New Musical Express, June 14, 1980

From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
... Bibliography ...
727677787980818283
848586878889909192
939495969798990001
020304050607080910
111213141516171819
202122232425 26 27 28


NME

-

Cleave it out, Elvis!


Frazer Clarke

Elvis Costello And The Attractions
Bataclan, Paris

Lincoln, Yeovil, Paris, Lyon: from England's backwaters to the conurbations of France the Costello tour roars on, nightly refuelled by the energy it inspires.

En route, keyboard player Steve Naive has had to pull out, the victim of a car crash. His replacement is a surprise, Martin Belmont, guitarist with The Rumour. The resultant twin-guitar based sound is a less sophisticated but funkier mix than before; James Brown's rough diamonds rather than the polished pearls of Smokey Robinson.

It's certainly a sound suited to tonight's venue. Le Bataclan is a Parisian Marquee, cramped, seatless and sweaty with a strong reputation as France's home of blues and soul. As if in acknowledgement, The Attractions play Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me," a slow-burning, bubbling blues stew, with more than a taste of "Green Onions" thrown in.

The song is one of a half dozen non-originals performed, which includes the other Elvis' "Little Sister," a lollipop already licked by Ry Cooder and now crunched and swallowed by The Attractions. Cooder stressed the seductive qualities in the number; Costello is out for retribution.

Bitter resentment remains the stock-in-trade of Costello the songwriter, in spite of the almost "born again" joy of Costello the man. He is still passion's slave, the difference being that no longer does "everybody have to feel his pain." One can only assume that his Muse is treating him more kindly these days.

The change in image is absolute, from the profuse thanks and garrulous stage chat (his accent is pure Liverpudlian) to the ecstatic squirming as Elvis repeats the final line of "Secondary Modern." Belmont's resonant guitar flourishes fade away with the song.

Generally, the band seem happiest pelting through the set's fastest numbers.

"Mystery Dance" and "Waiting For The End Of The World" (appropriately introduced as "a message from The Ayatollah") are revived with a double helping of brio and a mini-Niagara pours constantly from Costello's chin.

It's during the atmospheric "Lipstick Vogue" and "Watching The Detectives" that Naive is most missed. Without the spooky hyphens provided by his organ, the central build-up of tension in "Lipstick Vogue" seems forced, with little connection with the rest of the tune.

Visually, Martin Belmont seems out of place, and not just because he's inches taller than either Costello or Bruce Thomas. He's thickset and often wanders into Elvis' mid-stage territory, whereas the lightweight Naive's role was more peripheral, cordoned off by a barrier of keyboards. Naive's joyous leaps are replaced by Belmont's guitar-hero grimaces.

The guitarist is obviously accustomed to playing in a more egalitarian organization, while Thomases Bruce and Pete seem content to be subordinate sidemen. (Pete sits calmly behind his drums, occasionally mouthing the lyrics, with a look so phlegmatic that you'd think his trousers would have to be on fire before he'd be disturbed.)

But this is more than just a physical attraction, and it's churlish to belittle Belmont's success in fitting quite neatly into the band's sound — as well as adding a new dimension of his own — at short notice.

The different approach is welcome in itself, and is accentuated in view of the precise, clipped sound which dominates Get Happy!! The contrast in guitar styles highlighted in "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" is a treat. Costello deals with solos the way a cleaver deals with meat, blitzing through to the bone. Belmont's style is more sustained and earthier, here complementing, there duelling with the man in the middle.

Costello's voice is strained, it could do with oiling, but no one seems to notice and the cheers are raucous and constant. Whatever happened to Paris's aloof reserve?


Tags: BataclanParisFranceThe AttractionsMartin Belmont1980 UK TourLincolnYeovil1980 European TourLyonSteve NaiveJames BrownSmokey RobinsonSonny Boy WilliamsonHelp MeElvis PresleyLittle SisterRy CooderSecondary ModernMystery DanceWaiting For The End Of The WorldLipstick VogueWatching The DetectivesBruce ThomasPete ThomasGet Happy!!(I Don't Want To Go To) ChelseaHigh FidelityF-BeatGraham ParkerThe RumourHope And AnchorNew Amsterdam (single)New AmsterdamGhost TrainDr. Luther's AssistantThis Year's ModelSingle Girl

-
<< >>

New Musical Express, June 14, 1980


Frazer Clarke reviews Elvis Costello & The Attractions (with Martin Belmont subbing for Steve Nieve), Monday, May 5, 1980, Bataclan, Paris, France.


Jerry-Lee Abbott reports on Steve Nieve's car accident, and on rumours that EC and the Attractions may split.


Charles Shaar Murray reviews the single for "New Amsterdam," which is Bubbling Under on the singles chart (page 2).

Images

1980-06-14 New Musical Express page 64 clipping 01.jpg1980-06-14 New Musical Express page 17 clipping 01.jpg
Clippings.


Attractions get unhappy


Jerry Lee Abbott

Steve Naive car crash; Solo projects abound; So do split rumours

Elvis Costello and company are doing the mystery dance again. The latest spate of rumours and conjecture are already doing the rounds quicker than "High Fidelity" plummeted from the Fun Thirty.

The story goes that a split between the minstrel and his musical accomplices could be on the cards in the light of Elvis's new Attractions-less EP and a forthcoming Attractions solo single with a possible album to follow.

But the plan for myopic world domination, it transpires, has not suddenly slipped five gears into reverse. A spokesman for El's record label F-Beat tacitly denied even the remote possibility of a growing rift in the ranks: "There's no question of a break."

Nonetheless, an ongoing Graham Parker And The Rumour situation appears to be developing within the set-up with Attractions Steve Naive, Bruce and Pete Thomas free to pursue projects outside their involvement with El.

To this end, an F-Beat 45: "Single Girl," penned and sung by Naive will be asserting the band's new-found independence on July 4. The trio also have ready an album's worth of material, recorded in Holland around the same time as Get Happy, although it remains to be seen whether the eleven tracks, reportedly mainstream pop fare, surface as an LP or a stream of singles.

Naive, meanwhile is still recovering from the after-effects of a car crash in Los Angeles in which a female passenger was killed. The crash meant that the band were forced to complete a two-month European tour plus one low key British gig at the Hope and Anchor last month without keyboards. The Rumour's Martin Belmont stood in on second guitar for the gig.


Photos by Denis O'Regan and Mark Coleman.
Photo by Denis O'Regan.Photo by Mark Coleman.



New Amsterdam EP


Charles Shaar Murray, Max Bell, Paul Rambali

1980-06-14 New Musical Express page 34 clipping 01.jpg

MB: That's my favourite song on the album, "New Amsterdam."

CSM: Yeah, but is it a single?

MB: I haven't thought about it... "Dr. Luther's Assistant" was an outtake from This Year's Model, wasn't it?

PR: This is Elvis' Basement Tapes. That's enough of that.

CSM: Really. Put the other side on. What's this one called?

PR: "Ghost Train," it's an outtake from the last album.

MB: They all are. Maybe we ought to make some attempt to find out.

CSM: Sod it. Put another record on...

MB: It's all psychedelic music.

PR: Can I just say that Elvis Costello gets more surreal every time? It finishes with backward tapes.


Cover and page scans.
1980-06-14 New Musical Express cover.jpg charts singles concert review

-



Back to top

External links