Watching The Detectives [3:43] / Blame It On Cain (live) [2:52] Mystery Dance (live) [2:01]
(Normal sleeve  /  rare 'telephone directory' sleeve)
Release date	Media	Catalogue number (comments)
1977-10-14	7"	Stiff BUY 20 (UK, ps)
1977-10-__	7"	Columbia 3-10696 (US, a promo version also exists with a 'DJ stamp')
(Belgian release on yellow vinyl)
1977-__-__	7"	Stiff COU/B/BUY 20 (Belgium, yellow vinyl, ps)
1977-__-__	7"	Teldec AC 6.12193/Stiff BUY 20 (Germany, ps)
1977-__-__	7"	Stiff 640120 (France, ps)]
197_-__-__	7"	Stiff SRS 510042 (Holland)
1978-01-23	7"	Stiff Buy 11633 (Australia, demo)

Producer:

Nick Lowe.

Personnel:

"Watching The Detectives":

Elvis Costello - guitar, vocals

Steve Goulding - drums

Andrew Bodnar - bass

Steve Nieve - piano, organ

"Blame It On Cain" & "Mystery Dance":

Elvis Costello & The Attractions:

Elvis Costello - guitar, vocals

Steve Nieve - keyboards

Pete Thomas - drums

Bruce Thomas - bass

Charts:

#15 (UK).

Notes:

• "Blame It On Cain" & "Mystery Dance" recorded live at The Nashville Rooms, London, 7-Aug-77.
• This single appeared in at least 3 different sleeves: a colour picture cover, a plain Stiff sleeve and the rarer 'telephone directory' cover, which consisted of the entries for the name Stiff out of the London phone book with the Stiff Records number highlighted.
• Some copies have the "Watching The Detectives (edit)" version on the A-side. These can only be identified by the duration of the track and the runoff matrix numbers: A-side: "BUY 20 A-DJ-1U" (stamped) + "tone controlled" (etched). B-side: "BUY 20 B-1U" (stamped) + "LITTLE TRIGGERS BUT BIG TEARS" (etched)
• Record Collector (#49) reports that some promo copies of this single apparently had different takes of the live songs on the B-side.
• Etched in the runoff for side A is "I Think You Know What I Mean". Side B contains "Little Triggers But Big Tears".