Record Mirror, December 12, 1987

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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.

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External links

• Wikipedia: Record Mirror
• Flickr: Michael Kane