If He Was Ten Feet Taller And Almost Handsome...

The prime prince of new wave came in the form of a modish Irish-Liverpudlian born Declan McManus, changing his name after he discovered music, leather ties and politics, to Elvis Costello. Like Buddy Holly in a cheap suit, he created a style that was primarily a branch of new wave. Commercially generated by the media to divert the aggressiveness of the punk era, new wave followed hand in glove minus the pink Mohicans and safety pins. We saw the arrival of a throw back to the sixties beat movement and the bluntly titled British Invasion. Sharp suits, loafers and sometimes a little
biker leather thrown in for good measure, the leaders of the non genre, genre strutted and pouted with the same anti establishment as punk once had. Determined to kill it for good, punk was eagerly stamped out like a cigarette from a smoker desperately trying to give up, by the press. Our first lady had been the cutting looks and equally matched voice of Debbie Harry, but the leading man position had to be filled. Because we were summoned to subjectively go out an buy new wave records instead of punk as far back as the late seventies, the only contender for the job was a young, out spoken Costello.

Looking more uncannily like Ben Elton from his ‘Auntie’ days, the sharpness of the visual qualities of Costello were to be fixed in our minds for all eternity. Big, dark rimmed glasses were a permanent fixture upon his face. A crew-ish cut, but sometimes wearing his hair long, he was no oil painting, and more of an artist for the lads rather than the girls. A far cry from the rock based, morose styles of The Stranglers, Costello added humour and wit to not just his vocals but his music. Entertaining, and swamped with clever saxophones and acoustic guitars, his ‘Attractions’ (With which he named his band,) were visually, copies of their leading man. Tightly knitted sounds were the product from this skinny, drain piped, drippy bunch of youngsters. They framed the nasal voice of Costello. Actually with a full, well rounded voice, (one of the very few new wave acts who could actually sing) Costello was pleasant to listen to with his style that seemed a complete cut above the rest of the monochrome acts around at the time. Where new wave singles had come across as mediocre, near dead and rather flat, Costello gave his brand of genre a sparkle and not to mention a pulse...

Throughout this album, Costello’s voice is at his ‘high octave Bob Geldof’ best. Since the days of ‘Watching The Detectives,’ back in November 1977 released on the infamous Stiff label (as all good new wave records were) we now in this album, find that the waters that sailed Costello to mainstream shores had been kind and not given way to any form or permanent damage to the ship of his career. He was, it has to be, the only artist out of the new wave movement who flowed completely away from the new wave sound, all the time though, holding onto to his cheap suit, mod like visual style almost in fear of letting go of it.

Released in July 1984, Costello had already become a veteran in the new wave/pop scene. With 8 albums already to his name, (7 of those had been top ten) it was as if he couldn’t really put a foot wrong. Since the gentle ramblings of ‘Everyday I Write The Book,’ a fairly decent hit from the previous year, it had marked the turning point in Costello’s style from abrupt, angry new wave to the gentle side of the new romantic era. Costello was full of poetry at this point in his career. Diverting from politics and social issues, he started to write about love, heart breaks and a depth of feeling that had actually been dared by any other new wave act to cover. However, which ever way he turned, that number 1 album or even single, was always so elusive. The three single positions that were achieved from the releases from this album, were an incredible disappointment considering the album had done so well. Despite this increasing dilemma through his career, Costello has never failed to be too far away from our minds and our charts. Remaining a steady influence on bands through the generations, he has continued to write, release and tour through the eighties, nineties and still appears to sold out crowds in smaller venues today. Only a handful of artists in the British music industry have stayed true to their fans, although their loyalty now comes in the form of early to middle aged men with families of their own, who still dream of their wild new wave days.

Ditching his job as a computer operator to become a roadie for Brinsley Schwarz, the story of Costello happened purely, as all the best things do, by chance. Be- friending Nick Lowe, a bass player, at the time, he went about the business of forming his band over the years to a close, tightly formed collection of the best, ‘middle of the road’ musicians around. After getting himself into a spot of bother insulting Ray Charles (not a good idea by any standards) he quietly produced for a few old mates he had picked up along the way, these included the ever charismatic, Squeeze.

After rebirthing the band in the early eighties, the driving force behind Costello took great hold and the wheels of success started to wind slowly into a steady speed. By the time this album was produced, Costello had achieved a position in the music industry along side Eric Clapton. Phil Collins and McCartney to name a few. Now a name in his own right, the ‘Attractions,‘ seemed less attractive than at first. Costello broke away from the band in 1986, only to reconcile in 1994.

For a band who’s line up never changed, it was unusual to see the same musicians noted on each album. The cover is an interesting photograph by Brian Griffin of only four band members standing on a hill, two in black and two in white underneath to tall trees. Due to the lighting, it was obviously a very hot day, strangely, on of them appears to be in the throws of fencing. New wave covers didn’t make any general sense not to the listener or even the band. As another note, Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame appears on this album, as the co vocal to ‘The Only Flame In Town.’

We start this gentle and enlightening trip down a musical memory lane with this first track mentioned above. Dusted lightly with violins and that unmistakeable ‘Kane Gang’ style of shimmering saxes and cool vocals, this song is seriously middle of the eighties road. It is full of romantic touches. I do believe it is hard do pick out the delights of Mr Hall, but I take it he is in there somewhere. A quick dance on the keyboards takes us through the break and that percussion us has us foot tapping our way through the first half of this album. In my mind, that sax solo that winds up the track takes a little too long about it. Still, it is pleasurable. Many hardened Costello fans would have been a tad disappointed with this hit. It showed no aggressiveness within this predominantly new wave artist. This track was commercialism to its very depth of shallowed musical content. Speaking of which, it say it was a hit was a bit of a misnomer. It actually struggled to reach anything higher than a shameful number 71. Not one of Costello’s most memorable moments, but still, rather a summery feel to this track fills us with a little hope for the rest of the album.

‘Home Truth,’ takes on a drudgery feel and is perhaps more recognisable as a Costello track. Nasally no good at singing anything of a in-key fashion, Costello takes this track and turns it to his own advantage. Slow, wistful and on the flat side, this track is heartfelt, yet painful to listen to. This album, it has to be said and aired right now, was not his best work. For true new wave fanatics, I suggest his very early work. ‘This Year’s Model,’ an album released in April 1978 on the Radar record label or perhaps, the slightly later ‘Trust,’ released in January 1981. Any track that starts with, ‘I hung up the phone tonight just when you told me I love You..’ doesn’t hold the listener’s optimism for that much longer. Stuffy and musically repetitive, it is almost on a par with ‘Labelled With Love.’ by Squeeze on the same line as a well loved and drolled song in a smokey pub at last orders. The piano in ‘Home Truth,’ fails to be a successful backbone to this track. At least with the Squeeze number, it was tongue on cheek, heartbreaking, yes, but on a far more enjoyable, lighter note. This track here, just doesn’t fed the imaginations enough for a second play.

In the meantime, we are sparked into something that sounds a touch more Costello, and perhaps we are starting to hear something more of the man. ‘Room With No Number,’ has a disjointed, fair ground feel to the climbing and descending tune. Percussion fills every available space like shattered glass. Anything and everything that can be hit with a stick to make a sound has been included in this track. Strangely listenable, it is quirky and not in the least bit offensive to any musical frame of mind. For any listeners wanting a true taste of Costello, then here, so far was the real article. Its is amusing in its musical content. Clever drum beats chundle away and hold the track tightly in its grasp. Straight into a foot tapping drum solo, we are given an quick bite at the talented apple of the drummer, Pete Thomas.
Our percussion genius with the multi armed body is Luis Jardim.

The bluesy, sultry ‘Inch By Inch,’ creeps slowly into our ears like a strutting Billy Idol’s version of the classic track, ‘Endless Sleep.’ We can almost imagine the softly softly approach of the band here, quietly clicking their fingers in the shadows. It is slowed down as far as was humanly possible. A little on the side of a small number out of ‘Chicago,’ the musical, it is full of themes of dark strangers leaning against lampposts. Clever kicks from the drum beats and a gentle sax winds away in the distance. The gangster feeling fills this track to the brim with delightful mysteriousness.

‘Worthless Thing,’ is a real pop at an ‘ex.’ ‘…if you were ten feet taller and almost handsome, I might pay this King’s ransom, you worthless thing…’ It really can never get any more insulting than that can it? A pleasant track musically, but that haunting Squeeze/Aztec Camera sound is there, and it is that one reminder of how old this album actually is. The eighties was a mass of genre’s upon genre’s. It was once said that new wave actually wasn’t a genre at all. We have already discussed that it was a commercial project whipped up by the labels and media alike to tone down the punk era. Just the same as the pretty Booby Vee’s of this world were bought in to make ballad after dull ballad in the media’s hope to calm down Rock and Roll. What we hear in this track is a thoughtful, ‘looking out into the middle distance,’ type record were the girls wore frilly mini shirts and cocked their victimised heads to one side and sung with vacant looks on their faces like The Beautiful South. This was Costello’s attempt at making a track that was meant to be a hit, but was his interpretation of the eighties, romantic in rags feel that was appearing to dominate the charts at the time. A prime example of this wistful, ‘time of the month’ music genre was the opinionated ‘Deacon Blue.’ A song dressed in ribbons and bows was not ultimately a bad thing, al6though, the male public were somewhat lost during this time. Costello actually doesn’t offend the subject of this song with anything other than the lyrics. He sounds sweet and almost to the point of fluttering his eyelashes. A track that overwhelms the listener with such sugar and spice, that the lyrics melt far off in the depths of the cutesy song. ‘Worthless Thing,’ could be about a TV that doesn’t work so he is having to take back to the shop…

‘Love Field,’ starts with a faded in and out Pink Floyd guitar that Gilmour would have been proud off. Very quickly, we are sucked into a keyboard dominated love song. Sway all your limbs to this track as it will have you on the floor with depression if you’re not careful. Costello’s voice, like A Boomtown Rat on helium, he could, and still can pour his heart and soul into a track if it warrants it. Never to swallow a record whole, his vocal as always been on a perfect pitch. With grace, he can fill our ears with romance and heart felt pity, just as in the same album ,he can destroy us with such insults and put downs. This track, albeit short, is gentle and soft on our musical pallets. ‘..you lie so unfolded in a love field, with you contempt for any modesty in a love field…’ One can take that any way I guess, has she stripped off and decided to get it on ‘eu naturel?’ We wonder… If the subject matter is such an intimate thing, then it is handled in the best of taste. …’a ground for a pillow…’ Yes, I think we are certainly getting the picture now. Even so, you will never find smut in such a Costello album. Not here, there, or anywhere. A true gentleman of pop, he used such modern poetry to describe the most sensitive things in life as well as having a good old dig at the political dirt and the sodden bog of social issues. A artist of our time, or at least, mine or anyone else over the age of thirty, we can still appreciate his way of treading carefully with us, so as not to offend…well, so long as you weren’t a figure of authority….

‘I Wanna Be Loved,’ is a fair statement to make I guess. ‘…Why must I be so lonely? When so many people pass me by…’ I guess we would probably give a geeky guy in big specs a wide birth if he walked down the street in a over grown suit and a garish red tie, but we have to admit, there is something rather appealing about Costello. I think it had something to do with the depth of his song writing. Writing on such a personal level as with the previous track, he steps into our hearts and melts us from the inside out like a hot mug of Horlicks. This track feels more like a UB40 track, with its reggae base line. Experimenting with drum beats and clever keyboards, it shimmers in the moonlight with its dreamy theme. Costello gives a even more romantic anthem in this track with its depth of backing vocals. The piano break swims across our minds with an interesting mysterious sax piece. Costello makes fair use of this swaying theme giving his vocals a real test of the Roxy Music swamping feel. A true new romantic song, it is a far cry from his new wave roots. Costello, like many of his contemporaries at the time, were not shy of moving into the commercial pop world, leaving angry new wave themes behind and successfully conducting a track that appeals to any fan of any other genre other than what we remember these artist for. Released in June 1984, it reached number 25.

‘The Comedians,’ plays around with a honk tonk guitar projection. It’s disjointed drum beat is hard to get the listeners head around. It is probably too much swirling on the vocal scale. Still, it is listenable for its musical content and poetic instruments rather than allowing our ears to take the track as a whole. It is better listened to for its fusion of different sounds and depths.

‘Joe Porterhouse,’ is a familiar track which uses those even more familiar Jools Holland style piano. As Squeeze were firm allies of Costello and usually appeared on the same billing at a gig, the romantic feel really comes across in strong vibes within the whole of this album. We can clearly hear through this track the influences of Costello as his band at the time of recording. A gentle theme that will glide over the listener, and before you know it, it will be all over.

If anything is going to wake you from your baggy shirted, tight trousers and lip gloss it will be with ‘Sour Milk Cow Blues.’ Again, Squeeze, at the time were experimenting with entertaining tracks and heavy usage of bluesy numbers with jolly lyrics and fun instruments. This track is a collaboration of such sections of flying piano keys and thumping drums and clashing cymbals. Costello lets this track rock to the rafters and it is fun to listen to. Again, this track is short in length. In these final tracks of this album, Costello lifts the theme and shows us what his band were capable of achieving through energetic themes.

‘The Great Unknown,’ takes the mood down a notch and gives our ears a little rest. He presents us with a diverse track sectioned off with musical pieces that don’t quiet fit with the rest of the song. The lyrics leave little for us to think about. Perhaps Costello. Himself only knew the true meaning behind this track. Sometimes, with his records, the lyrical content would leave us with a puzzled look on our faces.. ‘…My my my Delilah, who’s the butcher that you harbour, take the rich man to the cleaners….’ whatever that means.

‘The Deportees Club,’ is a classic new wave track that is counted into the beat by Costello at the beginning. With sound effects of screaming or at least perhaps a dog in pain, it is a thumping, thrashing track that its fit on a live stage with microphone stands shaking from the vibration on stage. It is throwing us back to the early new wave punk anthems that we first experienced in the late seventies. With lyrics thrown at us rather than actually sung, it is a track that will either have to feeling the urge to jump up and down in one spot rather violently or you will want to turn it off. It is a piece of music history that will engrave itself on your mind and probably take you back to your youth, if over a certain age.

‘Peace Of Our Time,’ should have been a bigger hit for Costello. Released in April 1984, it failed to reach anything higher than number 48. Although the releases from this album actually didn’t score too well, these records will still get a crowd chanting ever single lyric like it was a recent number one. Costello has held tightly onto his faithful fan base. The fans live in the day of the break of new wave. He gave us a unique piece of his own music. A man who couldn’t really be categorised in any genre at all, we find, even in this track he is presenting us with yet another music genre. A thoughtful, Yorkshire coal miners theme, the horns give a thought provoking them of making you want to stand up in praise of the lowly working classes of this country in honour with a hand fixed firmly on the chest in respect. Costello leaves us on a sombre note from an album that has enlightened us and encouraged us to listen further to his music.

This album really has something for everyone. An artist who could reach out to any generation and point a finger or touch a nerve in our bodies and grace us with his poetic genius and talented composition. It is even in such a mediocre album such as this, and probably not his greatest release, we still find elements of it that will remind us as to why Costello is still a crowd puller as he was twenty five years ago.

To that middle aged guy with that Buddy Holly look, a poetic heart and with a gifted hand placed gently on his guitar, thank you and continue to give us light, love and good old miserable, angry chants.



Elvis Costello - Vocals, Guitars and Anvil.
Maurice Worm - Random Racket
Bruce Thomas - Base guitar I suppose
Pete Thomas - Drums
Gary Barnacle - Saxes and electric sax
Jim Paterson - Trombone
Luis Jardim - Percussion
Special guests - Daryl Hall on ’The Only Flame In Town.’
Green - Backing harmony on ’I Wanna Be Loved.’

F Beat Records 1984.
Bought on vinyl at a record fair for one pound
Still available on all music shops, although probably best to be ordered for around the five pound mark.



©M. Duffy (sam1942) 2006.