Various Artists - "Live Stiffs" (Stiff Records - GET 1) 1978

So, consequently, we have the infamous "Live Stiffs" package tour of 1977, and the album of....; containing at least five pub rock legends. Luckily Nick Lowe improved vastly after the demise of the awful Brinsley Schwartz. Ian Dury became the poet laureate of the new wave. Wreckless Eric was a loveable drunk who made a fine debut album. Larry Wallis was in The Deviants, Pink Fairies, and Motorhead,among others, so he can't do wrong. In fact Stiff records did very little wrong in the first three or four years of existence; except sacking the Damned after the second album?...well I thought the second album was rather good. I may have thought different if I knew who Nick Mason was, but luckily i didn't.....I do now, and finally (recently) listened to some post-syd Pink Floyd.....it was all surprisingly enjoyable, except 'The Wall' which was effing terrible!.....very nearly the opposite of Stiff.

Tracklist:

A1 –Nick Lowe's Last Chicken In The Shop-I Knew The Bride
A2 –Nick Lowe's Last Chicken In The Shop-Let's Eat
A3 –Wreckless Eric & The New Rockets-Semaphore Signals
A4 –Wreckless Eric & The New Rockets-Reconnez Cherie
A5 –Larry Wallis' Psychedelic Rowdies-Police Car
B1 –Elvis Costello & The Attractions-I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
B2 –Elvis Costello & The Attractions-Miracle Man
B3 –Ian Dury And The Blockheads-Wake Up And Make Love With Me
B4 –Ian Dury And The Blockheads-Billericay Dickie
B5 –Live Stiffs-Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll & Chaos

DOWNLOAD the tour of the living stiffs HERE!

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Live in Leicester 22/10/1977" (Bootleg)

Just got back from a Holiday in Leicester???????....yes, when one lives in a beautiful sunny climate like here in the southern French countryside, you go to a shithole to regain perspective.
I'm from Leicester, and I love it in the same kind of way a hostage loves his/her captor.....'the Stockholm Syndrome' I believe its called.
I'm being harsh on the town of my birth, it is fact quite a good place these days,lots of fancy new buildings, plenty of entertainment, and a football team that will now go down as the achievers of the single greatest footballing triumph over greed and capitalist oppression in the history of sport!

So, naturally, in this Pub Rock trip we're having, here's Elvis Costello and the boys rocking it up on the 'Live Stiffs' tour of 1977 in this very same city.
He's on top form, its a soundboard recording, the first album tunes are better with the Attractions, and Richard Hell was in the audience. Can't get too much better than that?

Track Listing:

Love Comes In Spurts
No Action
(The Angels Wanna To Wear My) Red Shoes
Blame It On Cain
The Beat
Dr. Luther's Assistant
This Year's Girl
(I Don't Want to Go) Chelsea
Less Than Zero
Whole Wide World
Roadette Song
Neat Neat Neat
Little Triggers
Radio Radio
You Belong To Me
Miracle Man

DOWNLOAD in one spurt HERE!

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Land of Hope and Anchor (Live at the Hope and Anchor 14/05/1980)" (Bootleg)

Elvis goes back to his roots in 1980, minus Steve Nieve who got injured in a car accident,so here he's replaced by the guitarist from The Rumour and Ducks Deluxe (Martin Belmont) to up the Pub Rock credentials.
So this is a rare chance to hear The Attractions with a double guitar assault.....it does sound like there's something missing however,but a ferocious performance nonetheless.

Tracklisting:

01. Temptation (3:11)
02. Help Me (3:00)
03. I Stand Accused (2:43)
04. One More Heartache (2:47)
05. Secondary Modern (2:20)
06. Little Sister (3:10)
07. High Fidelity (2:37)
08. Lipstick Vogue (3:46)
09. Waiting For The End Of The World (3:07)
10. Don't Look Back (4:21)
11. Girls Talk (2:00)
12. Watching The Detectives (6:16)
13. You Belong To Me (3:03)
14. Oliver's Army (3:16)
15. Pump It Up (4:58)

DOWNLOAD nievelessly HERE!

Elvis Costello - "The Stiff Demos Jan 1977" (Bootleg)

More Elvis......this time Solo Elvis, probably before Stiff renamed him, so, solo Declan.
These recordings emphasize  how important The Attractions were to make him a more, uhumm, Attractive proposition. With them these tunes became rocking classics, without them they are just rather annoying. Its the voice more than anything that gets on ones proverbial 'Tits'. The sneery karaoke americanisms tend to grate somewhat.....but the potential was there to be noted, especially lyrically. From here to 'This Years Model' was a gigantic leap.Full marks to the Stiff Records staff for inventing the new wave Elvis .
Recorded in January 1977.

Track Listing:

1 Welcome to the Working week
2 Blue Miracle
3 Miracle man
4 Waiting for the End of The world
5 Call On Me
6 Red Shoes
7 I Don't Wanna Go Home
8 I Hear a Melody

DOWNLOAD a demonstrative stiff HERE!

Elvis Costello and The Attractions - "Peel Sessions 1977-1980"

Prime Costello as recorded for the John Peel show between the golden years of 77-80. Even the tracks from the first album sound great here.Of course there are a couple of those horrendous Ballads that Elvis insisted on doing to back up his 'Songwriter' credentials,but they just make "Chelsea" and "Pump It Up" sound even better. Luckily he also chose to do the four best songs from "Get Happy" for the 1980 session.

ps..aren't the video's to "Pump It Up" and "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" the greatest dancing white boy videos EVER?

PEEL SESSION #1 25th July 1977

1 Red Shoes
2 Mystery Dance
3 Blame It On Cain
4 Less Than Zero

PEEL SESSION #2 13th March 1978

5 You Belong To Me
6 Pump It Up
7 Chelsea
8 The Beat

PEEL SESSION #3 23rd October 1978

9 Stranger In The House
10 I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
11 Really Mystified
12 Radio Radio

PEEL SESSION #4 25th February 1980

13 Beaten To The Punch
14 Possession
15 B Movie
16 Hi-Fidelity

DOWNLOAD these attractive sessions HERE!

Elvis Costello - "Rusty Demos 1973" (Bootleg)

Delving deeper into the dark past of Pub Rock success story Elvis Costello, even before Flip City, and the R Whites TV commercial ,he was in a folksy duo called "Rusty", with chum Alan Mayes.
Liverpool was not in California in 1973, but there's a lorra lorra Laurel Canyon influences on this charming demo tape. Its probably better than most of Declan's post-1980 career, and a good part of his pre-1977 outings too.

Track Listing:

1-Are You Afraid Of Your Children
2-Love Is Like Everything
3-Warm House
4-Separate Ways
5-Hemlock Tree
6-Silver Minute

DOWNLOAD some rusty demos HERE!

Flip City - "Flip City Demo's and Live at The Hope and Anchor 1974-5" (Bootleg)

As Pub Rock Legends go, Declan MacManus is up there as one of thee most successful, alongside the extremely dire, Dire Straits, and AC/DC, as Elvis Costello.
Here we have him as Declan MacManus in his Pub Rock group Flip City, as captured in the Hope and Anchor and in the BBC studios.
Its pretty dire (Straits), laid back limp-wristed country tinged american soft rock.Quite similar to the stuff he plays now. Light years away from the majesty of "This Years Model", even though there are very early versions of "Radio Radio" ,"Miracle Man" and "Alison" (Radio Soul, Baseball Heroes, and Imagination). He sings like a fan of blando americana who's spent years singing along to Hank Williams and picked up the whiny intonations....something that blights his voice to this very day.
I received "My Aim is True" as a surprise gift for Xmas 1977, and mildly hated it....."this ain't Punk!" thought my 13 year old brain, it was 'punk' for that generation too old for punk rock and too young for Hippie;but i persevered and still didn't dig it, then heard "(I Don't Want To Go To)Chelsea", which was great.So I bought "This Years Model", which was from another universe, full of intensity and anger, backed up by an electrified band of superbly rocking musicians. This, and most of "Armed Forces", is the totality of Elvis Costello's career. All the rest of his back catalogue is basically Declan MacManus. He was just pretending to get on the tele it seems; but it worked, and now he's a global superstar churning out spades of crud like this, which back in the day would have more likely won favor with 'Whispering 'Bob Harris of the Old Grey Whistle Test (which in 74-75 was full of stuff like this), rather than impressing John Peel BR(Before the Ramones).
To his credit, Elvis, or Declan, had the open ears to pick up on the changing vibe and beefed up the image and the music, to catch the rising surf of the New Wave. I rather think Stiff Records had a lot to do with this also however?
Nevertheless, he made one of the greatest records in R'n'R history, and not many people can say that can they?

Tracklist:

BBC's Maida Vale Studios, 1974:
1. Exile's Road
2. Baseball Heroes
3. Radio Soul

Hope and Anchor Pub,early 1975:
4. Imagination (is a powerful deceiver)
5. Pay it Back
6. Radio Soul (2)

Hope and Anchor Pub, 1975:
7. Third Rate Romance (Russell Smith)
8. Knockin' on Heaven's' Door (Bob Dylan)
9. Packin' Up (Chris Kenner)
10. Please Mister, Don't Stop the Band
11. Exile's Road
12. Wreck on the Slide
13. On the Road (Steve Hazlehurst)
14. You Win Again (Hank Williams)
15. Sweet Revival

DOWNLOAD some declan macm anus HERE!