Record Mirror, December 12, 1987

Bibliography   74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 UK & Ireland music weeklies UK & Ireland magazines UK & Ireland newspapers US newspapers US rock magazines US music magazines US magazines US alternative weeklies European magazines European newspapers Canada  •  Mexico  •  Asia Australia  •  New Zealand South America  •  Africa Books  •  Fanzines  •  Blogs Online publications Record Mirror   1974 March 16 1977 March 19 1977 March 26 1977 April 16 1977 May 28 1977 July 16 1977 July 23 1977 August 6 1977 August 13 1977 August 20 1977 August 27 1977 September 3 1977 September 17 1977 September 24 1977 October 8 1977 October 15 1977 October 22 1977 November 26 1977 December 3 1977 December 17 1977 December 31 1978 January 14 1978 January 21 1978 March 4 1978 March 11 1978 March 18 1978 March 25 1978 April 22 1978 May 20 1978 September 30 1978 November 18 1978 November 25 1978 December 30 1979 January 6 1979 February 3 1979 March 3 1979 May 12 1979 May 19 1979 June 2 1979 October 13 1979 October 27 1979 December 15 1980 January 12 1980 January 19 1980 January 26 1980 February 2 1980 February 16 1980 February 23 1980 March 1 1980 March 8 1980 March 22 1980 April 12 1980 May 10 1980 August 23 1980 September 6 1980 October 4 1980 October 18  1980 December 6 1980 December 27 1981 January 10 1981 January 17 1981 January 24 1981 January 31 1981 February 28 1981 March 14 1981 April 4 1981 June 13 1981 July 4 1981 August 8 1981 September 12 1981 October 3 1981 October 24 1981 November 7 1981 December 26   1982 January 9 1982 January 16 1982 March 27 1982 June 12 1982 June 19 1982 June 26 1982 July 3 1982 July 10 1982 September 4 1982 October 9 1982 October 16 1982 November 27 1983 June 4  1983 July 2 1983 July 16 1983 July 30 1983 August 13 1984 March 24 1984 March 31 1984 April 14 1984 April 21 1984 May 5 1984 May 12 1984 June 30 1985 September 21 1986 February 22 1986 March 8 1986 April 26 1986 May 31 1986 August 2 1986 August 23  1986 September 20 1986 December 6 1987 December 12 1988 November 12 1988 December 17 1989 January 7  1989 February 4  1989 February 11 1989 February 18   1989 March 4  1989 April 29 1989 May 6  1989 May 13  1989 July 1 1989 July 29 —

Out Of Our Idiot Various artists (Elvis Costello) Roger Morton Or perhaps it should be called Now That's What I Call Schizophrenia Volume One, for here we have the idiot/genius, mad/not mad Declan MacManus taking the piss out of those nasty lumpen-pop compilation LPs with an album of old B-sides and lesser known singles, recorded under a variety of pseudonyms, from the Coward Brothers to the Emotional Toothpaste. The 17 tracks span the years of Our Idiot 1979-87, including such oddities as "The People's Limousine" with T Bone Burnett, "Seven Day Weekend" with Jimmy Cliff, "Walking On Thin Ice" by Yoko Ono, and the previously unreleased "So Young" (1979). From the peppy, acerbic pop of "Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo" through the imitation Stax soul of "Blue Chair" to the country style "Shoes Without Heels" this, then, is a splendidly eccentric, eclectic album, brilliant in parts ("Black Sails In The Sunset") and occasionally average. As a collection of obscure Costello, it's powerful enough to make claims that George Michael is "the complete pop craftsman of the decade" look rather ridiculous. Tags: Out Of Our Idiot  •  The Coward Brothers  •  The Emotional Toothpaste  •  The People's Limousine  •  T Bone Burnett  •  Seven Day Weekend  •  Jimmy Cliff  •  Walking On Thin Ice  •  Yoko Ono  •  So Young  •  Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo  •  Stax  •  Blue Chair  •  Shoes Without Heels  •  Black Sails In The Sunset  •  George Michael  •  Declan MacManus  •  Jonathan Ross  •  Steve Nieve  •  Sting  •  The Specials  •  Ghost Town

<< >> Record Mirror, December 12, 1987 Roger Morton reviews Out Of Our Idiot. Pete Paisley reviews Steve Nieve's Playboy. The chart page features a Chalkie Davies photo. Images   Photo by Chalkie Davies. Playboy Steve Nieve Pete Paisley Flushed with fame from being Declan MacManus's very own ivory tickler and Johnny Ross's orchestra leader, Steve "Bryan Ferry justaboutlookalike" Nieve has seen fit to compose an album of short solo piano pieces. He reworks some strangely mixed modern covers — Sting's "Russians," the Specials' "Ghost Town," George Michael's "Careless Whisper" — and pitches in some moody self-penned romantic numbers himself, like "Loveboat" and "Divided Heart." Hard to know what else to say; the joanna in question has a lovely tone, Nieve has a sure touch, and any of these numbers would make perfect background music for a Torville and Dean TV skating session. Polished, proficient and puzzling. Cover, contents page and chart page clipping.

---

External links

• Wikipedia: Record Mirror
• Flickr: Michael Kane