Elvis Costello: Get Happy!!

Elvis Costello: Get Happy!!


1980

Riviera Global/Columbia/Rhino Records

Format I Own in on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Love for Tender  2. Opportunity  3. The Imposter  4. Secondary Modern  5. King Horse  6. Possession  7. Men Called Uncle  8. Clowntime Is Over  9. New Amsterdam  10. High Fidelity  11. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down  12. Black & White World  13. 5ive Gears in Reverse  14. B Movie  15. Motel Matches  16. Human Touch  17. Beaten to the Punch  18. Temptation  19. I Stand Accused  20. Riot Act

Disc 2 (CD): 1. I Stand Accused (Alternate version)  2. So Young  3. Girls Talk  4. Human Touch (Alternate version)  5. Temptation  6. Motel Matches (Alternate version)  7. Clowntime Is Over No. 2  8. B Movie (Alternate version)  9. Girls Talk  10. Getting Mighty Crowded  11. From a Whisper to a Scream (Alternate version)  12. Watch Your Step (Alternate version) 13. Dr Luther's Assistant



..........................................................................................................................................

Note: I didn't get a chance to edit this post, or even read it a second time, so it may or may not make any sense...There's certainly going to be some typos, so make a drinking game out of it, I guess...

.........................................................................................................................................

If you ask me on the right day, I'll often declare "Get Happy!!" the second best Elvis Costello album, beating out "This Year's Model" or "Blood & Chocolate" by an inch...The draw here is Elvis and the Attractions trying their hand at an R&B/soul sound...Usually when white artists tackle soul they tend to go the smooth route or mellow out, but instead the group plays it as exciting, angry and nervy as ever! Surprisingly, soul music fits right into Elvis' pre-established sound so effortlessly that it's easy to forget this was a pretty drastic change in sound...

I first bought this album around 2002, from a Bookmans in Tucson Az, which is kind of an Arizona institution...It's primarily a used bookstore but they actually have all kinds of stuff...Here, I'll just let Indiana Bob explain it...

Anyway, I found an Italian version of "Get Happy!!" there...For the longest time I only had the vinyl (the CD was out of print then) and imagine my surprise when  I found out what I thought was side one was actually side two and vice versa...Turns out early copies of the album had the sides mixed up...

So yea, eventually the album was issued on CD and I had to get re-used to the running order, but since the two sides mirror each other so closely it wasn't a huge obstacle or anything...Oh yea, check out the number of songs he crams on here, by the way. 10 songs on each side...It's not a particularly long album or anything (about 48 minutes), most of the songs are around the two minute mark...The long, winding epic here ("Riot Act")  is only three and a half minutes. Usually when this album gets criticized, it's because of the high number of tracks and  the fact that there's a few that are undoubtedly not as strong as the others...

But nothing's really bad, per se...Sure, you could cut five of them and have an absolutely perfect album, but even the weakest material on here is worthwhile...This time when I listened to it, I was specifically targeting the songs that I usually consider the "lesser" material ("Clowntime is Over," "5ive Gears in Reverse," "Motel Matches") and I honestly enjoyed the shit out of each one of them...I think what's skewing things a bit is that Elvis is just peaking out all over the place here. This album probably features more "must have" Attractions songs than any other album...I'm going to lay them all out, and tell me if you agree with me or not...

"Opportunity": Easily one of my favorite tracks by the band. Cool, laid back new-wave/soul with lots of groovy organ playing by Steve Nieve. It sounds so happy and relaxed but Elvis is saying some pretty mean shit and you every lyric hits where it hurts. My personal favorite line:

"The chairman of this boredom is a compliment collector,
I'd like to be his funeral director..."

You can't top that...

Here's "Opportunity"...

"New Amsterdam":  This song was originally a demo with Elvis himself playing all the instruments, and when they tried recording a proper version they couldn't recapture the magic of the original, and no wonder!  Just a flawless little acoustic pop song that's greater than it initially appears to be...Believe me,  after a listen or two you're going to around singing, "'Til I speak double dutch to a real double duchess..."

Here's the video for "New Amsterdam"...

"Possession": Sweet sing-songy soul that weaponizes the opening lines of "From Me to You" by the Beatles and uses them against a hapless Dutch waitress...Again, a song that sneaks up on you when you're not paying attention...

Here's "Possession"...

"The Imposter": I kind of consider this the unofficial Elvis Costello theme song...Allusions to this song pop up often in his career, and he seems to be giving us a brief glimpse of the man behind the glasses in the one place we'd never think to find it...In a deceptively uptempo R&B number...You can't shake the feeling that when he asks, "I Just don't know why you can't see that he is really the imposter?" he's probably talking about himself...After all, "When I said that I was lying, I might have been lying..." A big fat classic....

Listen for yourself...

"High Fidelity": You didn't think I was gonna leave off this one, did ya? This seems to be the one song that everyone agrees on...This has always reminded me of the evil flipside of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?"  Instead of bursting out of the speakers with optimism, this seems to implode until the chorus eventually provides some catharsis...An ill-at-ease anthem...

...and then there's another five or so songs that I consider to be just a hair less monumental (the grand finale "Riot Act," the straight-up ska of "Human Touch," the Sam & Dave cover, "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down," the Motown tribute "I Stand Accused") that would be the highpoint on any other Attractions album...

 Oh yea, I should mention the extra bonus disc that comes with the Rykodisc reissue...To be honest, I don't find myself spinning these bonus discs too often (Although there's always at least a half dozen killer track on each one, they're sometimes too generous for me...) but this is one of the better ones...For starters you get two different versions of "Girls Talk," which was a song he donated to Dave Edmunds. Although, neither version (one a darker, bass-heavy version, the other done in a more familiar Attractions style) can touch Dave's incredible power-pop version (which isn't surprising, since I consider Edmunds to be one of the greatest interpreter of songs in the history of music...Ridiculously underrated).

There's also a few live tracks on here that knock my funny-looking socks off! "Opportunity" and "The Imposter" are played at a reckless, breakneck speed...Manoman, can we get a live album from this particular tour please?  Oh, and "Hoover Factory," often considered one of Elvis' best outtakes, appears here!  So make sure you snag the Rykodisc double-disc version!

 Alright, I've gotta go do the dishes or something, but before I go, let me say this...You often run across Elvis Costello fans who claim he peaked with the first two or three albums, but I'm saying those folks are dead-ass wrong! That's right! I'm calling  them out! I'm declaring  "Get Happy!!" every bit the equal of the proceeding albums...Hell, this beats "My Aim is True" hands down, IMHO...


HRAE  (Here's "Riot Act." Enjoy...)