Trouser Press, November 1980

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 — Déjà Vu Only the bands have changed at the Heatwave Festival Richard Grabel Asdf qwerty zxc asdfqwerty zxcv asdf qwerty asdf asdf qwerty zxcv. Asdf qwerty zxc asdfqwerty zxcv asdf qwerty asdf asdf qwerty zxcv. Trouser Press, No. 56, November 1980 Richard Grabel reports on the Heatwave Festival, August 23, 1980, Mosport Park, Bowmanville, ON, Canada (reprinted from NME). Ira Robbins reviews Taking Liberties. Images Cover and page scans. Taking Liberties Ira Robbins Here's Elvis — between albums, conceding the Attractions a part-time solo career, still waiting for America to forgive him for insulting Ray Charles, refusing to tour this country and inscrutable as ever — with 20 track's of marginalia to keep the fires burning until a new studio LP can be unleashed come the new year. Costello maniacs will already own the bulk of this record; for the rest, this is almost entirely first-run. The songs here, besides a tribute to El's abundant creativity, are the result of manager Jake Riviera's neurotic need to torment American fans with English B-sides, limited editions and promo records that are difficult-to-impossible to obtain. Taking Liberties provides a valuable service (especially considering collectors' prices) in cleaning out the bewildering back catalogue of Costello releases on Stiff, Radar and F-Beat. The rundown: "Dr. Luther's Assistant," "Ghost Train" and "Just a Memory" date from the recent EP that centered around "New Amsterdam." The preceding single ("High Fidelity") contributed two tracks from the flip of its 12-inch version: an alternate "Clowntime Is Over" and "Getting Mighty Crowded." Some old B-sides — "Radio Sweetheart," "Big Tears," "Tiny Steps" and "My Funny Valentine" — are here, as is a newer one, "Girls Talk." Also included are some LP tracks lost in the trans-Atlantic crossing: "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea," "Night Rally" and "Sunday's Best." "Crawling to the USA" comes from the Americathon soundtrack; "Stranger in the House" was half a giveaway 45 that came with the UK edition of This Year's Model; "Talking in the Dark" and "Wednesday Week" were originally coupled as a freebie UK 45. That leaves three tracks unaccounted for. Sure enough, we get (drumroll) three previously unreleased — anywhere! — songs: the legendary (and widely bootlegged in an early form) "Hoover Factory," a new one on me called "Clean Money" and a redone "Black and White World" (from Get Happy!!). If you've followed Costello, you pretty much know this album already. Suffice to say, this is prime stuff — as good as any of his preplanned albums, and certainly more consistent than Get Happy!!'s 20 maybes. Far from being basement tapes or a "History of," Taking Liberties provides further proof (if any were needed) of Costello's talent. Get it!

External links

• TrouserPress.com