USC Daily Trojan, March 20, 1980

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Get Happy!!

Elvis Costello

Gene Kiyotoki

Though it may be a bit presumptuous, I am willing to go out on a limb and exclaim that Get Happy!! is the best among all the extraordinary works of Costello. It better than the ear-ringing experimentations of Armed Forces, the vibrant tunefulness of This Year's Model, and the scathing conviction of My Aim Is True. Costello is no poseur, and his adherences to the new wave genre have never hampered his progressions as an artist and performer. The number of tunes on this LP, (there are 20) is his defiant statement that he has not followed the mannerist explorations of his two previous albums. Instead, the Grand Guignol of Rock has further reinforced the basics of the rock tune by employing short, compact melodies laden with infectious hooks and definitive rhythm and blues (r&b) leanings. Like The Clash's London Calling, Get Happy!! is like a melange of reminescent stylisms renovated into a pungent contemporary package. The earthy sounds of Motown and Memphis r&b are most readily noticeable throughout, with Elvis' nasal whine incarnating the specters of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Wilson Pickett in a convincing bite. Tunes like "I Can't Stand Up," "5ive Gears in Reverse" and "Love for Tender" with its pseudo-sixties girl-group insouciance, are all delectably gutsy r&b vehicles, led by persistent bass. The pop melodies are equally successful and equally infectious (as most of his songs are); Elvis even throws in a tender country-flavored lament ("Motel Matches") and a barocque flavored ditty ("Black and White"). In fact, there is rarely a clinker on this LP. The songs march out of the vinyl in non-stop energy, with King Elvis at the forefront, guitar in hand.
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The Daily Trojan, March 20, 1980


Gene Kiyotoki reviews Get Happy!!.

Images

1980-03-20 USC Daily Trojan page 11 clipping 01.jpg

1980-03-20 USC Daily Trojan page 12 clipping 01.jpg
Clippings.

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