Watching The Detectives (single)

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Tracks Release date Media Catalog number Comments
Side A:
Watching The Detectives [3:43]
Side B:
Blame It On Cain (live) [2:52]
Mystery Dance (live) [2:01]
1977-10-14 7" Stiff BUY 20 UK, ps or Telephone Directory sleeve
1977-10-__ 7" Columbia 3-10696 US,
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff 2COU/B/BUY 20 Belgium, yellow vinyl, ps
1977-__-__ 7" Teldec AC 6.12193/Stiff BUY 20 Germany, ps
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff 640120 France, ps
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff SRS 510042 Holland
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff BUY 20 NP Portugal
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff MO 1819 Spain
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff MO 1819 Spain, promo
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff BUY 20 Scandinavia
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff BUY 20 Sweden
1978-01-23 7" Stiff Buy 11633 Australia, no ps, and demo release
1978-__-__ 7" Stiff Buy 20 New Zealand, no ps
1978-__-__ 7" Stiff STF 1 South Africa, no ps
Side A:
Watching The Detectives [3:42]
Side B:
Alison [3:05]
1978-03-__ 7" Columbia 3-10705 USA
1978-03-__ 7" Columbia 3-10705 PROMO USA
1. Watching The Detectives (remix) [3:48]
2. Blame It On Cain (live) [2:51]
3. Mystery Dance (live) [1:56]
4. Miracle Man (live) [3:55]
2003-10-27 5" CD Edsel BUY 11 UK, available only in Singles, Volume 1 box set
Side A:
Watching The Detectives (mono) [3:42]
Side B:
Watching The Detectives (stereo) [3:42]
1977-__-__ 7" Columbia 3-10696 US, DJ promo
Side A:
Watching The Detectives (Edit) [3:04]
Side B:
Blame It On Cain (live) [2:52]
Mystery Dance (live) [2:01]
1977-10-__ 7" Stiff BUY 20DJ UK, DJ promo.
A-Side: Edited (3' 04") version with last verse omitted.
B-Side: As per standard release
A-Side Matrix BUY 20 A-DJ-1U (stamped) Tone controlled (scratched)
20 copies only pressed
Side A:
Watching The Detectives [3:42]
1977-__-__ 7" Stiff BUY 20 UK, 1-sided test pressing
Side A:
Watching The Detectives (live) [6:06]
Side B:
Accidents Will Happen (live) [3:20]
Alison (live) [3:04]
1979-__-__ 12" Columbia AS 529 USA, plain sleeve, 33 rpm, promo
"Live At Hollywood High"


Artwork

7" UK Stiff BUY 20
Watching The Detectives UK 7" single front sleeve.jpg Watching The Detectives UK 7" single back sleeve.jpg WTD UK BUY 20 A.JPG WTD UK BUY 20 B.JPG

7" UK Stiff BUY 20 (Telephone Directory Sleeve)
WTD UK BUY 20 PHONE SLEEVE FRONT.JPG WTD UK BUY 20 PHONE SLEEVE BACK.JPG WTD UK BUY 20 PHONE SLEEVE A.JPG WTD UK BUY 20 PHONE SLEEVE B.JPG

7" USA COLUMBIA 3-10696
WTD USA 3-10696 A.JPG WTD USA 3-10696 B.JPG

7" Belgium Stiff 2COU/B/BUY 20 Yellow Vinyl
WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 YELLOW FRONT.JPG WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 YELLOW BACK.JPG WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 YELLOW A.JPG WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 YELLOW B.JPG

7" Belgium Stiff 2COU/B/BUY 20 Yellow/Brown Vinyl
WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 BROWN FRONT.JPG WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 BROWN BACK.JPG WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 BROWN A.JPG WTD BELGIUM COU BUY 20 BROWN B.JPG

7" Germany Stiff/Teldec BUY20/AC 6.12.193
WTD GERMANY 6.12.193 FRONT.JPG WTD GERMANY 6.12.193 BACK.JPG WTD GERMANY 6.12.193 A.JPG WTD GERMANY 6.12.193 B.193 A.JPG

7" France Stiff 640120
WTD FRANCE 640120 FRONT.JPG WTD FRANCE 640120 BACK.JPG WTD FRANCE 640120 A.JPG WTD FRANCE 640120 B.JPG

7" Holland Stiff SRS 510.042
WTD NETHERLANDS 510.042 FRONT.JPG WTD NETHERLANDS 510.042 BACK.JPG WTD NETHERLANDS 510.042 A.JPG WTD NETHERLANDS 510.042 B.JPG

7" Portugal Stiff BUY 20 NP
WTD PORTUGAL BUY 20 NP FRONT.JPG WTD PORTUGAL BUY 20 NP BACK.JPG WTD PORTUGAL BUY 20 NP A.JPG WTD PORTUGAL BUY 20 NP B.JPG

7" Spain Stiff MO 1819
WTD SPAIN MO 1819 FRONT.JPG WTD SPAIN MO 1819 BACK.JPG WTD SPAIN MO 1819 A.JPG WTD SPAIN MO 1819 B.JPG

7" Spain Stiff MO 1819 PROMO
WTD SPAIN MO1819 PROMO FRONT.JPG WTD SPAIN MO1819 PROMO BACK.JPG WTD SPAIN MO1819 PROMO A.JPG WTD SPAIN MO1819 PROMO B.JPG

7" Scandinavia Stiff BUY 20
WTD SCANDINAVIA BUY 20 FRONT.JPG WTD SCANDINAVIA BUY 20 BACK.JPG WTD SCANDINAVIA BUY 20 A.JPG WTD SCANDINAVIA BUY 20 B.JPG

7" Sweden Stiff BUY 20
WTD SWEDEN BUY 20 FRONT.JPG WTD SWEDEN BUY 20 BACK.JPG WTD SWEDEN BUY 20 A.JPG WTD SWEDEN BUY 20 B.JPG

7" Australia Stiff BUY 11633 and DEMO copy
WTD AUS BUY 11633 A.JPG WTD AUS BUY 11633 B.JPG WTD AUS BUY 11633 A DEMO.JPG

7" New Zealand Stiff BUY 20
WTD NZ BUY 20 A-SIDE.jpg WTD NZ BUY 20 B-SIDE.jpg
Images with thanks to Stephen Tomlinson

7" South Africa Stiff STF 1
WTD SOUTH AFRICA STF 1 A-SIDE.jpg WTD SOUTH AFRICA STF 1 B-SIDE.jpg
Images with thanks to Stephen Tomlinson

7" USA Columbia 3-10705 (B Side: Alison)
3-10705 A SIDE.JPG 3-10705 B SIDE.JPG

7" USA Columbia 3-10705 (B Side: Alison) PROMO
WTD USA 3-10705 A.JPG WTD USA 3-10705 B.JPG

5" CD UK EDSEL BUY 20
WTD EDSEL FRONT.JPG WTD EDSEL BACK.JPG WTD EDSEL DISC.JPG

7" USA COLUMBIA 3-10696 PROMO
3-10696 PROMO MONO SIDE.JPG 3-10696 PROMO STEREO SIDE.JPG

7" UK Stiff BUY 20DJ PROMO
RED promo stamp. 20 copies only. Different A-Side matrix
WTD UK BUY 20 DJ A PROMO.JPG

7" UK Stiff BUY 20 1-sided test pressing
Images to follow

12" USA COLUMBIA AS 529 PROMO "Live At Hollywood High"
12 AS 529 USA PROMO FRONT.JPG 12 AS 529 USA PROMO BACK.JPG

Credits

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 & Miracle Man:
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 & Miracle Man recorded live at The Nashville Rooms, London, 1977-08-07.
  • 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.
  • BUY 20: Etched in the runoff for side A is "I Think You Know What I Mean". Side B contains "Little Triggers But Big Tears".
  • BUY 20DJ: Etched in the runoff for side A is "tone controlled".
  • A US 12" promo with Watching The Detectives and two unknown tracks is rumored to exist, but this may actually be the Live At Hollywood High EP.

Internal links

External links