Never knew much about Television/Marquee Moon at the time, had a wee listen and thought it was okay, but sounds like a hundred other bands I've heard. And of course, they sound very American, which makes me biased against them, as I'm a bigot.

DAY 390.
Meat Loaf..................................Bat Out Of Hell   (1977)











This one brings back some great memories, the girl I was going out with at this time absolutely loved this album, in fact "Meat Loaf" was our wee code word for a bit of "the old in and out," as in "fancy a bit of Meat Loaf ?) remember this was pre CCTV cameras, so as both still living at home "outdoor athletics" was quite the thing, Cairdy and Dawson Parks were the arenas of choice, amongst other venues.


Anyways back to the album, listening now I still love every track, I heard this on The Old Grey Whistle Test and bought it the same week, "Bat Out Of Hell" for this listener still sounds as good as the first time I played it, seemingly the 9th biggest seller of all time, it sold 5 million more copies than No.10......................Sgt Pepper?



This album will be going into my collection, not just for the lusty memories, but for it's theatrical magnificence.




Bits & Bobs;



Although credited as a solo album by Meat Loaf, the blockbuster album Bat Out of Hell was actually forged through a collaboration of three people – Meat Loaf (born Marvin Lee Aday), songwriter Jim Steinman and producer/guitarist Todd Rundgren. This album would go into the stratosphere sales-wise, certified platinum fourteen times over and currently ranked ninth all-time in worldwide sales. However, these gentlemen may have been the only three to believe in this project during its early years. By the time of its release in late 1977, the album had been worked on for over five years but it had been rejected by every major Label (and quite a few minor labels as well). The project was finally picked up by tiny Cleveland International Records, not so much by musical merit but more so when owner Steve Popovich heard the witty dialogue which precedes the song “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)” (see video below).Meat Loaf met Steinman shortly after releasing his soul-influenced debut album Stoney & Meatloaf in 1971. Both were deeply interested theatrical music as Meat Loaf had starred in several Broadway plays and the film, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Steinmen had composed for several productions including a sci-fi update of Peter Pan called Neverland, which was a pre-cursor to Bat Out of Hell. Writing for the album started as early as 1972, with the songs fully developed by the end of 1974, when Meat Loaf decided to leave the theatre to concentrate on this project. In 1975, the dual performed a live audition for Todd Rundgren, an avant garde performer and producer, who was impressed that the music did not fit any rock conventions or sub-genres to date. However, this was a double-edged sword as they had immense difficulty finding a record company willing to sign them. According to Meat Loaf’s autobiography, the band spent two and a half years auditioning the record and being rejected. One of the most brutal rejections came from CBS head Clive Davis, who first dismissed Meat Loaf by saying “actors don’t make records” before turning his ire towards Steinman’s songwriting;



"You don’t know how to write a song! Have you ever listened to pop music? Have you ever heard any rock-and-roll music? You should go downstairs when you leave here and buy some rock-and-roll records…”


 The group had reached a verbal deal with RCA Records and started recording the album in late 1975 at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, NY. However, the RCA deal fell through during production and Rundgren essentially footed the bill for recording himself. And this was no small bill as the album includes contributions by sixteen rock musicians and singers as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Some of these backing musicians include members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band as well as Rundgren’s backing band, Utopia.


  Steinman, who wrote every song and gave the album its title and artwork, had wanted equal billing with Meat Loaf on the album’s title, but was out-voted by record execs who felt that Meat Loaf alone was a more marketable, with the unorthadox, “Songs by Jim Steinmen” sub-heading appearing on the album’s cover. Even after the album was finally released in October 1977, it took awhile to catch on In the U.S. Ironically, it was after a CBS Records convention where Meat Loaf performed a song for that label’s top artist Billy Joel, that the album finally got some mainstream momentum.




Although Bat Out of Hell is generally high caliber throughout, it is quite uneven in musical flow, especially when you compare the dynamic and climatic opening title song and the slow moving closer “For Crying Out Loud”, a relationship-oriented song which spends about seven of its eight and a half minutes with a very simple and subdued arrangement.
Steinman has described “Bat Out of Hell” as “feverish, strong, romantic, vibrant, and rebellious”. He stated that his goal was to write “the ultimate car or motorcycle crash song”. It starts with a rapid and frantic piano backed by tribal drums before breaking into a calmer section with thick, dimensional guitar overtones. After about a two minute overture, the song proper commences with Meat Loaf singing the vivid lyrics. Steinman was extremely ambitious with this song and constantly suggested new parts to enhance the song, many of which were rejected by Rundgren. However, Steinman insisted on a motorcycle effect in the song and an exasperated Rundgren finally grabbed a guitar, set some custom controls and mimicked a Motorcycle effect in one take. Another great moment comes at the very end when Meatloaf’s intense and sustained vocals dissolves into a calm and subdued outro with a female chorus and synthesized strings.


  In between the colossal epics that bookend the album are five excellently crafted, pop-oriented songs which maintain the dramatic overall feel of the theme. “Heaven Can Wait” is ballad which showcases Meat Loaf’s voice more than any other song, accompanied only by piano and a light orchestral arrangement by Ken Ascher. Converesly, “All Revved Up with No Place to Go” is a thumping rocker driven by the bass of Kasim Sulton and featuring saxophone by Edgar Winter. Although it is shortest song in duration on the album, it still feels kind of epic due to the interesting arrangement of the mid-section made up of short vignettes and a section with a breathless rant by Meat Loaf to close the song and first side.




After the unique intro, spoken by Steinman and Marcia McClain, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)” settles into a classic, do-wop style rock song with a very catchy hook. Another radio-friendly track is the ballad “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”. This melancholy love song counter-balances the more theatrical music perfectly, while still maintaining an edge with the slightly satirical title. The song was written near the end of the album’s production and was reportedly influenced by the success of the Eagles’ soft rock approach in the late seventies. The single version of the song edited out the controversial lyric “There ain’t no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box” and reached #11 on the Billboard charts, the group’s highest-charting single.


“Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is either the most brilliant or the lamest song on the album. This duet features Ellen Foley sharing lead vocals and tells a hilarious story of teenage desire leading to permanent misery in three or four distinct sections. On one hand, the song is brilliantly produced, including a “play-by-play” section by New York Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto, a couple of perfectly blended duet sections, and a Caribbean-influenced “Let Me Sleep On It” section. On the other hand, the song has grown to be the over-played caricature of Meat Loaf and this famous album.


 The album’s title was resurrected for two more Meat Loaf albums. In 1993 came Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, again featuring the songwriting of Jim Steinman. In 2006 came Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose, which did not involve Steinman, who had registered “Bat Out of Hell” as a trademark in 1995 in an attempt to prevent Meat Loaf from using the title again.
 

Meat Loaf's real name is Marvin Aday. He often makes up stories about how he got the moniker. The likely answer is that it was given to him by his high school football coach, although he's also claimed that it came from his father, who said he looked like meat when he was an infant.


 
Oddly enough, Meat Loaf is a vegetarian. He changed his diet for health reasons in the '80s.


 
His step-daughter Pearl was a "Crue Slut," for a short time, meaning she was a backup singer and dancer on Motley Crue's 1999-2000 tour.


 
A study at Sussex University in England found that his music was an excellent stimulant for plant growth.


 
He has appeared in several movies, including The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fight Club. He also played Jack Black's father in Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny.


 
Meat Loaf was lead vocalist on Ted Nugent's 1976 album Free For All.


 
He comes from a rather large family. While he weighed over 200 pounds in seventh grade, his dad weighed 350 and his uncle (standing six feet seven inches) weighed nearly 700 pounds.


 
Meat Loaf met pianist and songwriter Jim Steinman when Loaf auditioned for his play More Than You Deserve. They collaborated to make the hugely successful album Bat Out of Hell and its sequel, Bat Out Of Hell II.


 
An early band was called Meat Loaf Soul, and was sometimes billed as Popcorn Blizzard. They opened for many notables, including Ted Nugent, the Who, and the Stooges.


 
He was in the original production of Hair, but declined to be in the nude scene. Said Loaf: "You got an extra $12.50 to be in the nude scene and I didn't need an extra $12.50."


 
He's had a number of problems with his vocal cords and sinuses that have required painful surgeries. When he toured Australia in 2011, a vocal cord was hemorrhaging so badly that he was often spitting blood on stage.


 
Meat Loaf told Mojo his most treasured possession is his collection of rubber ducks. He explained: "I have around 100 of them. I've got some really cool ones - I have a (baseball player, Derek) Jeter one, a Frank-N-Furter one. They sit on top of my road case every show."


 
At one time, Meat Loaf went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. He told Q magazine that he still maintains a faith:




"My grandfather was a minister and I was born into a very religious family. There's a Bible in my hotel room, I picked it up and read some of the other night. It's still a big part of my life. People don't expect it because I get on stage and I swear - I'm a rocker. But that's not me, that's a character. If I'm cast in a film I always refuse for my character to say, 'GD,' I tell them I'm not going to say it. I'll say 'damn,' but not the other thing. That's where I draw the line, everything else is open."


 
There is a sentimental side to Meat Loaf. He told Q Magazine: "I cry at the drop of a hat. It could have been watching a TV show and a dog died. Or a little girl who's been kidnapped on Criminal Minds getting back with her mother. I cry at everything."


 
He's built his legend with florid stories that don't always stand up to fact checking, but are quite compelling. One he often tells is about getting hit in the head with a 12-pound shot put when he was in high school. He claims it nearly killed him, but also helped him discover his voice: he tried out for the choir and discovered he had a vocal range spanning three-and-a-half octaves.



Mr Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell LP has sold more than 40 million copies and still sells an estimated 200,000 copies a year. That's why Meat Loaf is a big deal!


Meat Loaf was so determined to avoid being enrolled into the army that he deliberately put on 68Ibs in a month in an attempt to fail a medical. The army still passed him fit and sent him his draft notice two weeks later, but the singer simply chose to ignore it.


So why is Meat Loaf called Meat Loaf? Well, we're can't confirm the reason because the singer has given numerous contradictory "official" tales down the years. However, we can reveal that the Texan-born star doesn't like to eat meatloaf. Strange but true.


Does Mr Loaf care that he has never been a popular choice with music critics? Apparently not. "The day that I ever become hip," he says. "Please shoot me and put me outta my misery!"



"Bat Out Of Hell"


Like all of Meat Loaf's hits, this was written by pianist Jim Steinman. He said he wrote this to be the ultimate "Motorcycle crash song." The lyrics refer to a rider being thrown off his bike in a wreck and his organs exposed:

And the last thing I see is my heart still beating
Breaking out of my body and flying away
Like a bat out of hell

 The motorcycle sound in the middle of the song is producer Todd Rundgren on electric guitar. Todd hated the idea at first, but Steinman begged him until he did that and the subsequent solo in one take.


 
Jim Steinman wrote this song for his stage production Neverland, which he had been developing since 1975. The play debuted at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on April 26, 1977. The Bat Out Of Hell album was released on October 21, 1977 and contained two other tracks from Neverland as well: "Heaven Can Wait" and "All Revved Up with No Place to Go."


 
Steinman trademarked the name "Bat Out Of Hell" in 1995, and in 2006, Meat Loaf sued him when Steinman wouldn't let him use the title "Bat Out Of Hell III" for an album. Steinman produced the album Bat Out Of Hell II,



 
"Bat Out Of Hell" is an expression meaning very fast.


 
Producer Todd Rundgren told Mojo magazine February 2009 of Bruce Springsteen's influence on the Bat Out of Hell album. Said Rundgren: "Jim Steinman still denies that record has anything to do with Springsteen. But I saw it as a spoof. You take all the trademarks - over long songs, teenage angst, handsome loner- and turn them upside down. So we made these epic songs, full of the silly puns that Steinman loves. If Bruce Springsteen can take it over the top, Meat Loaf can take it five storeys higher than that - and at the same time, he's this big, sweaty, unappealing character. Yet we out-Springsteened Springsteen. He's never had a record that sold like Bat Out of Hell, and I didn't think that anyone would ever catch on to it. I thought it would be just a cult thing. The royalties from that album enabled me to follow my own path for a long time after that."


 
The Bat Out of Hell album spent 474 weeks on the UK album chart and became one of the top five all time best selling albums


 
Aside from a limited edition 12", this was never issued as a single in the US, but it was the first song many radio stations started playing after the album came out. Running 9:56, it was far too long for pop radio, but embraced by the Freeform and Album Oriented Rock stations that were all over the airwaves.

Bat Out Of Hell went on to sell about 30 million copies (give or take a few million depending on whose accounting you believe), but when it was released, its success was anything but a given. Meat Loaf was a very obscure artist and the album was unconventional, with nothing that sounded like a standard radio hit. This break in convention ended up distinguishing the album and prompting the huge sales figures.

Even the guys who played on the album thought it would flop. Kasim Sulton who was the bass player, he said that while recording it, he thought the album was "the biggest joke that I've ever been involved in." He learned that it was not a joke when he heard the song on the influential New York City radio station WNEW-FM. "I hear this track, and I said to myself, 'That sounds vaguely familiar. Where have I heard that song before?'" Sutton said. "Then it hit me: 'I played on that!' It was 'Bat Out of Hell,' that track. And then after hearing it on WNEW, the record exploded."


 
In the UK, this was edited down to 6:40 and released as a single, charting at #15 in February 1979 - 16 months after the album was released. In 1993, it was re-released in the UK (this time cut to 4:50), and charted at #8.


 
On the album version, the vocals don't come in until 1:55.





 

DAY 391.
Elvis Costello........................................My Aim Is True   (1977)











Yet another crackin' album, really liked Costello's earlyish stuff no' to keen on his country stuff, and when he went all serious and thought he was "erchie."

I went too see him at the Caird Hall back in the day  (not my ticket, but one from that night I found on Retro Dundee)









What I can recall from the night (mind it was almost 40 years ago), was him opening up with "Watching The Detectives" then wading through his best works in my humbles, "Alison," "Pump It Up," "Oliver's Army" "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea" and many more, I may be wrong but I'm sure he got a bit fucked off (with good reason) about getting covered in gochuls (spit) but like the trouper he was (at the time) he carried on to give a great performance.


The support acts were "Richard Hell and the Voidoids" this was the group he formed shortly after leaving "Television," it's been said he was the man that started the archetypal punk look, the innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins. He was pretty good and didn't seem to mind people gochuling on him, and last but by no means least was Salford's own "punk poet" John Cooper Clarke, from memory didn't go down as well as he probably would these days, but I enjoyed his offerings, all in all a really good night, well worth the £2.50.



Anyways back to the album, I enjoyed this one very much not just for the nostalgia, but for the rawer Elvis Costello, the more edgy Elvis Costello, the less polished Elvis Costello, this and for the next couple of years was his prime time in my humbles, my favourite tracks on the album were, the opener "Welcome to the Working Week," the beautiful "Alison" but best of all the electric "Mystery Man"


This last wee while has been expensive, but this album will also be purchased and will go into my collection.



Bits & Bobs;

People will often refer to Elvis Costello’s early work as punk rock, which might confuse modern punk listeners who don’t hear anything resembling punk in his debut album, My Aim is True. Well, part of that is that punk rock sounded a lot different in 1977, part of it is that his punk side shone through more with his second album, but it’s also because Elvis Costello came from the British pub rock scene, and My Aim is True is not so much a punk album as it is a pub rock album with a punk rock influence.




Pub rock was sort of a cousin or an uncle of punk rock. The two genres were linked in that pub rock was both a precursor to punk and a genre that existed alongside it. What the two genres had in common was that both of them were a rebellion against the overblown excesses of prog rock and glam rock. Punk rock started in the mid to late 1970’s and sought to return to the simplicity of the early days of rock and roll in the 1950’s, but with more aggression, distortion, and a lot of downstroke guitar strumming. Pub rock started earlier in the 1970’s and, instead of punk’s chord based aggression approach, pub rock embraced the rhythm and blues origins of early rock and roll. Pub rock and punk rock existed concurrently (although some would later say that punk rock ultimately killed pub rock) and there were a number of artists who had one foot in each camp. Perhaps most notably, Joe Strummer was in a pub rock band called the 101’ers, which he abandoned to join the Clash two weeks after the 101’ers had signed their single deal (although he did try, unsuccessful, to convince the 101’ers drummer to join the Clash). While there are a number of pub rock artists that went on to success, including Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Graham Parker, and Dr. Feelgood, Elvis Costello was probably the biggest success story to come out of the pub rock scene.




The first track of My Aim is True, “Welcome to the Working Week,” is the most punk song on the album, with a rhythm and blues style guitar over a distinctly punk rock drum beat. But the very next track takes us deeper into pub rock territory with “Miracle Man,” focusing on that rhythm and blues style with a classic rock and roll hook. It continues with a few more fast paced R&B songs, “No Dancing” and “Blame it on Cain”—with the latter really pulling heavily from the B in R&B—before slowing it down to show people what old fashioned rhythm and blues can do with a love ballad. “Alison” is both the song that the album derives its name from, and probably Elvis Costello’s most famous song. In my life, I have met three different Allisons who were named after this song. The song is far ahead of its time, both drawing from old fashioned rhythm and blues, while simultaneously foreshadowing the R&B stylings of the 1990’s. Similarly, “I’m Not Angry” pulls from classic rock and roll while integrating organ music that lays the groundwork for some of the new wave artists that were starting to develop at the time. “Watching the Detectives,” which only appears on the American version of the album, became his first certified hit single as he dabbled in reggae and, like “I’m Not Angry,” started to tap into the then fledgling new wave movement.


 The cover of the album features a checkerboard pattern and on the black squares are letters that read “Elvis is King,” an obviously punk rock statement suggesting Elvis Costello had usurped the “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley. It was an unfortunate coincidence that Elvis Presley would die less than a month after the release of My Aim is True. Still, there was a certain punk rock bravado to that statement on the cover, akin to The Clash’s famous chorus “No Elvis, Beatles, or the Rolling Stones.” Costello wouldn’t stick with the pub rock style for long. His follow up to My Aim is True, titled This Year’s Model, introduced his new backing band, The Attractions, and featured a sound that was more of a combination of punk, pop, and new wave. He would continue with that through most of the 80’s before starting to branch out into a multitude of genres. Since then, he’s done albums of country music, jazz, a baroque pop album with Bert Bacharach, and even a classical music album recorded with a string quartet. His most recent album, Wise Up Ghost, was recorded with hip-hop/funk artists The Roots, who now also double as The Tonight Show Band. But it all started with some jangly gutar, a girl named Alison, and My Aim is True.



My Aim Is True is the debut album by Elvis Costello and it introduced the world to a hybrid sound that drew near equal influence from 1950s old time rock n’ roll and 1970s cutting edge new wave and punk. The album and this artist also represented a (slightly controversial) changing of the guard in the rock world as this artist, with the adopted name “Elvis”, put out his debut album within weeks of the death of the original Elvis (Presley) during the summer of 1977.

 Born Declan Patrick MacManus, this English singer/songwriter began his career as part of London’s pub rock scene in the early 1970s as well as performing in the Liverpool-based folk duo Rusty. Between 1974 and 1976, MacManus played in the rock band Flip City and adopted the stage name D.P. Costello, in tribute to his father who had performed under a similar stage name years earlier. During this time, Costello began to write original songs and a demo tape of this material led to a solo recording contract with Stiff Records and, at the suggestion of his manager, Elvis was added to his stage name for these new recordings.


 My Aim Is True was recorded in multiple late-night, short studio sessions over the winter of 1976-1977. It was produced by Nick Lowe who would go on to produce each of Costello’s first five studio albums. Backing Costello for this album were members of the country/rock band Clover (originally identified as”The Shamrocks”), who added an energy which gave the production a “live” feel. Left off the album, but later released as a single, was the reggae-fused track “Watching the Detectives”, which would become Costello’s first charting hit.



 A prolific composer, Costello wrote all the songs on My Aim is True and, although there is a wide range stylistically from song to song, they all seem to work cohesively as an album. The short but effective “Welcome to the Working Week” quickly morphs from doo-wop to new wave before it abruptly ends after about 80 seconds of running time leading to the more substantive “Miracle Man”, a jam with rich instrumentation, an array of guitar textures and a bouncy bass by Johnny Ciambotti.


 Next comes the heart of side one, starting with “No Dancing”, featuring a Phil Spector-like beat and presented as almost a ballad but with thick and complex arrangement and multiple guitar styles by Costello and John McFee. “Blame It on Cain” features great pop / rock sensibilities with an upbeat blues, Jersey Shore rock shine, while the more mellow “Alison” combines slightly jazzy guitars and soulful vocals. This great melancholy pop song was written about a checkout girl at a local supermarket and features the line which gives this album its title. “Sneaky Feelings” returns to upbeat blues/pop to complete the first side.



 Side two begins with “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes”, featuring fine melodies complemented by lazily picked guitar and a contrasting strong drum beat by Mickey Shine. “Less Than Zero” is a steady rocker with plenty of guitar and keyboard riffs under a lyric driven screed against a British fascist, while “Mystery Dance” is a pure fifties rocker throughout with an almost-punk tempo and time. “Pay It Back” returns to the standard Costello style, well established by this point in the album. “I’m Not Angry” sees a hard rock guitar over a quirky, choppy rhythm and an amplified whisper during the choruses, making for an interesting mix of sonic effects and an overall original song. The album ends strongly with one of its finest tunes, “Waiting for the End of the World”. A nice use of dynamics between the laid back main riff and the strong chorus is combined with great percussion and a combo of rudiments throughout and a cool slide guitar in the choruses are featured in this song.



 At the time of My Aim is True‘s release, Costello was still working at his “day job” and had already finished composing songs for his next album, This Years Model, released in 1978. Further, Costello established his permanent backing band, the Attractions. A second version of My Aim is True was recorded with the new band with the intention of replacing the original tracks contained in My Aim Is True once the initial pressings had sold out. However, this never came to pass as the original recording gained critical momentum, a momentum which continues four decades later.




"Alison"

 
Costello has never revealed who this song is about. In the liner notes to his Girls Girls Girls compilation album, he wrote, "Much could be undone by saying more."


 
As is usually the case in Elvis Costello lyrics, the protagonist is sexually frustrated (see "Watching the Detectives") and mad at the guy who always gets the girl. In this tale of unrequited love, "My aim is true" does not imply pure intentions; it means he wants to kill her.


 
The chorus is based on a song by The Detroit Spinners called "Ghetto Child."



 
The line in this song, "My Aim Is True," provided the title for the album.


 
My Aim Is True was Costello's first album. He did not have a backing band at the time, so Nick Lowe, who produced the album, brought in a group called Clover. Huey Lewis was in the band, but didn't participate in the sessions because they didn't need a harmonica player. Alex Call was the lead singer of Clover, and he wasn't needed on "Alison" either.


Call told us: "Elvis Costello was at that time Dec McManus, he was using his real name. He was just this mild-mannered, meek little songwriter who would hang out around Stiff Records, which was our management office. Elvis once said, 'Man, I wish I could sing like you.' They went and cut at this little place called Pathways - a little 8-track studio so small that all you had just enough space to play your instrument. They went in that first session, and in one session they cut 'Alison' and 'Red Shoes' and 'Less Than Zero,' these classic songs. I remember hearing them at this Rock 'n' Roll house we lived in outside of Headley, South of London called the Headley Grange House. John McFee (Clover bass player) brought back a reel-to-reel tape on one of those old Wollensak tape recorders. He played this stuff, and I mean, I was ready to quit after hearing that - it was so astounding. They did like three 8-12 hour sessions, and that was My Aim Is True. That is a classic record, just unbelievable. We were managed by the same guys and we hung out a lot with Nick. Nick produced a lot of our early sessions there. We made two albums with Mutt Lange, and nothing happened with the band. We came close in England to breaking a single, but it didn't work and we ended up breaking up."



 
Linda Ronstadt recorded this on her 1978 Living in the USA album and released the song as a single. The single didn't chart on the Hot 100 - a rare miss for Ronstadt, who was very popular at the time. The album, however, sold over two million copies, providing Costello with substantial royalties as the writer of one of its 10 tracks. He credits these earnings with keeping him afloat in the early years before he caught on.



 
There were two singles released in the US. The B-side of one has a mono version of "Alison," the other has a live version of "Miracle Man" that was recorded on August 7, 1977 at the Nashville Rooms in London.



 
Costello explained in Esquire: "We put these cheap synth strings on the track before there were really even synths. They said, 'The strings will make it a hit!' It was never a hit."



 
The B-side of the UK single is "Welcome to the Working Week." A few copies were released with the A-side pressed on white vinyl while the B-side is the usual black.



 Linda Ronstadt was an early Elvis Costello admirer who was in the audience when he performed at Los Angeles' Hollywood High in June 1978. When she recorded her version of "Alison," she had one of her friends in mind: "A sweet girl but kind of a party girl type. I felt that she needed somebody to talk to her in a stern voice because she was getting married and she would have to change."



 
One of Costello's most enduring songs, he has performed it in concert for decades. "Some nights it comes to life in my head, and some nights it falls apart," he told Rolling Stone in 2017.


 
The track's producer, Nick Lowe, is one of Elvis Costello's songwriting heroes. He told Uncut: "Since I was 17, I've wanted to write songs as good as Nick Lowe. 'Alison' was the result of a chemistry experiment involving Nick's 'Don't Lose Your Grip on Love' and a song by The Detroit Spinners."


 
Some people think "Alison" is a murder ballad. "It isn't," Costello told Rolling Stone in 2002. "It's about disappointing somebody. It's a thin line between love and hate, as the (New York City R&B group) Persuaders sang."




"(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes"


In this song, Elvis makes a deal with the angels, who have come down to Earth because their wings have rusted. Needing footwear, they grant Costello immortality in exchange for his red shoes.

His estranged girlfriend, however, is not impressed and doesn't share in his enthusiasm, telling him to drop dead and leaving the club with another guy.

Costello wrote the song backward, starting with the club scene where the girl leaves with another guy. From there, he worked in the idea of making the deal with the angels so he stops aging. He was just 22 years old at the time, and wasn't sure why he was writing about immortality.


 
Costello wrote this in 10 minutes while on the Inter-City train to Liverpool between the Runcorn and Lime Street stations. He didn't have a recorder with him, so he kept the song in his head until he got off the train and made it to his mother's house, where he found one of his old guitars and played the song over and over until he had it recorded to memory.


 
Nick Lowe produced the album. Costello had recently signed his record deal and didn't have a backing band, so Lowe brought in the group Clover. Alex Call, who was their lead singer, told us the story: "Clover got together in the late '60s. It was four of us, we made two albums on Fantasy - we were buddies with Creedence Clearwater Revival. We got dropped, and then Huey Lewis and our keyboard player, Shawn Hopper, joined the band and we kind of made another run at it. In the mid-'70s, we were going down to Los Angeles a lot and playing a club called The Palamino.



The Palamino was this great Country and Western place. We were more of a rock band really, but we kind of were country. At one gig, Nick Lowe was there with Paul Carrack. Nick had been in the band Brinsley Schwartz, and The Brinsleys were big fans of the early Clover albums. So one thing led to another, and Jake Riviera, who was Elvis' manager, signed us to come to England, and we signed with Phonogram over there, which is Mercury here. Elvis Costello was at that time Dec McManus, he was using his real name. He was just this mild-mannered, meek little songwriter who would hang out around Stiff Records, which was our management office. Elvis once said, 'Man, I wish I could sing like you.'



He went to cut some demos, and they used Clover. Huey and I did not participate in those because they had no need for us, but I remember they went and cut at this little place called Pathways - a little 8-track studio so small that all you had just enough space to play your instrument. They went in that first session, and in one session they cut 'Alison' and 'Red Shoes' and 'Less Than Zero,' these classic songs. I remember hearing them at this rock 'n' roll house we lived in outside of Headley, South of London called the Headley Grange House. John McFee brought back a reel-to-reel tape on one of those old Wollensak tape recorders. He played this stuff, and I mean, I was ready to quit after hearing that - it was so astounding. They did like three 8-12 hour sessions, and that was My Aim Is True.



That is a classic record, just unbelievable. We were managed by the same guys and we hung out a lot with Nick. Nick produced a lot of our early sessions there. We made two albums with Mutt Lange, and nothing happened with the band. We came close in England to breaking a single, but it didn't work and we ended up breaking up."



 
In 2011, Costello performed this on Sesame Street as "The Monster Went and Ate My Red 2." He had his numbers lined up from 1-10, but Cookie Monster (who does eat other things beside cookies, by the way), kept eating the red number 2, creating a counting problem.


 
This song tells a strange story, but not nearly as strange as the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Red Shoes, which inspired a Kate Bush song of the same name. In that story, a girl puts on a pair of red shoes that make her dance uncontrollably. She can't take them off, so she has her feet cut off, only to have the shoes continue to dance with her amputated feet inside them.



 
If you noticed a jangle-rock influence on this song, you're not alone. Before it had a proper title, John McFee, who played guitar on the track, referred to it as, "That one that sounds like The Byrds."



"Less Than Zero"


This is a scathing attack on Oswald Mosley, a politician who was popular in England at the time. Mosley, who died in 1980, was the leader of the British Union of Fascists.



 
This was Costello's first single - it was only issued in Europe. At the time, he had a day job working on a computer at Elizabeth Arden cosmetics.



 
According to Dave Marsh, the song is about a young couple making out in one of their parents' houses, while 1930s British fascist leader Oswald Moseley and his sister babble poison on TV, angling for a comeback in the era of the National Front.



 
American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis named his first novel, the nihilistic, drug-fueled Less Than Zero after this song. He told the NME August 7, 2010: "Why did I name my first book after an Elvis Costello song? Who knows? I was working on this project starting when I was 16 and it was the Less Than Zero project. I was like most white, upper-class educated boys: I was obsessed with Elvis Costello. That was his main audience in the US. That title seemed very evocative to me. It had various other titles, but Less Than Zero ultimately seemed like the best title for the book, even though I had this much older professor who really loved the book but tried to dissuade me from using that title because he thought it was lame. He suggested Winter Vacation. Elvis Costello became the man for me for very many years. And then he didn't. Which happens, it happens to a lot of people, it's just the nature of things. Very few people sustain massive careers for a long time."



 
When he recorded the My Aim Is True album, Costello had not yet formed his backing band The Attractions, so he used members of an American group called Clover as his musicians:



John McFee - guitar
Sean Hopper - keyboards
Johnny Ciambotti - bass
Mickey Shine - drums
Stan Shaw - organ

Clover disbanded in 1978; McFee joined The Doobie Brothers and Hopper formed Huey Lewis and the News.


 
When Costello appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1977 (filling in for the Sex Pistols, who were denied entry into the US), it was decided that he would perform this song. Elvis, however, had other ideas. After playing some of "Less Than Zero," he halted the performance and played the unreleased "Radio,Radio" instead, earning him a ban from the show that lasted until 1989, when he returned as musical guest.


Costello had no interest in playing "Less Than Zero" for an American audience (especially on a late-night comedy show), since its subject matter was decidedly English.


 
Like "Watching the Detectives," this song has reggae overtones. Costello was influenced by the first Clash album, which used a lot of reggae sounds.




"Mystery Dance"


This song is about a young couple who have their first sexual encounter. It a rather realistic portrayal, as the guy admits he has no idea what he's doing, but has to pretend that he's an experienced lover so she'll think he's the right man for the job.

When he's done, he's mystified (thus the title), as it clearly didn't meet his expectations ("I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied").



 
Songwriting came easily to Costello; so easily that he could whip up a catchy pop song with minimal effort. That's what he did here - he later described the song as "a few ideas thrown together with a hook."

His quirky tune written for his own amusement found an audience, however, and Costello ended up playing it throughout his career. It was an early lesson for him, as he had to learn to appreciate songs his fans loved even if he thought very little of them.



 
"Mystery Dance" was included on Costello's first album, which was produced by Nick Lowe. Elvis didn't have his own band together at this point, but musicians from the American band Clover were brought in to record the tracks in London.

On this track, Lowe played bass and piano while Clover members John McFee and Mickey Shine handled guitar and drums, respectively.



 
In 2014, Showtime released a documentary called Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance that chronicles his career.
 

DAY 393.
Ian Dury...................................New Boots And Panties!   (1977)











In Britain, punk's first wave was a heady period of one-chord wonders, and two-minute heroes. It was a time for great singles, if not always great albums. Notable exceptions include The Clash's first, Costello's My Aim Is True, and this.


New Boots And Panties was like nothing else, then or now, a wild and raw, pithy, lewd, funny, cruel and brilliantly coarse work of punk in a sort of British music hall tradition. Dury had a genius for words, cockney rhyming slang picked up or invented.


Another brilliant album that I had and loved in the 70s, hope I still think the same.

PatReilly wrote:

My Aim is True.
 
A lot of memories attached to that album. Saw Elvis just 5 weeks after it came out in Falkirk for £1.25, lots of band played there around that time. See the ticket (not mine, from the ‘net), the Boomtown Rats were playing the following week, and The Jam had been there (£1.29) a wee bit earlier. Aswad, The Rezillos, Johnny and the Self Abusers (Simple Minds), and Generation X all were there in ’77, and in ’78 The Stranglers, Squeeze and Ultravox, among others. All on Thursday nights, I think.


 
The set list opened with Welcome to the Working Week, and due to that title I had one of many money making brainwaves of the time, to produce a board game with that title, based on getting off the dole and into various jobs. Nobody was interested in producing it…………….
 
Favourite song on the album is Mystery Dance, really funny lyrics (to me). But it was all so refreshing then, and reminiscing about that night in the Maniqui is funny too, my over-protective sister physically tearing me away from some strange wee lassie from Camelon that I thought would be part of my (short term) future amongst other things.

Footnote: never knew that Todd Rundgren had made the motorcycle noise with a guitar. No end to his talents, but not really a Meat Loaf fan. However, he's funny in interviews that I've seen.

Great post Pat 
 

DAY 394.
Sex Pistols.................................Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols   (1977)












As soon as the Pistol's played their first gig, their notoriety was in danger of surpassing the music.This was a feeling intensified by Jamie Reid's luminous cover with it's iconic logo and use of an expletive, stores refused to stock it and a court case came to pass (dismissed after Richard Branson called in a linguistics professor to testify to the non-obscene origins of the word). With style about to overshadow substance the marching steps that introduce "Holidays In The Sun" were a venomous reminder that behind the artwork was an album that was about to alter our perception of music, fashion, and generational attitudes.



Don't know about anyone else, but I'm fair enjoying the albums that have been coming up lately, another topper today.

arabchanter wrote:

DAY 394.
Sex Pistols.................................Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols   (1977)












As soon as the Pistol's played their first gig, their notoriety was in danger of surpassing the music.This was a feeling intensified by Jamie Reid's luminous cover with it's iconic logo and use of an expletive, stores refused to stock it and a court case came to pass (dismissed after Richard Branson called in a linguistics professor to testify to the non-obscene origins of the word). With style about to overshadow substance the marching steps that introduce "Holidays In The Sun" were a venomous reminder that behind the artwork was an album that was about to alter our perception of music, fashion, and generational attitudes.



Don't know about anyone else, but I'm fair enjoying the albums that have been coming up lately, another topper today.

Still sounds fresh, powerful, important.

A truly original band/album.
 

DAY 396.
Kraftwerk........................................The Man-Machine   (1978)











Though Kraftwerk’s exploration of the interplay between man and technology was recorded in 1978, The Man-Machine remains both futuristic and timeless. Opening with “The Robots”, Man-Machine takes a brief trip to the “Spacelab”, before returning to earth, the modern “Metropolis”, and its inhabitants. Closing with the title track, Kraftwerk leave us to wonder whether technology has perhaps left us all part machine.

“Metropolis” is a reference to the 1927 Fritz Lang silent film of the same name, as is the title Man-Machine. In the film, the robot creation is designated as the Machine-Man, or Maschinenmensch.The distinctive red and black design of the cover was explicitly inspired by the work of Russian artist El Lissitzky. El Lissitzky was known for his propaganda posters, as well as his explorations of shape and color he called “prouns”.

Last edited by arabchanter (09/9/2018 11:56 am)

DAY 397.
Blondie.......................................................Parallel Lines   (1978)











Bleach-blond bombshell Debbie Harry and her quintet, led by guitarist boyfriend Chris Stein, hurdled into the pop firmament with this album, it topped the UK chart, reached No.6 Stateside and sold by the million. Recorded in a sweltering New York summer, Parallel Lines was worth the sweat, Billboard summarised the result as "witty, infectious rock" demonstrating "maturity in delivery, credibility and vocal power."

It remains a classic..............much imitated, rarely equalled.


Another good album, in my humbles.

PatReilly wrote:

I didn't know that Ricky Gardiner had been the writer of 'The Passenger', didn't even know that he had a music career of such esteem following Beggars Opera, they were first locally seen at the Banknock Hall then soon after at the first outdoor festival I'd been at, in Grangemouth Stadium (1972).

Sorry to hear of your pal, A/C, why not take a wee break from the albums, no point in putting pressure on yourself at this time.

Thanks for the kind words Pat, unfortunately being at the age I am it seems to go with the territory, I'm hearing about people I know having serious health issues far too often these days, I suppose we just have to try and make the most of every day, if we can.


Thanks for your understanding about the albums, I'll still put one up every day and try and put my ramblings up as often as I can for now, to be honest like we've both mentioned before music can be a great distraction, and an absolute tonic when needed.

DAY 398.
Elis Regina.......................................Vento De Maoi   (1978)












Brazil seems to produce an unending supply of dazzling talented female pop singers, but they cannot dissipate the long shadow cast by Elis Regina, whose impact reached far beyond South America.

arabchanter wrote:

Sorry about the sporadic state of affairs re the music thread, but a good mate of mine who doesn't live in Dundee has been told he's only got weeks to live, so lately I've been trying to spend as much time as I can with him and try and help out where and when I can, will try and catch up but as I hope you can appreciate my mind and time are a bit elsewhere at the moment.

Sorry to hear that Mr C.