Wow, I completed Make-Up Month, and we now resume the Elvis Costello section already in progress...(Look through the December 2013 archives for previous Elvis entries)...
Elvis Costello: Armed Forces
1979
Columbia/Rykodisc Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl (US Version) & Compact Disc
Track Listing: US Vinyl Version: 1. Accidents Will Happen 2. Senior Service 3. Oliver's Army 4. Big Boys 5. Green Shirt 6. Party Girl 7. Goon Squad 8. Busy Bodies 9. Moods for Moderns 10. Chemistry Class 11. Two Little Hitlers 12. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?
1993 Rykodisc Reissue CD Version: 1. Accidents Will Happen 2. Senior Service 3. Oliver's Army 4. Big Boys 5. Green Shirt 6. Party Girl 7. Goon Squad 8. Busy Bodies 9. Sunday Best 10. Moods for Moderns 11. Chemistry Class 12. Two Little Hitlers 13. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? 14. My Funny Valentine 15. Tiny Steps 16. Clean Money 17. Talking in the Dark 18. Wednesday Week 19. Accidents Will Happen (Live at Hollywood High) 20. Alison (Live at Hollywood High) 21. Watching the Detectives (Live at Hollywood High)
Hey, are you guys enjoying the Sochi Winter Olympics as much as I am? I can't seem to tear myself away from the sheer spectacle of it all (I'm tying this into the Elvis Costello post because he wears spectacles too,so it all fits if you think about it)...
Despite my enjoyment, I can't help but feel a little let down for some reason..It's not all that I imagined it would be, so I jotted down a few ideas on how they could have improved it a little...
A performance by none other than Sir Paul McCartney and Archduke Ringo Star to kick off the opening ceremony! Come on! That would have been great! Every ceremony is improved by these guys! Besides, what would be a more appropriate way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America than a totally unrelated performance in Russia? Can't you hear them playing "Back in the U.S.S.R?"
I can picture it perfectly: Paul steps up to the mic and sings:
"Back in the U.S.S.R! Although, I guess that's what you no longer are....so..."
Then Paul stops playing guitar, shrugs his shoulders and exits the stage. Ringo, not realizing anything has happened continues playing unaccompanied for an additional 15 seconds...Then he looks around, realizing he's alone, grabs his suitcase from behind the drum stand and tells the audience, "Sorry. Gotta roon!" and runs away...4 or 5 people in the audience clap once or twice until they realize that no one else is clapping...Everyone looks at each other confused, making a telepathic oath never to mention the incident again...
Ahd why didn't they have that Russian twerking girl perform at the opening ceremony?! Her approval rating is much higher here in the States than Vladimir Putin's!!
Speaking of ol' Vlad Pooty, why didn't they create a new Olympic event that he could win a medal in? Like Olympic "Shirtless Horse-Backing," or something...Sure it might not be pleasant riding a horse shirtless in the middle of a Russian winter, but this is Iron Putin we're talking about...If anyone can do it, it's him!
Boy, I have no idea how to segue this back into Elvis Costello...Oh wait....Yes, I do...
Spectacles...
I originally bought my vinyl copy of "Armed Forces" in Alpena, Michigan back in the 90's...My version didn't have that neat Elephant painting on the front cover (it's the back cover on my version), instead it had some sort of arty Jackson-Pollacky paint spatter...
Anyway, I bought the record, played it a couple times, and put it away...
Then somewhere around 1999, I put it on again and for some reason it turned my entire world upside down this time..I could finally hear it! Elvis discovers ABBA and when combined with his explosive new-wave/punk style he comes out with a flippin' pop masterpiece! Track after track of the smartest, meanest pop music around...See, folks, pop music doesn't have to be characterized by brainlessness...It's possible to make music that's intelligent and hooky!
Nick Lowe's immaculate production is very rich and ornate, especially when compared to the spare, wiry anger of the previous albums and the lush surroundings make Elvis' lyrical poison all the more potent...He takes on fascism, militarism, wage slavery, and a whole host of other subjects that aren't normally part of the fluffy pop idiom and these juxtapositions makes for some of his all-time best songs... (That's right, I used the word "juxtapositions." That's words worth a whopping 30 points in Scrabble by the way...)
Every single song on Side One is a highlight, but in particular, "Oliver's Army" is an astounding piece of work. Grand washes of tinkling piano, soaring hooks and fascist lyrics paint a dreamy picture of a bleak world. I honestly can't always tell if it's happiness or worry that's swirling around in my stomach while I'm listening to this...
I also have to give a shout-out to "Senior Service," which features one of my all-time favorite lyrics:
"They took me in the office and they told me very carefully
The way that I could benefit from death and disability..."
Genius!! I'll be damned if that doesn't sum up the soulless parade of drudgery and humiliation that often goes hand in hand with a 9 to 5 (that is unless you lose your hand...Then you've just fallen into the "benefit" category)...
I should probably mention the US vinyl version I have has a different track listing than the original British version (and subsequent CD reissue)... The American version drops "Sunday Best" and adds his career-highlight cover of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" Which is fine by me..."Sunday's Best" (and maybe "Moods for Moderns") is definitely the low-point of the album...Maybe I'm just not into bitter, vitriolic waltzes...I dunno...But I do know that "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" is a pure gut-punch of unbridled idealism (or is it devastating realism?) that must have seemed so unfashionable (and awesome) in the midst of the punk rebellion...I remember hearing this for the first time when I was just a teenager who bought that forest green Elvis Costello greatest hits album that was a big thing back in the early 90's...
...and I knew it was the best song I'd ever heard even before Elvis bellowed a word...As soon as Bruce Thomas lets loose with that introductory snare roll and those three crashing piano chords tore through my bedroom...I can tell you I instantly worshiped the ground the man walked on...A perfect album closer...Interestingly enough, though it wasn't the original closer..."Two Little Hitlers" was. And honestly I love this song almost as much...The album was originally going to be titled "Emotional Fascism" and no other song on the album quite lives up to that title like "Two Little Hitlers" does. A brutally hilarious look at the spiteful power-struggles that inevitably appear in a relationship:
"Dial me a Valentine
She's a smooth operator
It's all so calculated
She's got a calculator.
She's my soft touch typewriter
And I'm the great dictator.
Two little Hitlers will fight it out until
One little Hitler does the other one's will..."
So fun, and so truthful. And what exactly is this song's connection with producer Nick Lowe's "Little Hitler"?
I'm not sure...Did Elvis knock him off the guestlist? Is Nick Lowe an unnatural man? I doubt these two songs are aimed at each other, since Elvis and Nick enjoyed a long working relationship well after these songs came out...It's probably all just sly self-referencing, but it's still a lot of fun to speculate.
God, I could go on and on about this album all night...Even the outtakes (included in the CD version) are top-notch. I've laid my ears on a lot of albums in my time, and this is without a doubt in my top five...Don't miss out on it!!!!!
(I don't know if that's quite enough exclamation points...Maybe I need one more....)
!
(there).
Here's "Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello...Enjoy...
Elvis Costello:Live at Hollywood High
2010
Hip-O Select Records
Format I Own it on: Compact Disc
Track Listing: 1. Accidents Will Happen 2. Mystery Dance 3. Lip Service 4. Living in Paradise 5. Goon Squad 6. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes 7. Party Girl 8. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea 9. This Year's Girl 10. No Action 11. Stranger in the House 12. The Beat 13. Alison 14. Lipstick Vogue 15. Watching The Detectives 16. You Belong To Me 17. Radio, Radio 18. Pump It Up 19. Waiting for the End of the World 20. Miracle Man
This wasn't released until 2010, but I decided to include it here, since this concert is so closely tied with "Armed Forces." This is an expanded version of the three song live EP that originally came with initial pressings of that album...
From the three songs that were included on the ep, I had the impression that this was a partially acoustic, or very low-key show..."Accidents Will Happen" is just Elvis on the piano and the hushed version of "Alison" was almost as quiet...Only "Watching the Detectives" gives any indication of what a corker this show truly was...
It's hard to believe this wasn't released earlier...The sound quality is so pristine (almost studio-quality) and Elvis and the Attractions are captured at their undeniable peak...Boy, they've got a hell of a setlist..."You Belong To Me," "Radio, Radio," "No Action"...Each one played as if the band's very lives depended on it...
I also find the gulf between the angry persona Elvis captures on his records and the jovial, polite figure on display here totally fascinating...When I think of Elvis Costello, I usually picture the scowling man defiantly yanking the cord out of his guitar on Saturday Night Live, but here he sounds like a regular fun-lovin' guy. I particularly love the section where he's flirting with the ladies in the audience and then you realize he's performing in a High School! Who does this guy think he is? Me?!?!?!
Wait...These kids were lucky enough to get Elvis Costello and the Attractions to play at their High School auditorium?!?! How did they pull that one off?!?! We were lucky to get the Flying Aces Frisbee show at ours!
Oh well...Anyway, "Live at Hollywood High" is a musty must MUST for 70's Elvis fans...You're not going to find a better commercially released live performance from the group...Git it!
Here's the live piano version of "Accidents Will Happen." Tickle those ivories, Elvis! (Actually, this could very well be Steve Nieve playing piano...I don't know if you guys have figured it out or not, but I don't actually know what I'm talking about most of the time...I just make stuff up...Here's an example..."Hey, did you know that Elvis Costello is actually the half-step-brother to distinguished actor Michael Caine?" See, I don't know if that's true or not...I'd be very surprised if it were true, since I just pulled it out of my hat)...Enjoy...
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