Elvis Costello has a massive. multi-format compilation album released on Demon Records this week.
The album, entitled Girls + £+ Girls = $& Girls, contains material recorded between 1976 and 1986, before he left for the dizzy heights of WEA. Between the various formats it covers a vast 63 songs, putting it up there with Bob Dylan's Biograph and Neil Young's Decade in the realms of sprawling, comprehensive compilations. Demon Records assure us that the album's unpronounceable title can be reduced to the more user friendly Girls! Girls! Girls!
The LP will be available in four formats, three of which you will need to purchase in order to get the complete 63-track picture: double album, double cassette, double CD and, intriguingly, DAT. As it is one of the first records to be released on this format, and as very few people as yet possess a DAT machine, the track-listing on the DAT is identical to that on the double album. Each track listing will vary according to "the characteristics of each format."
Costello, who already has a compilation album (The Man) available on Demon, sees Girls! Girls! Girls! as follows:
"Rather than being placed in chronological order I have arranged the songs in four parts so as to try and tell a number of different stories. I will leave it to the listener to make what they will of each section, but this is an opportunity to include a few actual 'hits' and a few 'lost' songs (while others, both good and bad, seem better left In their original context). The deciding factor in making these choices is contained in the obscure arithmetic of the title. Although I must caution against taking it too seriously unless you are considering a career in the legal profession. The majority of the selections feature Pete Thomas, Bruce Thomas and Steve Nieve, who were shrewd enough to recognise a cryptic advertisement in the music press as an invitation of FUNEXCITEMENTANDTRAVEL as 'Elvis Costello And The Attractions' and without whom this would be a blank record."
And so, pausing only for a massive intake of breath, to the tracks. The double album and DAT line up as follows: "Watching The Detectives," "I Hope You're Happy Now," "Pump It Up," "Lover's Walk," "Temptation," "Lovable," "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea," "High Fidelity," "Lipstick Vogue." "Man Out Of Time," "Brilliant Mistake," "New Lace Sleeves," "Accidents Will Happen." "King Horse," "Green Shirt," "(The Angels Want To Wear My) Red Shoes," "Beyond Belief," "Alison," "Indoor Fireworks," "Party Girl," "Almost Blue," "Riot Act," "Poisoned Rose," "I Want You," "I'll Wear It Proudly," "Oliver's Army," "Pills And Soap," "Stranger In The House," "Clubland," "Tokyo Storm Warning" and "Shipbuilding."
The CD format removes "I'll Wear It Proudly" and "Stranger In The House," adding a further 19 tracks: "This Year's Girl," "Strict Time," "Mystery Dance," "Big Tears." "Uncomplicated," "Black And White World," ‘The Loved Ones," "New Amsterdam," "Big Sister's Clothes," "Man Called Uncle," "Shabby Doll," "Motel Matches," "Tiny Steps," "Love Field," "Possession," "Sunday's Best," "Watch Your Step," "Less Than Zero" and "Clowntime Is Over."
As for the double cassette, it consists of everything on the LPs, a few of the additional songs on the CDs as well as the following tracks: "Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?" , "Poor Napoleon," "Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head," "Turning The Town Red," "Sleep Of The Just," "Our Little Angel," "The Long Honeymoon," "Crimes Of Paris," "Jack Of All Parades," "Little Palaces," "Night Rally" and "Suit Of Lights."
As for the man's current activities, he has just finished a US tour and is now "having a nice rest, possibly in Ireland," according to a WEA spokeswoman.
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