The Complete Armed Forces (2020 super deluxe edition)

Armed Forces
Box Set by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Released	November, 2020
Recorded	August 1978–September 1978, Eden Studios, London
Producer	Nick Lowe
Label	Ume Worldwide B0031761-01

BOX - Back cover

The complete Armed Forces story curated by Elvis Costello includes:

Armed Forces album, b-sides, demos and 23 unreleased live recordings across 9 pieces of vinyl (3 LP's, 3 10-inch LP's and 3 7 inch singles)

A treasure trove of SEVEN custom comic books and pulp novels containing over 200 pages of Elvis Costello liner notes, facsimiles of first-draft, handwritten lyrics and examples of his lyrical working methods from Costello's personal archive, along with rare photos and memorabilia.

Vintage promo poster and 4 postcard reproductions

Images here represent the Coloured Vinyl Edition [Discogs link (external)]
Cat # UMe B0031761-01 Released NOV 2020

A Black Vinyl edition also exists [Discogs Link (external)]
Cat # UMe B0031761-01 Released NOV 2020

External Link: YOUTUBE Promotional Video

A Black Vinyl box set equivalent was also issued concurrently, as was an .mp3 edition of the music via Amazon.com. The digital version contained an error at release where Busy Bodies (Alternate Version) was actually a repeat of Big Boys (Demo Version). Subsequently, Busy Bodies (Alternate Version) was removed from the digital album reducing it to 59 tracks.
ARMED FORCES LP remastered at Lurrsen Mastering
ARMED FORCES LP lacquer cutting by Ryan Smith (RKS) at Sterling Sound
All vinyl discs are pressed/manufactured by Optimal Media GmbH

Armed Forces

12" OLIVE VINYL LP B0031761-01 LP01
Armed Forces was first issued as Radar (UK) #RAD 14 & Columbia (US) #35709 (January 1979)
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding? was first issued as the B-Side of the Nick Lowe

single American Squirm Radar (UK) #ADA 26, credited to Nick Lowe & his Sound.

The track did not appear on the UK release of the album.

Produced by Nick Lowe
Engineered by Roger Bechirian
Recorded at Eden Studios, London (August - September 1978)
Art Direction & Design: Barney Bubbles
Photo's: Chalkie Davies, Brian Griffin and Keith Morris

Side 1
	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Accidents Will Happen	Elvis Costello	3:02
2.	Senior Service	Elvis Costello	2:18
3.	Oliver's Army	Elvis Costello	3:01
4.	Big Boys	Elvis Costello	2:57
5.	Green Shirt	Elvis Costello	2:43
6.	Party Girl	Elvis Costello	3:23

Side 2
	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Goon Squad	Elvis Costello	3:15
2.	Busy Bodies	Elvis Costello	3:36
3.	Sunday's Best	Elvis Costello	3:22
4.	Moods For Moderns	Elvis Costello	2:50
5.	Chemistry Class	Elvis Costello	2:58
6.	Two Little Hitlers	Elvis Costello	3:13
7.	(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?	Nick Lowe	3:32

Other Vinyl Discs

10" BLACK/RED Marbled VINYL B0031761-01 LP02 - Sketches For Emotional Fascism

12" BLUE VINYL B0031761-01 LP03 - Live At Hollywood High & Elsewhere

10" YELLOW VINYL B0031761-01 LP04 - Riot At The Regent - Live In Sydney '78

10" WHITE VINYL B0031761-01 LP05 - Christmas In The Dominion - Live 24th December '78

12" PINK VINYL B0031761-01 LP06 - Europe '79 - Live At Pinkpop

7" BLACK VINYL B0031761-01 S01 - Oliver's Army

7" BLACK VINYL B0031761-01 S02 - Accidents Will Happen

7" BLACK VINYL B0031761-01 S03 - American Squirm

Comic Books

"BIG BOYS" 17cm x 24cm (12 pages)

Abandoned song titles & drafts for EMOTIONAL FASCISM by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

"The keen reader may come across a familiar line or two in the loose scrawl of these rough worksheets.

My guess is this was the first time some of these thoughts were placed on the page. They can be

found alongside the first draft of completed songs with lines that I later amended or replaced, as well as

the titles for songs that I neglected to pursue at all."

Elvis Costello January 2020

"ARMED FORCES" 17cm x 24cm (14 pages)

A typed lyric booklet for all the songs on the ARMED FORCES album, including many of the b-sides.

"EMOTIONAL FASCISM" 14cm x 19cm (18 pages)

A booklet attempting to explain the writing, recording, rhyme and reason of the songs on ARMED FORCES

Text by EC (2002). Revised and corrected 2019

"CHECKPOINT CHARLIE" 14cm x 19cm (42 pages)

A synopsis of EC & The Attractions tours, adventures and recording of ARMED FORCES in and around 1978/79

"For a group of musicians who only played together for the first time in the summer of 1977, it didn't take but a couple

of circuits of the U.K. club and theatre scene and our first U.S. tour to turn the band into one of the very best on the scene ..."

"ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN" 12cm x 19cm (44 pages)

First drafts & work titles for EMOTIONAL FASCISM. Cash prizes plus Attractions.

"These pages contain songs eventually released on Armed Forces

"Greenshirt" opens with a different description of the newsreader found in the first verse and extends

to a deleted verse, heard only on the acoustic demo. A couple of lines included in this draft later found

their way onto "Senior Service".

The Songs for "Emotional Fascism" (or as it became, "Armed Forces") were not written anything as

grandiose as a "concept album" but there were undoubtedly common themes found in the songs.

This draft of "Senior Service" opens with a more specific scenario than the final lyric, one suggesting

the existence of a post-war fascist underground, an idea borrowed from a number of b-movies with

a paranoid plot.

From the drafts and pages on which the rhymes and locations for "Oliver's Army" were worked out, you

will see that I tried out a number of place names to which I might have posted a battalion or two.

Now read on ...."

Elvis Costello

January 2020

"BUSY BODIES" 10cm x 16.5cm (28 pages)

Provisional running order & handwritten lyrics for Side One of EMOTIONAL FASCISM

"Looking over these notebooks again, I recalled that part of my editorial method

was to repeatedly write out drafts of the words, not so much with the intention of

changing any of the lines - as the songs were already recorded - but to get a sense

of the lyrical thread and balance from number to number, before we settled on

the album sequence

In this case, we abandoned both the order and the album title ...

This was about as tidy as my handwriting got."

Elvis Costello

January 2020

"GOON SQUAD" 10cm x 16.5cm (10 pages)

A small notebook with details about each individual vinyl record in the BOX SET;
Recording details, locations, personnel, production and writing credits and previous issues of recordings where appropriate.