The Complete Armed Forces (2020 super deluxe edition)
Armed Forces | |
| |
Released | November, 2020 |
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Recorded | August 1978–September 1978, Eden Studios, London |
Producer | Nick Lowe |
Label | Ume Worldwide B0031761-01 |
The Complete Armed Forces (2020 super deluxe edition) BOX SET
The complete Armed Forces story curated by Elvis Costello includes:
Armed Forces album, b-sides, demos and 23 unreleased live recordings across 9 pieces of vinyl (3 LP's, 3 10-inch LP's and 3 7 inch singles)
A treasure trove of SEVEN custom comic books and pulp novels containing over 200 pages of Elvis Costello liner notes, facsimiles of first-draft, handwritten lyrics and examples of his lyrical working methods from Costello's personal archive, along with rare photos and memorabilia.
Vintage promo poster and 4 postcard reproductions
Images here represent the Coloured Vinyl Edition [Discogs link (external)]
Cat # UMe B0031761-01 Released NOV 2020
A Black Vinyl edition also exists [Discogs Link (external)]
Cat # UMe B0031761-01 Released NOV 2020
External Link: YOUTUBE Promotional Video
- A Black Vinyl box set equivalent was also issued concurrently
Armed Forces
- 12" OLIVE VINYL LP
- Armed Forces was first issued as Radar (UK) #RAD 14 & Columbia (US) #35709 (January 1979)
- (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding? was first issued as the B-Side of the Nick Lowe
- single American Squirm Radar (UK) #ADA 26, credited to Nick Lowe & his Sound.
- The track did not appear on the UK release of the album.
- Produced by Nick Lowe
- Engineered by Roger Bechirian
- Recorded at Eden Studios, London (August - September 1978)
- Art Direction & Design: Barney Bubbles
- Photo's: Chalkie Davies, Brian Griffin and Keith Morris
Side 1 Title Writer(s) Length 1. Accidents Will Happen Elvis Costello 3:02 2. Senior Service Elvis Costello 2:18 3. Oliver's Army Elvis Costello 3:01 4. Big Boys Elvis Costello 2:57 5. Green Shirt Elvis Costello 2:43 6. Party Girl Elvis Costello 3:23 Side 2 Title Writer(s) Length 1. Goon Squad Elvis Costello 3:15 2. Busy Bodies Elvis Costello 3:36 3. Sunday's Best Elvis Costello 3:22 4. Moods For Moderns Elvis Costello 2:50 5. Chemistry Class Elvis Costello 2:58 6. Two Little Hitlers Elvis Costello 3:13 7. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding? Nick Lowe 3:32
Other Vinyl Discs
- 12" BLUE VINYL - Live At Hollywood High & Elsewhere
- 12" PINK VINYL - Europe '79 - Live At Pinkpop
- 10" BLACK/RED Marbled VINYL - Sketches For Emotional Fascism
- 10" YELLOW VINYL - Riot At The Regent - Live In Sydney '78
- 10" WHITE VINYL - Christmas In The Dominion - Live 24th December '78
- 7" BLACK VINYL - Oliver's Army
- 7" BLACK VINYL - Accidents Will Happen
- 7" BLACK VINYL - American Squirm
Comic Books
- "BIG BOYS" 17cm x 24cm (12 pages)
- Abandoned song titles & drafts for EMOTIONAL FASCISM by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
- "The keen reader may come across a familiar line or two in the loose scrawl of these rough worksheets.
- My guess is this was the first time some of these thoughts were placed on the page. They can be
- found alongside the first draft of completed songs with lines that I later amended or replaced, as well as
- the titles for songs that I neglected to pursue at all."
- Elvis Costello January 2020
- "ARMED FORCES" 17cm x 24cm (14 pages)
- A typed lyric booklet for all the songs on the ARMED FORCES album, including many of the b-sides.
- "EMOTIONAL FASCISM" 14cm x 19cm (18 pages)
- A booklet attempting to explain the writing, recording, rhyme and reason of the songs on ARMED FORCES
- Text by EC (2002). Revised and corrected 2019
- "CHECKPOINT CHARLIE" 14cm x 19cm (42 pages)
- A synopsis of EC & The Attractions tours, adventures and recording of ARMED FORCES in and around 1978/79
- "For a group of musicians who only played together for the first time in the summer of 1977, it didn't take but a couple
- of circuits of the U.K. club and theatre scene and our first U.S. tour to turn the band into one of the very best on the scene ..."
- "ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN" 12cm x 19cm (44 pages)
- First drafts & work titles for EMOTIONAL FASCISM. Cash prizes plus Attractions.
- "These pages contain songs eventually released on Armed Forces
- "Greenshirt" opens with a different description of the newsreader found in the first verse and extends
- to a deleted verse, heard only on the acoustic demo. A couple of lines included in this draft later found
- their way onto "Senior Service".
- The Songs for "Emotional Fascism" (or as it became, "Armed Forces") were not written anything as
- grandiose as a "concept album" but there were undoubtedly common themes found in the songs.
- This draft of "Senior Service" opens with a more specific scenario than the final lyric, one suggesting
- the existence of a post-war fascist underground, an idea borrowed from a number of b-movies with
- a paranoid plot.
- From the drafts and pages on which the rhymes and locations for "Oliver's Army" were worked out, you
- will see that I tried out a number of place names to which I might have posted a battalion or two.
- Now read on ...."
- Elvis Costello
- January 2020
- "BUSY BODIES" 10cm x 16.5cm (28 pages)
- Provisional running order & handwritten lyrics for Side One of EMOTIONAL FASCISM
- "Looking over these notebooks again, I recalled that part of my editorial method
- was to repeatedly write out drafts of the words, not so much with the intention of
- changing any of the lines - as the songs were already recorded - but to get a sense
- of the lyrical thread and balance from number to number, before we settled on
- the album sequence
- In this case, we abandoned both the order and the album title ...
- This was about as tidy as my handwriting got."
- Elvis Costello
- January 2020
- "GOON SQUAD" 10cm x 16.5cm (10 pages)
- A small notebook with details about each individual vinyl record in the BOX SET;
Recording details, locations, personnel, production and writing credits and previous issues of recordings where appropriate.
Additional Artwork
Other Inserts
- 4 x Postcards
- "DON'T JOIN" Poster
- 12" BLUE VINYL - Live At Hollywood High & Elsewhere