Melody Maker, July 19, 1980

Bibliography   72 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 UK & Ireland weeklies UK & Ireland magazines UK & Ireland newspapers US newspapers US rock magazines US music magazines US magazines US alternative weeklies European magazines European newspapers Canada  •  Mexico  •  Asia Australia  •  New Zealand South America  •  Africa Blogs  •  Fanzines  •  Books Online publications Melody Maker   1974 April 20 1975 November 1 1976 August 14 1977 March 26 1977 June 4 1977 June 25 1977 July 23 1977 August 6 1977 August 13 1977 August 20 1977 September 3 1977 September 17 1977 October 1 1977 October 8 1977 October 15 1977 October 22 1977 November 5 1977 November 12 1977 December 17 1977 December 24 1977 December 31 1978 February 18 1978 February 25 1978 March 4 1978 March 11 1978 March 25 1978 April 15 1978 April 22 1978 April 29 1978 May 6 1978 May 13 1978 May 20 1978 September 30 1978 October 21 1978 October 28 1978 November 11 1978 November 25 1978 December 9 1978 December 23 1978 December 30 1979 January 6 1979 January 13 1979 January 20 1979 February 3 1979 February 10 1979 April 14 1979 May 12 1979 June 2 1979 September 29 1980 January 5 1980 January 19 1980 January 26 1980 February 2 1980 February 23 1980 March 8 1980 March 29 1980 April 5 1980 July 19 1980 August 23 1980 September 6 1980 October 4 1980 October 11 1980 November 22 1980 December 6 1981 January 3 1981 January 17 1981 January 24 1981 February 7 1981 February 14 1981 February 28 1981 March 7 1981 April 4 1981 May 30 1981 July 11 1981 September 5 1981 October 17 1981 October 24 1981 October 31 1981 December 19 1982 January 2 1982 January 9 1982 January 16 1982 March 13 1982 May 15 1982 May 29 1982 June 12 1982 June 26 1982 July 3 1982 July 31 1982 September 18 1983 January 8 1983 May 28 1983 June 4 1983 June 11 1983 July 2 1983 July 9 1983 July 30 1983 August 20 1983 September 10 1983 October 15 1983 October 29 1984 January 7 1984 April 14 1984 April 21 1984 April 28 1984 June 2 1984 June 9 1984 July 28 1984 August 11 1984 August 18 1984 September 1 1984 October 13 1984 October 20 1984 November 17 1984 December 15 1985 March 16 1985 April 13 1985 May 4 1985 June 1 1985 June 8 1985 July 13 1985 July 20 1985 July 27 1986 February 22 1986 March 1 1986 March 22 1986 May 24 1986 July 5 1986 July 12 1986 September 13 1986 November 15 1986 November 22 1986 December 6 1986 December 20 1987 January 31 1987 February 7 1987 May 2 1987 June 27 1987 November 28 1987 December 19 1988 February 20 1988 February 27 1988 May 14 1989 January 28 1989 February 4 1989 February 11 1989 February 18 1989 February 25 1989 May 6 1989 May 13 1989 May 20 1989 June 24 1989 July 15  1989 October 21 1991 April 13 1991 April 27 1991 May 18 1991 June 22 1991 July 13 1991 October 12 1991 October 26 1992 April 18 1992 May 30 1993 January 23 1993 February 6 1993 March 6 1993 August 21 1993 October 9 1994 February 5 1994 February 12 1994 February 19 1994 February 26 1994 April 9 1994 April 23 1994 April 30 1994 July 2 1994 July 9 1994 July 16 1994 November 12 1994 November 19 1995 April 1 1995 April 8 1995 May 27 1995 June 3 1995 June 10 1996 May 18 1996 July 20 — Nothing but music and fun Three nights in the life of Allan Jones, who found Elvis, the Specials and the best of British at Montreux Allan Jones Extract: Next morning we found Jerry outside the Mayfair pub on the promenade. Suggs, Madness' singer was with him. They were polishing off the day's first round of drinks. Suggs had come over to see the Specials and Clive Langer. Madness were due in the studio this week to begin work on a new album with Langer. "We've written the songs for it," Suggs explained. "We're just working on the reviews. We're going to review it on Saturday, record it Sunday and have it in the shops on Monday..." "You're going to spend a whole day on the new one. are you?" Dammers asked him. "It's not a rock opera, is it?" Dammers had been fiddling with his new Yashika camera. He started shooting everything in sight. "You should save it for the Alps and mountain goats." Adrian Boot told him. "Mounting goats?" Suggs exclaimed. "What kind of behaviour is that?" Meanwhile, back at the Casino, Jake Riviera was leading the F-Beat crew from the bus that had brought them from Orange where they'd played a festival with the Feelgoods the previous night. Clearly, there had been a considerable amount of chasping out the night before. (Note: to chasp — to be one of the cha(s)ps; to enjoy a damned good evening with the chasps; this will include copious amounts of drink and a lot of blimming — ie, bantering.) Billy Bremner described the coach as a kind of mobile Jonestown, with bodies sprawled everywhere all the way from Orange. Downstairs in the casino's main auditorium, they were locking the doors and evacuating the press. Elvis Costello was preparing for his soundcheck and no one was invited. The Attractions started up, Elvis strummed a few bars. A French photographer who'd previously gone unnoticed rather foolishly whipped out a camera; he was whipped out of the auditorium before he'd removed his lens cap. Elvis' attention was then diverted by the hapless individual in the lighting gallery who was fiddling with the spotlights. "Tell that mother—— to stop, or we do," he ranted. One of the Attractions' road crew approached the gallery, shouting. He was ignored. Elvis' temper was on the blink; a definite wobbler was waiting in the wings. "Look, mate," the roadie shouted to the gallery. "We're not asking you to stop fiddling with those lights. We're telling you." A tap on the shoulder told me that my renegade presence at the back of the press gallery had been detected. I missed the eventual outcome of the altercation. Boo. The F-Beat night at the Montreux Festival opened with a set from Clive Langer and the Boxes, whose first album, Splash, has just been shunted onto the racks. Their performance rather lacked the consistent edge of surprise and the unexpected twists of focus that characterise the best moments on the album, but it was lively enough. Langer plays with music as if he's mixing an exceptionally potent cocktail, when the ingredients are blended successfully, his songs can knock you out. When the recipe's not specific enough, they just make you a little giddy. "Burning Money" and "Hope And Glory" were lethal, a lot of the rest of his set was a little diluted. Still: once you get the taste, you can't easily put him down. A surprise appearance by Carlene Carter prefaced Rockpile's performance. Looking thrillingly diverting in a dramatic mini-skirt and cowboy boots, and clearly nervous, she was carefully coached through "Cry" by the brilliantly simple touch of Rockpile. Gaining confidence by the moment, her duet with Edmunds on "Baby Ride Easy" was full of vigour and dashing humour. She retired looking relieved to have completed the brief set without fainting. Rockpile's own set was predictably superlative. They'd probably win my heart if they just walked out onto a stage and produced a display of advanced origami and did a few card tricks. With a set that features more good rock 'n' roll to the square inch than most bands accumulate in several lifetimes, they made you hope that God's jukebox will prove to be primed with their records when you get to heaven. "Right," said Nick Lowe after a bristling assault on "Crawling From The Wreckage," "since this is a jazz festival, we're gonna do a Tony Bennett number..." The Swiss looked utterly bemused. Basher began to croon. "I left my heart in Stan Francisco." "This next one's almost as old as that," Basher announced. "This next one's almost as old as me." Edmunds flashed back. Rockpile fell sideways into "I Hear You Knocking." "Oh, yes — now I liked that one," Rasher beamed as Edmunds and Billy Bremner brought the number to a coruscating climax. The three of them exchanged the kind of grin that told you everything you ever needed to know about the collective personality of Rockpile. Looking a little out of condition (but don't we all at the moment, dear?), Elvis Costello declared war on Montreux with a virulence that would've shocked even his most longstanding admirers. The movie director Sam Fuller once famously defined the cinema as a battleground. That's exactly what rock 'n' roll becomes in Costello's raging hands. Wrestling with demons most of us have only vaguely imagined, Costello doesn't just write and perform songs that are among the most literate and penetrating in the entire repertoire of rock 'n' roll, he unleashes upon his audience the darkest possible realities. Remaining text and scanner-error corrections to come... << >> Melody Maker, July 19, 1980 Allan Jones on the Montreux Jazz Festival, including Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Saturday, July 12, 1980, Montreux, Switzerland. Melody Maker reports Elvis Costello is to play the Edinburgh Rock Festival, Sunday, August 17, 1980. Images File:1980-07-19 Melody Maker photo 01.jpg File:1980-07-19 Melody Maker photo 02.jpg Cover and cover photos. File:1980-07-19 Melody Maker page 24-25.jpg Page scans. File:1980-07-19 Melody Maker page 33 clipping.jpg Clipping. File:1980-07-19 Melody Maker photo 03.jpg File:1980-07-19 Melody Maker photo 04.jpg Photos. Page 3 clipping.

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