Ramones, Elvis Costello and The Clash, but DEVO took my brain into a whole other realm of strangeness. 

Like The Ramones, DEVO offered up a pretty bullet proof concept.  They had every angle covered and every nut and bolt was rock solid tight.  I didn't know anything about the band's history or inspirations back then.  All I knew was this group was coming out of the gate with their shit tight as fuck and, as odd and goofy as they were, you also got the sense that they meant business. 

After seeing the SNL performances, it became an immediate mission for me to get out to the record shop and snap up a copy of their debut album.  Once I did and got it home, what spun out of those grooves was a continuation of the flawless execution I'd seen on TV.  Every track was spot-on with it's composition and lyrics.  This was stuff you wanted to quote from the get-go.  It was so compelling that I took to putting DEVO graffiti all over the high school boys washroom.  I also was dumb enough to wear a home made DEVO badge, so the janitor called me out on it, but cut me some slack, saying he didn't think anyone would be dumb enough to put up all that graffiti and then walk around with a badge like that.  Needless to say, I felt guilty and ceased my felt tipped assaults on the facilities.