Back Door Man, July 1978: Difference between revisions
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The songs on this album are so good that we’d be in trouble if we tried to convey in print just HOW GOOD they are. We knew we were in trouble when | The songs on this album are so good that we’d be in trouble if we tried to convey in print just HOW GOOD they are. We knew we were in trouble when | ||
we wanted to quote every song. Here’s a FEW: “You Belong To Me.” A fish-eyed serenade made by a guy who wants to go All The Way. Also could be about Hitler recruiting troops. Costello went to Catholic school, y’know. Remember the girls at St. Philomena? | we wanted to quote every song. Here’s a FEW: “You Belong To Me.” A fish-eyed serenade made by a guy who wants to go All The Way. Also could be about Hitler recruiting troops. Costello went to Catholic school, y’know. Remember the girls at St. Philomena? | ||
''Your eyes are absent, your lips are silent''<br> | |||
''Pumpin' like a fire hydrant''<br> | |||
''The things you see are getting' hard to swallow''<br> | |||
''You're easily led but you're much too scared to follow''<br> | |||
How can he get so serious & still end up w/a song as teen as this? The Attractions are overwhelming & Elvis is desperately imperative. | |||
''She’s been a bad girl''<br> | |||
''She's like a chemical''<br> | |||
''Though you try to stop it''<br> | |||
''She is like a narcotic''<br> | |||
“Pump it Up" is an unhealthy exercise in mutual self-abuse. Like all the other songs on this lp it is rhythmic, obscene. enticing. and hateful. Quite | |||
catchy, too. Multi-faceted little wimp, ain’t he. | |||
''The man in the tortoise shells''<br> | |||
''Hates the world Hates himself''<br> | |||
''You make him puke You gotta pay''<br> | |||
''Gonna stick it in anyway''<br> | |||
— From Subcutaneous Pukesex Blues<br> | |||
(DD & the Detractions) | |||
Get sick. Get well. Kiss and tell, This is HELL. Poor Elvis. The pump don’t work ‘cause the damsel broke the handle. He was askin ' for it all the time. But in “The Beat" he really begs for it. Like a praying mantis, yes. Insectual rantings. What a GREAT singer! Real stinging vocals on this one: | |||
''I don’t wanna disease you''<br> | |||
''But I’m no good at machinery''<br> | |||
''I don’t wanna freeze you''<br> | |||
''Stop looking at the scenery''<br> | |||
He is menacing. Deranged. And in practically the same breath, he whines in an appealingly submissive whimper: | |||
''I keep thinking about your mother''<br> | |||
''I don’t want to lick them''<br> | |||
''I don’t wanna be your lover''<br> | |||
''I just wanna be your victim''<br> | |||
Real repulsive slimy sexuality. Elvis and the Attractions are a tight unit. They are hard to beat. | |||
“Hand in Hand” is our unanimous favorite. How many songs ARE there in the world that still sound fresh & exciting after you’ve listened to them 75 times in a ROW (w/o drugs)? It expands into existence like a baby takin’ that long slide down mama’s canal. And then Costello’s magnificent tortured psyche speaks: | |||
''No, don’t ask me to apologize''<br> | |||
''I won‘t ask you to forgive me.''<br> | |||
''If I’m gonna go down''<br> | |||
''you’re gonna come with me!''<br> | |||
''Say, why don‘t you be a man about it''<br> | |||
''like they do in the grown-up movies.''<br> | |||
''But when it comes to the other way around''<br> | |||
''you say you just wanna use me!''<br> | |||
''Ooohhh, you sit and you wonder whether''<br> | |||
''it’s gonna be syndicated,''<br> | |||
''you sit with your knees together;''<br> | |||
''all the time your breath is bated,''<br> | |||
''HAND IN HAND.''<br> | |||
''No, don’t ask me to apologize...''<br> | |||
This song is an honest-to-god ice-breakin’ Classic. Costello has managed to manipulate the narrative form into a snappy song. (Except for “Pump It Up”) he doesn’t Dylan-out to tell a story. Gets real cinematic w/o getting, as Danielle would say, “Heavy.” Well, I say he’s light-fantastic. And the Attractions wrap it up in cellophane sound, absolutely matrimonial! I mean, that organ sprays over the first chorus like rice over a bride. Hand in hand EC & his band haul through his tortuous ultimatum. Elvis has nothing to hide from the party he’s addressing — and he’s not even afraid of the quicksand. GOIN’ DOWN TOGETHER. “Don’t you know I’m an animal? Don’t you know I can’t stand up steady? You can’t show me any kind of hell that I don’t know already.” Wise man, This song is like one of Hamlet’s speeches. Costellar literature. | |||
The packaging for ''This Year’s Model'' is a blend of art and science. “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea” & “Night Rally” are exclusive to Radar, the English label, but Columbia’s American release has “Radio, Radio” instead. The cover photos vary: on Radar he stands more above the camera & looks meaner; on Columbia he crouches behind the camera & looks meeker. The sardonic English feign error w/a color strip on the front cover. It says “Costello Costello Costello” around the outer edge of the record label where it usually says “Columbia Columbia. . .“ And as if this weren’t ENOUGH frolicking, scratched into the vinyl itself (where the press # usually is) the British lp also says “Special Pressing No. 003 Ring Moira on 434-3232 for your special prize”.. . and one day at the Wherehouse a girl comes in, spots EC’s mug, & more or less lunges at the lp sitting limply among the imports, and launches into a tirade. It seems her phone number is 434-3232, and she has been mercilessly besieged by calls since ''This Year’s Model'' made the scene. How thoroughly MEAN, Listen, | |||
she oughtta order herself an answering service and send the bill to Elvis Costello. | |||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
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[[Category:Magazine articles]] | [[Category:Magazine articles]] | ||
[[Category:Fanzine articles]] | [[Category:Fanzine articles]] | ||
Latest revision as of 15:02, 19 October 2017
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