Music, July 27, 1983

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 Music   1983 July 27 1983 November 2 1984 January 11 1984 January 25 UK & Ireland magazines  Arena Backhill Bang Bass Player Big Issue Brighton Magazine Buzz Magazine City Life City Limits Classic CD Classic FM Classic Pop Classic Rock Country Music International Cut Dark Star Dazed & Confused Emma Encore Eve Fab 208 The Face Flexipop Folk Roots Fresh GQ Get Rhythm Gramophone Guitar Guitar & Bass Guitarist Hi-Fi News & Record Review Hi-Fi World Hot Press In Dublin International Musician Jamming! Lancet The List Loaded Making Music Marxism Today Midweek Mojo Music Music Maker Music Technology Music & Video, May 1980 Music Week New Manchester Review New Statesman No 1 Noise! Opera Now Penthouse Phaze 1 Punter Q magazine Record Business Record Buyer Record Collector Record Hunter Rhythm Rock On RTÉ Guide Saga Select SFX Shindig The Skinny Songlines Sound International Sound On Sound Spectator Star Monthly Sun Zoom Spark Superpop Studio Sound Time Out Top Of The Pops Total Guitar Tracks TV Times Uncut Vive Le Rock Volume Vox Vulture Hound Waitrose Weekend What's Happening The Wire The Word ZigZag 19 magazine — Punch The Clock Elvis Costello Kate Sturdy Elvis Costello sings like the boy next door who spends years never getting the girl — but in the end, Flashboy is shown up as shallow and Four-eyes flays the lot of them. Is he always dreaming of success, social and sexual? His songs are acute observations of boy-hopes-for-girl. He sings with wide-mouthed elongated vowels and throat-stretched melodies, lip-licking whining — but he does it in tune. It's his eighth album and the best so far. After "Watching the Detectives," much of his music has been disappointing — experimental, pleading but lacking tuneful interest. Now he's combined sharp words with catchy tunes. One of the best and bitter tracks is "Pills and Soap": "Children and animals. Give me the needle, give me the rope. We're gonna melt them down for pills and soap." Biting words to a slow-clap beat, bare words from a bruised lyricist and melodic, too. This runs straight into the finale, "The World And His Wife," a hopeful, jolly song and a clever contrast. Some songs are slow and pathetic; others on this album are fast and musical — all are extremely well played; all blend well. It was hard to admit to my dislike of Robert Wyatt's version of "Shipbuilding." Costello wrote the words and sings it in a very similar style. But I like it so much better. You may, too. The Costello vocals and horn combination are more soul-reaching than anything Wyatt achieved. Open-conversational Costello writes listenable lyrics. For several years he seemed overrated, a wimpy wordist with — couple of good tunes — but now he's proved himself. Cover blurb: Elvis Costello not pretending anymore Music Elvis Costello leads The Attractions into our playlist and the charts with "Every Day I Write A Book," his latest single on F-Beat Records, distributed by RCA. Taken from his album, Punch The Clock, the single is an indication of his popularity despite his determined sincerity, an attitude uncommon in the world of pop. You can win a copy of Punch The Clock — turn to Page 2! Tags: Punch The Clock  •  The Attractions  •  Everyday I Write The Book  •  Pills And Soap  •  The World And His Wife  •  Shipbuilding  •  Robert Wyatt  •  Watching The Detectives Music, July 27 - August 9, 1983 Kate Sturdy reviews Punch The Clock. Images Cover. Clipping. Photo by Nick Knight.

External links

• Flickr: Stephen McCathie