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Elvis Costello has come a long way since “My Aim Is True” in 1977. Then he was the archetypal angry young man, pouring out songs of revenge, self-hatred and guilt, and taking the image onto stage with him. Anyone lucky enough to catch his live show in the first year after he signed with Stiff was treated to a breathless exhibition of violent rock and roll, often lasting no more than 40 minutes but of such an intensity that it left his audiences exhausted.
Since then, subdued by a couple of unfortunate twists in his personal life which were the direct result of his quick rise to stardom, Costello has matured, so that by the end of 1981 he could be found on stage with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, recording in Nashville, or turning out exquisite ballads ideally suited for Frank Sinatra. Along the way, he was become established as perhaps the most consistent pop songwriter in Britain today, with a loyal following sufficient to take his every release straight into the charts.
At times he has moved too far away from the pop mainstream to rival the sales of Duran Duran or Kajagoogoo; but unlike most of his contemporaries he seems to be building a long term career, conducted on his own terms, which should see him still at the top of his profession when the rest of the New Wave is just an entry In the rock encyclopedias.
His personal involvement with his record company ever since he left Stiff in 1978 has enabled him to keep a strict control over the way in which his material has been released, so that there have been none of the quick buck greatest hits albums or glut of singles from any one LP which many artists have had to suffer. Almost every one of his singles contains material not previously released on album; almost all of his LPs check in at more than forty minutes of music; and his determination not to be swayed by commercial considerations has meant that even his most esoteric recordings have been released.
For every “Oliver's Army” or “Watching The Detectives” which has made the Top Twenty, Elvis has released a “New Amsterdam” or “Man Out Of Time”, songs which although not instant successes have to be rated by many as amongst the most significant of the past six years.
This month we have complied a complete listing of all Costello’s U.K. releases, together with notes which detail their American equivalents, together with information about reissues, compilations and promos – the last category containing at least one item (“A Conversation With Elvis Costello”) that ranks with the best of his work. Where singles have been issued with picture sleeves, values have been given for records with and without their covers. All prices refer to the original release of each item, with its original packaging – which occasionally, as with the “This Year's Model” and “Get Happy” albums, involves covers and record labels which are not printed correctly. Values have been listed for the most notable promotional items, and a rough rule-of-thumb guide for the rest is around £15 for a U.S. 12” promo, and £6 for a U.K. 7” issue.
SINGLES
Stiff BUY 11 LESS THAN ZERO/ RADIO SWEETHEART (March 1977; PS) £8/£4
Produced by Nick Lowe, Elvis’ first single failed to make the charts, despite a live promotion campaign from Stiff. The A-side reappeared (in a remixed form) on the “My Aim Is True” as well as on the “A Bunch Of Stiff Records” compilation the following month and the 1st
“ Heroes And Cowards” album (Stiff SEWL 1000). The flipside was remixed for the Greatest Stiffs” compilation later in 1977, and reappeared on the “ Ten Bloody Marys” cassette in Britain and the “Taking Liberties” album in America.
Stiff BUY 14 ALISON/WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK (May 1977; PS) £7/£3
Another Lowe-produced flop, which to date has been Costello’s most covered song — notably by Linda Ronstadt on her “Living In The USA” album. (Ronstadt also covered a clutch of Elvis songs on the “ Mad Love” LP In 1980). “Alison” was remixed with an added synth string section for American single release, appearing three times as an A side: Columbia 3-106. backed by a live version of “Miracle Man”; 3-10705, with “Watching The Detectives”; and a Hall of Fame single, 13-33401, coupled with “Accidents Will Happen”. Both songs came from the “My Aim Is True” LP.
Stiff BUY 15 RED SHOES/MYSTERY DANCE (July 1977) £2.50
The only Costello single to date issued without a picture sleeve completed a trio of chart non-contenders. Again, both songs were from “My Aim Is True”, with “Mystery Dance” joining “Alison” on the “Heroes And Cowards” compilation.
Stiff BUY 20 WATCHING THE DETECTIVES/BLAME IT ON CAIN/MYSTERY DANCE (October 1977, No. 15;PS) £5/£l.75
“Detectives”, Costello’s first chart entry, appeared in at least three different sleeves a colour picture cover, a plain Stiff sleeve and the now very rare (worth about £8) telephone directory cover, which consisted of a chunk of the London phonebook with the Stiff Records number highlighted. The single was also issued on a promo (BUY200J), which coupled long and short versions of the A-side, while some promos also apparently had different takes of the live songs on the flipside. Excerpts from “Detectives”, “Alison” and “Red Shoes” appeared on a Stiff promo single (FREEB 2), together with parts of nine other Stiff releases, linked by Les Prior.
That single now sells for about £15. Finally, all four Stiff singles were repackaged twice: once as an Elvis Costello four pack (GRAB 3), and again as part of a boxed set of singles BUY 11 to BUY 20. This was issued in a first pressing of 5000 copies in a brown box, and then made available indefinitely. Later pressings carry the words “Made In England” on the labels. The “Detectives” single was reproduced intact in America, as Columbia 1-10896.
Radar ADA 3 (I DON’T WANT TO GO TO) CHELSEA/YOU BELONG TO ME
(March 1978, No. 16;PS) £4/£l.75
Radar Records was a breakaway from the Stiff organisation, formed by Jake Riviera specifically to handle Costello, Nick Lowe and the Yachts. Both tracks on this first Elvis single for the label came from the forthcoming "This Year's Model" LP. "Chelsea" also appears on the "That Summer" soundtrack LP (Arista SPART 1088) along with "Watching The Detectives", and on the "Americathon" LP alongside "Crawling To The USA" (CBS 70172, Oct 1979).
Radar ADA 10 PUMP IT UP/BIG TEARS (June 1978, No. 24, PS) £4/£2
The A-side came from "This Year's Model", while the B-Side appeared later on "Ten Bloody Marys" and "Taking Liberties", besides making an appearance on a U.S. Columbia promotional double set, "Breaking The Rules" (CBS A25-881) in 1980. Columbia issued just one single from the "This Year's Model" LP: "This Year's Girl"/"Big Tears" (1-10762).
Radar ADA 24 RADIO RADIO / TINY STEPS (October 1978, No 29; PS) £5/£2
The 7" picture sleeve of this release is now quite rare, but rarer still is the 12" promo, only a few hundred of which are rumoured to have been pressed. A publicity statement that only a handful escaped, however, appears to have been slightly exaggerated and you shouldn't have to pay much more than £20 for a copy. Both songs are on the "Ten Bloody Marys" cassette. In America "Radio Radio" was coupled with Nick Lowe's "Cruel To Be Kind" and Mink De Ville's "Soul Twist" on a 12" Columbia promo, "Now See Them Live" (Col AS 443).
Radar ADA 26 AMERICAN SQUIRM/PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING (October 1978 PS) £6/£3
This single was actually credited to Nick Lowe, but the B-side featured Elvis and the Attractions powering their way through Nick's old Brinsley Schwarz song. The flip reappeared on the U.S. "Armed Forces" LP and the British "Ten Bloody Marys" cassette.
Radar ADA 31 OLIVER'S ARMY/MY FUNNY VALENTINE (Feb. 1979, No 2;PS) £3/£1
Elvis' biggest hit, taken from the "Armed Forces" album, was obviously felt to be too British-oriented to be issued in America, where his solo version of "Valentine" was coupled with "Peace, Love and Understanding" for a 7" promo single in red wax (Columbia AE7 1172). "Valentine" also appeared on "Ten Bloody Marys" and "Taking Liberties".
Radar ADA 35 ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN/TALKING IN THE DARK/WEDNESDAY WEEK (May 1979 No.28; PS) £4/£2
The A-side taken from "Armed Forces", was coupled with two songs that had been issued on a special Radar single (RG1), given free to members of the audience at Elvis' shows at the Dominion in London in December 1978, and in New York in January 1979. RG1, issued in a picture sleeve, now sells for about £8. “Accidents” was released In two different picture sleeves in the U.K., and also appeared in the States backed by “Sunday's Best” (3-10919).
F-Beat XX 1 I CAN’T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN/GIRLS TALK (January 1980, No, 4;PS) £3/£1.50
This single was originally planned for the 2-Tone label (TT7), and many thousand copies were pressed up. Originally only a few leaked out to the public, but later copies were given away free at gigs, and so the value of the item has dropped to about £15. In the U.S. the single appeared on Columbia 1-11194, and again as the A-side on an EP (1-1125l pic. sleeve) which also included “Secondary Modern” and “King Horse” from “Get Happy”.
F-Beat XX 3 HIGH FIDELITY/GETTING MIGHTY CROWDED (4/80 no. 30, PS). £3/£2
“High Fidelity” appeared with two different F-Beat label designs, as well as in promotional form as XX 3-A, with both sides featuring identical versions (and label designs) of the A-side.
F-Beat XX 3T HIGH FIDELITY/GETTING MIGHTY CROWDED/CLOWNTIME IS OVER (April 1980, 12’; PS) £4
Elvis’ first 12” featured the track, from the 7” plus a slow version of “Clowntime” from the “Get Happy” LP. Both flipside tracks appeared on the “Ten Bloody Marys” compilation tape.
F-Beat XX 5 NEW AMSTERDAM/DR LUTHER’S ASSISTANT (6/80, no. 36. PS) £2/£1
F-Beat XX 5E NEW AMSTERDAM/DR LUTHER’S ASSISTANT/GHOST TRAIN/JUST A MEMORY (June 1980, PS) £3
F-Beat XX 5P tracks as above (June 1980, picture disc) £5
The four tracks on the EP, two of which were issued on a budget-priced single, were basically solo Costello recordings, far removed in form and style from most of his previous work. The EP featured a picture cover based around Sal Forlenza’s painting “Jazz City Opus 1958”, while the picture disc featured a shot of Costello cuddling a bunch of tulips. The first 1500 copies of the pic. disc were issued with a black rim, and are accordingly more valuable. In America “New Amsterdam” was coupled with “Wednesday Week” as a straightforward single (Columbia 1-11284), followed up by “Getting Mighty Crowded”/”Radio Sweetheart” as a taster for the “Taking Liberties” album.
F-Beat XX 12 CLUBLAND/CLEAN MONEY/HOOVER FACTORY (December 1980, No.60;PS)
The strongest track from the “Trust” LP failed to set the charts ablaze, despite the bonus of two unreleased songs, soon to be included on the “Ten Bloody Mary.” and “Taking Liberties” compilations. “Clean Money” was remodelled to become “Love For Tender” on “Get Happy”. In America the single from “Trust” was “Watch Your Step”/”Luxembourg” (Col. 1-60519), also issued as a 12” promo with “Watch Your Step” on one side and a TV interview with Tom Snyder on the other. Copies sell for around £15.
F-Beat XX 14 FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM/LUXEMBOURG (2181, PS). £3/£1.50
The second single from “Trust” became Elvis’ first for almost four years not to make the charts, despite an appearance on “Jim’ll Fix It” to plug the A-side!
F-Beat XX 17 GOOD YEAR FOR THE ROSES/YOUR ANGEL STEPS OUT OF HEAVEN (September 1981, No. 6; PS) £2/£1
The first evidence of Costello’s trip to Nashville in May 1981 to record with Columbia producer Billy Sherrill took him back into the Top Ten (ironically for a man renowned for his song writing, two of Elvis’ three Top Ten hits have come with other people’s songs). The single was issued in America on Columbia 18-02629.
F-Beat XX 19 SWEET DREAMS/PSYCHO (December 1981. No. 42; PS) £2/£1.25
The second Nashville single tailed to live up to the success of the first, despite another non-LP flipside, recorded live at the Palomino Club in Los Angeles on February 16th 1979. Another live version of ‘Psycho” appeared on the “Fundamental Frolics” LP (BBC Records RED 435. issued In November 1981).
F-Beat XX 21 I’M YOUR TOY/CRY CRY CRY/ WONDERING (4/82, No. 51, PS). £2 / £1
F-Best XX 21T I’M YOUR TOY/MY SHOES KEEP WALKIN’ BACK TO YOU/BLUES KEEP CALLING/HONKY TONK GIRL (April 1982, 12”) £2.50
Elvis’ third country single was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall on January 7th 1982, with backing from the Attractions and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was a version of a song he had originally recorded on the “Almost Blue” LP (renamed there, as here, from the correct “Hot Burrito No. 1” which was its original title when recorded by the Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969). In an interesting sales ploy, different out-takes from the Nashville sessions were used on the flip of the 7” and 12” singles, but little chart success resulted.
F-Beat XX 26 YOU LITTLE FOOL/BIG SISTER/THE STAMPING GROUND (June 1982. No. 52; PS) £1.50/£1
The A-side came from the forthcoming “Imperial Bedroom” LP, while the other two tracks have yet to appear on album — although “Big Sister” was also included on NME’s special offer “Dancin’ Master” cassette. “The Stamping Ground” is credited to The Emotional Toothpaste.
F-Beat XX 28 MAN OUT OF TIME/TOWN CRYER (July 1982. No. 58;PS). £1.25/£1
F-Beat XX 28T MAN OUT OF TIME/TOWN CRYER/IMPERIAL BEDROOM (7/82, PS) £2
Most critics agreed that “Man Out Of Time” was the strongest track on the “Imperial Bedroom” LP, but it still flopped, despite the issue of a promo single that featured a spoken intro to the full version of the song on one side, and an edited DJ mix on the other. “Town Cryer” was a (very) fast version of the ballad that closed the LP, while the third song on the 12” was an album title track, written after the LP was recorded! In America the 7” appeared as Col. 18-03202, though a 12” promo coupled the A-side with “Beyond Belief” (AS 1510).
F-Beat XX 30 FROM HEAD TO TOE/THE WORLD OF BROKEN HEARTS (September 1982, No. 43; PS) £1.25/£1
In apparent desperation, Costello returned to cover versions. The A-side was originally recorded by Chris Clark, though Elvis was more familiar with the Escorts’ U.K. cover. The flip side is a [[Doc Pomus|Pomus]/Shuman song which Elvis found on an Amen Corner LP.
A&M AMS 8267 PARTY PARTY/ IMPERIAL BEDROOM (November 1982, No. 48, P8). £1
The change of label came because the A-side was the title track to a motion picture, the soundtrack LP to which appeared on A&M. Not wanting to give too much away, Elvis found an orchestral version of the flipside to make up the numbers.
Imp IMP 1 PILLS AND SOAP/ extended version (May 1983, No. 16) £1.50
Costello wanted this single out fast, while F-Beat was undergoing a change of distribution. Instead of waiting, he decided to form a new label, and issue this single as “The Imposter”. Originally, the single was only going to be available for less than a week, but eventually nearly 150,000 copies were pressed — although it has now officially been deleted. It gave Elvis his biggest self-composed hit since “Oliver’s Army”. The song was remixed for his latest LP.
F-Beat XX 32 EVERYDAY I WRITE THE BOOK/HEATHEN TOWN(7/83, PS), £1.25
F-Beat XX 32T EVERYDAY I WRITE THE BOOK /HEATHEN TOWN/NIGHT TIME (July 1983, PS) £2
Elvis’ latest single is also the first from the “Punch The Clock” album to be issued under his own name. The flipside is an LP out-take, while the third track on the 12” is another old Escorts’ number. The single has also been issued in 7” form in the U.S.A.
F-Beat XX 33 LET THEM ALL TALK/THE FLIRTING KIND (not yet released)
This is planned as Elvis’ next single, although no release date has yet been set. The A-side comes from “Punch The Clock”, while the flip was only left off the LP at the last minute.
ALBUMS
Stiff SEEZ 3 MY AIM IS TRUE (July 1977, No. 10) £4
Costello’s first LP was launched with a special offer campaign that allowed the first 1000 buyers to get a copy sent free to a friend. Bert Muirhead, in his book “Stiff: The Story Of A Record Label”, reckons that there are at least eleven different cover variations for this album, which in one form or another is still available in the shops. The U.S. version of the album (Columbia JC 35037) had an extra track, “Watching The Detectives”.
Radar RAD 3 THIS YEAR’S MODEL (March 1978, with free single; No. 4) £8
The first 5000 copies of Elvis’ first Radar LP came with a free single (Radar SAM 83), which contained Costello’s “Stranger In The House” and a live rendition of the Damned song “Neat Neat Neat”. The single now sells for about £4, and adds that much to the price of the basic album. At least some of the early pressings also came with the cover artwork out of alignment, so that part of the front cover design appeared on the back. Many copies also contained a message in the run-off grooves asking purchasers to ring a given telephone number for their special prize. The offer appears to have been a hoax. In America the album was issued on Columbia JC 35331 with “Radio Radio” taking the place of “Night Rally”. When Radar folded in 1980, the album was reissued as F-Beat XXLP 4.
Radar RAD 16 ARMED FORCES (February 1979, with single & postcards, No. 2). £6
This album also came with a free single (SAM 90), which contained live versions of ”Watching The Detectives”, “Alison” and “Accidents Will Happen”, recorded at Hollywood High in 1978. These three tracks also appear on a Columbia 12” promo, AS529, now selling for about £15. The British version of the album had a fold-open sleeve, and a set of postcards, besides
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