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It doesn't take much to get us excited when a new Stiff record is involved but with the label's second album, A Bunch Of Stiff Records, the self-proclaimed "undertakers to the industry" ("If they're dead we'll sign 'em.") have come up with their best yet, setting a high standard for all future long playing endeavors. The idea, of course, was to put a sampling of all of Stiff's artists on one record while the first eight singles were being deleted. The mastermind of the project, the irreconcilable Dave Robinson, had several aces up his sleeve while piecing together these tracks, including a star hiding behind horn rimmed glasses named Elvis Costello (see photo), a prehistoric Graham Parker tape and a Dave Edmunds outtake, not to mention the invaluable production services of Nick Lowe who opens the elpee with a Lowe/Profile ballad titled "I Love My Label."
Elvis Costello is a man known as much for his sartorial elegance as for his nonchalance. His contribution, a number titled "Less Than Zero," is a class combination of Southside Johnny, Graham Parker and the McCoys. Graham Parker's "Back To Schooldays" is not among the track listings on either the jacket or the record label but in actuality a tape of the first meeting between Parker and members of the Rumour with overdubs of horns and girl singers. The main course, however, closes side two, a song called "Food" by an ad hoc group called The Takeaways, featuring a rhythm section of Lowe on bass and Dave Edmunds, drums. The vocalist is not credited ("name withheld due to contractual commitment with major American company") but sounds to these ears suspiciously like the voice of Bob Dylan. Collectors note: The first one million copies of the album come in an attractive black vinyl finish.
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