Off-beat: Pub Rock For The '80's: Difference between revisions
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<center>''' Elvis Costello — Miracle Man </center> | <center>''' Elvis Costello — Miracle Man </center> | ||
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<center> | <center> Gina Morris </center> | ||
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{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
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Truth to tell, ''Get Happy'' is actually fairly eclectic within its limited setting — ranging from the Philly soul gracefulness of "Motel Matches" to the reggae hip hop of "Human Touch" to the Motown overdrive of "Love For Tender." Most of the material, however, sticks in the Stax groove: "Temptation" with its "Time Is Tight" riff; the Sam and Dave cover "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down"; and the whirlwind pace of "The Imposter." Some of the songs are just plain obvious: Elvis didn't even try to disguise the "My Girl" riff in "Secondary Modern." Overall, though, this LP is pretty boring and shamefully overrated, especially in the U.K. Did Costello try to make a bunch of second-rate songs more exciting with R&B arrangements? Or was he trying to make a point? Whatever, ''Get Happy'' is probably the only Costello LP of the '80s that doesn't bury his pub rock instincts with bombastic arrangements and cutie pie wordplay. | Truth to tell, ''Get Happy'' is actually fairly eclectic within its limited setting — ranging from the Philly soul gracefulness of "Motel Matches" to the reggae hip hop of "Human Touch" to the Motown overdrive of "Love For Tender." Most of the material, however, sticks in the Stax groove: "Temptation" with its "Time Is Tight" riff; the Sam and Dave cover "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down"; and the whirlwind pace of "The Imposter." Some of the songs are just plain obvious: Elvis didn't even try to disguise the "My Girl" riff in "Secondary Modern." Overall, though, this LP is pretty boring and shamefully overrated, especially in the U.K. Did Costello try to make a bunch of second-rate songs more exciting with R&B arrangements? Or was he trying to make a point? Whatever, ''Get Happy'' is probably the only Costello LP of the '80s that doesn't bury his pub rock instincts with bombastic arrangements and cutie pie wordplay. | ||
Later in 1980, someone at Columbia decided the Elvis house needed cleaning; hence the ''Taking Liberties'' album wherein assorted unreleased (in America) album tracks, movie soundtrack bonuses, and B-sides were randomly collected. A hit-or-miss compilation, to put it mildly, ''Liberties'' houses a few misplaced gems. Betty Everett's "Getting Mighty Crowded" was originally the flip side of "Can't Stand Up" and why it didn't make ''Get Happy'' is a mystery since this is one hot tamale indeed. Omitted from the U.S. ''This Year's Model'', "{I Don't Want To Go To | Later in 1980, someone at Columbia decided the Elvis house needed cleaning; hence the ''Taking Liberties'' album wherein assorted unreleased (in America) album tracks, movie soundtrack bonuses, and B-sides were randomly collected. A hit-or-miss compilation, to put it mildly, ''Liberties'' houses a few misplaced gems. Betty Everett's "Getting Mighty Crowded" was originally the flip side of "Can't Stand Up" and why it didn't make ''Get Happy'' is a mystery since this is one hot tamale indeed. Omitted from the U.S. ''This Year's Model'', "{I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea" is a memorable little number, mostly due to a couple of horrible rhymes (I'm not gonna make everyone cringe by reproducing them here) and Steve Nieve's cheesy organ work. But what I want to know is why doesn't Elvis like Chelsea? Is it too trendy for him? I guess I'll never know for sure because the lyrics never really come clean. Last but not least is "Crawling To The USA" which has a great title and is the best track on the record. Written for a wretched comedy called ''Americathon'' in which Elvis had a cameo role, this may or may not be a put-down of Yankee-land. Doesn't matter though, because it's worded ambiguously and the music is totally brill. The best thing about the film (Elvis sang "Chelsea" too, but that scene got chopped) and an oasis in the midst of too many failed experiments. | ||
The country and western excursions, "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger In The House," are unpretentious and better than anything on the later ''Almost Blue'' album. And "Night Rally" is another attack against fascism, but stuff like "Dr. Luther's Assistant" and "Ghost Train" just lie there comatose and have the spark of wet firecrackers. ''Taking Liberties'' is recommended only for would-be kamikazes. | |||
The slide begun with ''Get Happy'' became a full scale avalanche with ''Trust'', ''Almost Blue'', and ''Imperial Bedroom''. Lame, lamer, and lamest best describe these turkeys for which there is very little excuse and almost no defense. ''Trust'' contains exactly three worthwhile cuts: "Clubland," "New Lace Sleeves," and "Shot With His Own Gun." Some English hack called "Clubland" a succinct summation of its time or some outlandish statement like that. I've been playing it for four years and still haven't figured what it's about! Nice cocktail jazz melody, though, which — what with the recent emergence of Sade and her ilk — proves that E.G. was ahead of his time. I have to admit that "New Lace Sleeves" passed me by until I saw the video, a black-and-white "performance" piece so stunningly shot that it single-handedly altered my opinion of the song and rivals "Every Breath You Take" in the use of monochromatic textures in rock videos. And "Shot With His Own Gun" is so stark in its lyrical imagery and arrangement that it could have benefited from the same videoization that rescued "New Lace Sleeves." As for the remainder of ''Trust'', the music is either unmemorable or difficult to get into; consequently, Trust is one of my lesser played Costello albums. | |||
There have been many turkey LPs in the history of rock and roll, and overrated turkeys — everything from ''Let It Bleed'' to ''Private Dancer'' — are the worst kind. Elvis managed to contribute two records to the Album Turkeys Hall of Fame, ''Imperial Bedroom'' and ''Almost Blue''. | |||
I hate ''Imperial Bedroom''; I disliked it when it originally appeared in 1982 and I like it even less now. Songs I sort of liked then, "Shabby Doll," "Man Out Of Time," and "Kid About It," haven't aged well and three years hindsight reveals them (and the rest of the record) to be over-arranged and over-written examples of an inflated ego. The whole project is bloated from start to finish; Geoff Emerick's production and Steve Nieve's cotton candy arrangements only make the uncomprehensively boring lyrics even more obscure. He forgot his pub grounding and the results speak for themselves. | |||
Elvis tried to look backwards to Flip City and showed that he could make a mess of things just as easily as looking forwards. The big mistake with ''Almost Blue'' was recording it in Nashville with the King of Countrypolitan, Billy Sherrill, handling the production. Elvis sang those country covers like a sap, the Attractions played like wimps, and ''Almost Blue'' sinks under its own weight. Shoulda done it in London, El, with Nick doing the production and then, maybe, it would have worked. | |||
Anyway, jumping back to 1982 (''Almost Blue'' was an '81 LP), I was prepared to write off the whole year as a total loss. Then Costello turned around and put out another soul remake as a one-off single in conjunction with a U.K. tour. After the cop-out of ''Imperial Bedroom'', our boy came roaring back with his version of Smokey Robinson's obscure "From Head To Toe." Usually I don't take kindly to Smokey retreads (not after what Linda Ronstadt did to "Ooo Baby Baby" and Tracks Of My Tears"), but since I've never heard the original I'm giving Elvis the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it's far too classy to do Motown any disrespect and it's a nice change from the usual portentious pandering to the punters. "From Head To Toe" is fairly rare, but well worth digging up. | |||
One trait that separates Costello from the pub pioneers is the political slant of many of his songs; the ale and darts crowd were more interested in performing party music. Margaret Thatcher gave Elvis fuel for his pen when she decided to take a militaristic stance in the Falklands conflict, which not only successfully managed to make her appear a heroine in the eyes of the British public but allowed Thatcher to landslide her way back to No. 10 Downing St. for a second term. Both events moved Costello to write his strongest songs in years, "Shipbuilding" and "Pills And Soap." | |||
It is generally acknowledged that Dylan was the pub rockers' favorite songwriter, yet so few of them had his penchant for writing socio-political lyrics, feeling more at home with his style of subtle imagery and downbeat delivery. Obviously, this wasn't enough for Elvis as "Shipbuilding" will attest. This was his answer to the sending of men to fight in a petty and needless "war," and to the idea that war will bring glory back to a fallen country. Originally written for Robert Wyatt, a radical political/humanist songwriter in his own right, who recorded a 45 version that achieved some popularity in England's independent record charts. Later, Elvis recorded the song himself for his ''Punch The Clock'' album. I've never heard Wyatt's version, so a comparison is impossible, but Costello's rendition is amazing in its drama and honesty. "Shipbuilding" is touching on record, but even better live where the lyric's morality can be milked for all it's worth. | |||
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'''SPOTLIGHT'''<br><br> | |||
'''Elvis Costello'''<br> | |||
'''HOME''': Chelsea<br> | |||
'''AGE''': He remembers Cole Porter<br> | |||
'''OCCUPATION''': Writing songs you need a dictionary to understand<br> | |||
'''HOBBIES''': Rearranging his songs for every tour, confusing the critics (and his audience). <br> | |||
'''FORMER BAD HABIT''': Pretending to hate everyone for the sake of publicity.<br> | |||
'''FAVORITE BOOK''': “Pretentious Songwriting Made Easy” by Paul Simon<br> | |||
'''GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT''': Actually sang “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)” in concert and meant every word. <br> | |||
'''QUOTE''': “I wanna be loved”<br> | |||
'''CAREER PROFILE''': As plain old Declan McManus, by day he worked at a “vanity factory” while by night he twanged with Flip City. Shopped his demos around and got rejected by everyone except Jake Riviera, who realized that his aim was true and signed young Declan to Stiff. He was subsequently rechristened Elvis Costello and the rest is history.<br> | |||
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History often repeats itself and much in the way Richard Nixon stole his way back into the White House in 1972, Margaret Thatcher did something similar in 1983 | |||
Britain. “Pills And Soap”, recorded and released under the pseudonym “The Imposter”, appeared shortly afterwards and is a scathing attack on the Iron Lady’s Let’s Bring Back Britain’s Glory Days politics. I’m telling you, Costello hasn’t been this mad since ''This Year’s Model'' and the music – just a drum machine, synthesizer, and piano – merely clarified his state of mind. It was the political single of 1983 and, considering the way Reagan flim-flammed ''his'' way back into the White House in ’84, America should be so lucky to be blessed with so concise a portrait of contemporary politics, and have it become a hit single. Fat chance. By the way, beware: Elvis re-recorded “Pills And Soap” for ''Punch The Clock'' and it’s not as pungent. Find the single, you won’t regret it. | |||
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Latest revision as of 20:31, 30 May 2024
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