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Stiff Records, in case you've been living under a toadstool for the last year or so, is the wonderfully adventurous little English label that specializes in marginally New Wave acts (marginal in the sense that they're unclassifiable as anything else). Elvis Costello, of course, is their most famous alumnus, at least in this country, but since Stiff's recent distribution deal with Arista all that may change. Stiffs Live is a souvenir of a 1977 package tour by their entire artist roster, and it is by and large a delight, ranging from the unexpected (Elvis crooning "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself," an old Dionne Warwicke tune) to the revivalist (pop genius Nick Lowe and old mate Dave Edmunds tearing through some Seventies rockabilly) to the berserk ("Semaphore Signals" and "Reconnez Cherie" by Wreckless Eric, who comes across like a demented rock-and-roll counter boy at McDonald's). The closing number, with the whole crew joining in, sums up the general tone of the album: "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," a combination not to be sneezed at, at least not by me. In short, it's a bargain at twice the price and a marvelous corrective to almost everything on the radio at the moment. I wish I'd been there.
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