Now I'm a Shabby Poll: Dig the ILM Elvis Costello Poll

What has red shoes, white knuckles and doesn't want to go to Chelsea? That's right...it's time for some ILM Elvis Costello Poll Action!!!

Submit your top 30 Elvis Costello songs, and your top 5 Elvis Costello albums. Everything from My Aim Is True to Wise Up Ghost is eligible.

Clowntime is Pollver on Friday, December 20th at midnight, New Jersey time. Please send your ballots via electronic mail to ilmcostellopoll at gmail dot com

Use this thread to advocate for any songs. But perhaps we can keep the embedded youtube links to a minimum. Instead, use that fancy period trick between the u and the b. This poll is going to live forever in the New Amsterdam of our musical hearts.

YEAH

Just remember...there's no money-back guarantee on future happiness.

You lack lust -- you're so lackluster

Don't wear your heart out on your sleeve when your remarks are off the cuff.

http://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=L94GhgGRHrc

I love this song, I don't know how well known it is outside of the UK (where it was the theme tune to 'Scully')?

Scully is definitely my favourite EC acting performance over Spiceworld and the episodes of Fraiser and the Simpsons he appears in.

http://www.independent.co.uk/migration_catalog/article5267562.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/5084353.jpeg

Sure, why not! This could be a good one.

Hey, bassists (or anyone): I was trying to think of an antecedent for Bruce Thomas's style, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's kind of fast and fusion-y and funky but punky but definitely miles beyond anything other punks were up to.

Hmm, I guess Stax/Motown + McCartney? That gets you mostly there. Plus, I imagine, plenty of speed (in every sense).

Looking forward to this one. My list is probably going to be just from My Aim Is True to Blood & Chocolate but it'll still be tough as that's one of my favourite run of albums ever.

Yes. His first 10 years were historic. You can put them up there with just about any songwriter.

The demo version of Green Shirt will be my #1. Now I have to narrow down the other 29.

http://youtu.be/30guCtrrbN0

awesome! i did a bunch of spotify playlists of favorite deep cuts from every decade of his career recently that really got me excited that this poll was coming up:

http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2013/09/elvis-costello-deep-album-cuts-box-set.html

stoked to already see green shirt love in this thread

think my ballot will be pretty heavy on dark horses... "green shirt," "new amsterdam," "indoor fireworks," maybe "the other end of the telescope"...

probably won't go any more recent than his 1994 cover of "full force gale" but not a bad note to go out on if you gotta go. outdoes the original imo and if you can outdo van morrison you're doing something right.

jimmy fallon rerun with EC on right now

30 songs is good and roomy but it'll still be hard to make room for later stuff. for me, definitely "God Give Me Strength" will be on there. maybe "45," maybe "Bedlam," "It's Time," etc.

Clowntime is Pollver

Hahaha!

This is good timing - I've been revisiting Costello these past few days and kept forgetting to check when the poll was coming up.

http://www.youtu.be.com/watch?v=NzMInzfBFC8

This version of 'Blue Chair' is so much better than the one on Blood & Chocolate imo

Man, once this gets opened to demos, b-sides, singles, one-offs, rarities, et al., this becomes monumental. Those first 10 years alone contained, what, two or three albums of awesome leftovers, right?

I wonder why EC didn't produce more? HIs Pogues/Specials/Squeeze trilogy is pretty ace, and he produced "Free Nelson Mandela" later, too, right?

Xpost. Yes, his out takes beat normal people's best work. My #1 is from the Taking Liberties comp that I played on cassette at least 1,000 times in high school.

Man, once this gets opened to demos, b-sides, singles, one-offs, rarities, et al., this becomes monumental. Those first 10 years alone contained, what, two or three albums of awesome leftovers, right?

Indeed. Funnily enough, I've been listening to Ten Bloody Mary's and Ten How's Your Fathers and Out of Our Idiot* only this week. Not end-to-end gold, but both comps have classics - apart from the singles, I mean - that may well feature on my ballot.

They also reminded me that Costello can do great cover versions: "My Funny Valentine" and "Walking On Thin Ice" to name but two.

*heh, the sleeve art for this is the worst in the entire history of rock'n'roll, I reckon

ouch
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MYt9xWGHL._SL500_AA300_.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61IZOujLUSL._AA300_.jpg

The demo version of Green Shirt will be my #1.

― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, December 4, 2013 11:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

maybe same here! if not it'll be my #2, with the demo Big Boys my #1

those ryko v's back in the early 90s were so good, I know there've been a series of further reissues with MORE tracks but I think the ryko ones got the cream

different versions won't be counted separately, will they? i'm just gonna vote for "Green Shirt" because i love both versions (although since i got the TYM reissue before Armed Forces i did know and love the demo version for a while before hearing the full band one so i understand the preference).

I doubt I'll go beyond (or even up to) Spike, but I also won't have any trouble coming up with 30 songs.

Me neither

Unranked ballot

1 Hoover Factory
2-21 Get Happy!!
22-30 Hoover Factory x 9

no this is going to be hard I have a shortlist of 80 or so

different versions won't be counted separately, will they?

Green Shirt is Green Shirt, but during the countdown I'll include advanced demo metrics.

another high vote for Green Shirt, not sure where yet. this guy was huge for me in high school, saw him 3 times I think? then I saw him again in 1998 (duo w/Steve) and he was great then too.

This poll's gonna be fun but to think about listening to his work now pains me. After a binge in high school and college he's a guy I've little time for these days.

exactly the same Alfred

well yeah, this thread says it all:

Elvis Costello: The Exact Moment When This Balding Fat Fucker Jumped The Shark

But after starting listening because of the poll, I'm enjoying him more than in ages

I expect that will be my experience as well, I am particularly looking forward to revisiting Get Happy and Taking Liberties

As poll runner, it is my duty to remind everyone not to forget his best album, Trust. Especially side 1.

Get Happy's the one I never let go, but I just went in to Punch The Clock remembering it as so-so but realised I want to vote for at least half of it.

"Pills And Soap"!

As poll runner, it is my duty to remind everyone not to forget his best album, Trust. Especially side 1.

― kornrulez6969

Agreed. Also: "New Lace Sleeves," which is a claustrophobic, frightening little song in a career full of'em.

This poll's gonna be fun but to think about listening to his work now pains me. After a binge in high school and college he's a guy I've little time for these days.

― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, December 5, 2013 10:35 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ditto. Blood and Chocolate was huge for me in high school. But when Spike came out, I listened to it obsessively trying to pinpoint why nothing was connecting. I kept plugging along, more out of obligation than anything else, and I'm glad I did, for "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" and most of All This Useless Beauty. But after that, ugh...as a vocalist, what he gained in facility, he lost completely in depth and meaning.

xp

it's the very langer/winstanley pop stuff on that side of PtC that I'm really enjoying - Invisible Man, Mouth Almighty, King of Thieves.

I'm listening to "The Only Flame in Town," a bleh song (those horns!) enlivened by those imperial-phase Daryl Hall harmonies.

Trying out momofuku (2008). 3 tracks in, this is… good!

fuck now he's started doing a bit of his 'proper singing'.

no wait, it's more like the Long Honeymoon than all that Painted with Bacharach stuff. Crisis averted, still enjoying Momofuku. Going to stop liveblogging Momofuku.

1 Hoover Factory
2-21 Get Happy!!
22-30 Hoover Factory x 9

ha! not sure if it will be my #1 or not, but "hoover factory" is probably the ec song that has meant the most to me over the years. so mysterious (why is he singing about that?) and at the same time not at all mysterious (that is what he is singing about). a simple and gorgeous melody. a simple yet slightly weird and perfect arrangement. those deliciously off-kilter backing vox.

as a vocalist, what he gained in facility, he lost completely in depth and meaning.

i think a big part of it is that the gains in facility have never quite matched the gains in ambition. and, yeah, that's part of the reason why it's hard for me to imagine voting for anything past the first decade. the more he tries to "sing," the harder i find it to listen. but i'd love to discover a song or two that proves my hunch wrong.

deep cuts

as for that amazing initial run of albums on columbia, i'm not sure he has any songs that qualify as dark horses or deep cuts. he hardly had any hits (at least in the u.s., where he hit top 40 twice, top 20 once, barely, and top 10 never), and while he does have a handful of what you might call "canon" tracks, he's always been one of those guys who treated his songs as equals. he was going deep into albums and b-sides (and covers) in his setlists from the start, and he never wavered on that. he's put out enough b-side collections and expanded editions of his catalog that pretty much every song he's ever thought of has probably been released 11 or 12 times by now. if you know elvis, you know everything, or at least everything from that rather long initial run. i'm curious to see what surfaces to the top here.

As poll runner, it is my duty to remind everyone not to forget his best album, Trust. Especially side 1

yes. also great: side 2.

Punch the Clock annoyed me, although I obviously loved Shipbuilding and Every Day I Write the Book. Elvis trying to cram in too many words, and over busy arrangements. But Imperial Bedroom is kind of perfect

20+ years of people trying to tell me the new Elvis Costello and Woody Allen releases are good and they never, never, never fucking are.

ballot with nothing post-"King of America" under construction!

really looking forward to seeing the results from this one, seen him live once and loved it but i know the very basic back catalogue stuff, so should be an education!

I declare this poll to be closed.

Crunch!

Here is one thing that is true, based on the data. People who really like Party Girl also really like Riot Act.

― kornrulez6969, Sunday, December 22, 2013 11:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i only voted for one, but i like both, so can't argue with this.

did any female posters vote?

People who really like Party Girl also really like Riot Act.

otm

Ranked one of those pretty high, don't really care for the other one.

did any female posters vote?

No

most of EC's good albums have killer closing tracks, but i only could find the room to vote for 3 or 4 really major favorite3s

There were 40+ ballots. I'll make it a Top 60. You'd be surprised what isn't going to make it.

I was gonna vote but it turns out that I suck and am lame srry

Should have voted Riot Act! I like the production of Party Girl a lot, particularly those little runs of Bruce's in the middle there, but it probably wouldn't crack my top 100.

couldn't muster the enthusiasm for a ballot but this thread has prompted me to revisit some of the better stuff and my main conclusion is that I would have next to zero interest in his catalog if it weren't for Bruce Thomas. such an anchor for so many songs.

Elvis' sneering drunken cynicism does have its charms, but the best melodic ideas and surprises and general rhythmic forcefulness all seem to be in Bruce's basslines.

The Attractions are just one of my favorite bands of all time, each of the 4 of them is just such an important piece of an incredible whole.

going over my ballot, picking songs was much about "Steve did something amazing on this song" or Pete or Bruce etc. as what Elvis wrote or sang.

TS: Zoogz Rift's "High Fidelity" vs. Linda Ronstadt's "Party Girl"

What would the top 10 EC covers be?

no. 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alUSx_X_za8

/did any female posters vote?/

No
--kornrulez6969

Small sample but my gf is really glad the voting period is over and has promised retaliation if she hears any more EC before 2014.

iirc in the girls x 3 liner notes, elvis mentions that 'oliver's army' was a nice ditty, perhaps a b-side, before being transformed by nieve's piano work. there's a lot of that from all of them

going over my ballot, picking songs was much about "Steve did something amazing on this song" or Pete or Bruce etc. as what Elvis wrote or sang.
--some dude

Deeply OTM. Secret key to this poll IMO.

If red shoes made my ballot at all it was 100% thanks to the guitar work.

yeah...it's interesting that of all the configurations EC has recorded with since My Aim Is True, he's almost never returned to having a "lead" guitarist or even any 2nd guitarist at all. some nice guitar work on the record with The Roots, though.

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Girls_Girls_Girls_%281989%29_liner_notes

"New Amsterdam": Recorded in a fifteen quid-an-hour demo studio (backwhenfifteenpoundwasalotofmoneyIcantellyou). As you might guess I didn't use a metronome but I did employ the owner's exotic equipment; vibes! a fretless bass! a very nasty synth! even God forbid, DRUMS!!! the first in an occasional series: A bewildered lad,

I was gonna vote but it turns out that I suck and am lame srry

If you hurry you can still get your vote in. Turns out I'm not going to be able to tally these until this evening.

What would the top 10 EC covers be?

My favorite is The Mendoza Line's version of Sleep Of The Just which you can hear below.

https://myspace.com/variousartists-46086687/music/song/sleep-of-the-just-52648481-56856696

Small sample but my gf is really glad the voting period is over and has promised retaliation if she hears any more EC before 2014.
Seconded. I had to do my listening with headphones. In a lead-lined vault.

strong seconding of the mendoza line's 'sleep of the just', loved that band so much

Yeah, me too. Bracy is in a new band called Paranoid Style which released a good EP last year. Shannon McArdle has 2 solo records. But it's not the same.

Any reviews of the bio Complicated Shadows? I'm reading it.

Loved Mendoza Line. Love that cover.

What are people's thoughts on rolling this out starting on Christmas? I can start Thursday also. Totally up to you guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZNMt4u_qL8

pollmaster's choice!

declan the halls

you should time it so "t.k.o. (boxing day)" is revealed on thursday, obviously. this of course applies only if "t.k.o." actually got votes.

Any reviews of the bio Complicated Shadows? I'm reading it.

read it quite a while ago. It's very good and in-depth; its shortcomings are its subject's. After an interesting childhood, a messy first marriage and a few years of celebrity tumult (Bebe Buell, the Bonnie Bramlett incident etc) EC pretty much entirely devotes himself to work and the book dulls out quite a bit esp. in the Warner years; it becomes just tour-mediocre LP-tour, rinse, repeat. I imagine it would be similar to reading a bio of, say, Don DeLillo.

what struck me most was the coldness of the relationship of EC and the Attractions: they've played together for nearly 4 decades in some cases but there's little sense of camaraderie or even nostalgia w/ them. EC hates Bruce Thomas now (or did when this bio came out) but he doesn't seem to be remotely friends w/P. Thomas or Nieve--he's still just their employer, in a sense.

Bruce wrote a book called The Big Wheel which was supposedly a semi-fictionalized account of an EC tour or two (I haven't read it). Names aren't named, but it's pretty obvious who "the singer" refers to. EC wrote "How To Be Dumb" in response, and was extremely reluctant to bring Bruce back on for Brutal Youth (in fact, I don't think Bruce plays on all of it).

http://i.imgur.com/oyTIdKM.jpg

ead it quite a while ago. It's very good and in-depth; its shortcomings are its subject's. After an interesting childhood, a messy first marriage and a few years of celebrity tumult (Bebe Buell, the Bonnie Bramlett incident etc) EC pretty much entirely devotes himself to work and the book dulls out quite a bit esp. in the Warner years; it becomes just tour-mediocre LP-tour, rinse, repeat. I imagine it would be similar to reading a bio of, say, Don DeLillo.

The other shortcoming is common in rock bios: little original reporting.

can anyone find an image of the "Don't Join" poster that came with the Ryko 2 1/2 years reissue back in the 90s? Always one of my favorite images, but can't seem to find it anywhere.

in a way it's kind of perfect that the Attractions aren't best buds, given their musical personality and the way they came together. surprising if not even EC and Nieve are close at all, though, given how much they've played together even outside the band and the way Elvis always seems to be quick to compliment Steve on and offstage.

yeah if they were friends it'd be harder to toss'em a compliment

This is the closest thing I can find to the "Don't Join" poster. I can't remember if it's the same base photograph with a different caption or just from the same shoot:
http://jonmwessel.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/design-barney-bubbles/barney-bubbles-elvis-costello-2/

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-3019550-1312187496.jpeg

Bruce and Elvis were totally on the outs c. Brutal Youth. Iirc, Nick Lowe handled bass for a bunch of that album, but since Froom was largely producing it, and since Bruce had played bass on a few Froom projects (like the two great Vega records), Froom suggested they just get Bruce Thomas for that ol' Bruce Thomas feel. The reunion tour was great, but by the time I saw them tour All This Useless Beauty (the same night as the local Sex Pistols reunion, oddly), the spark was clearly gone. Elvis fired Bruce shortly afterwards, The guy playing with Elvis now is an OK substitute, but not quite as cool as the real deal.

Not a bad blogger!

http://www.brucethomas.co.uk/

Results to come soon. Just testing my images.

http://i.imgur.com/4IwecXO.jpg

alriiiiiight

And they pulled him out of the polled polled ground: Elvis Costello Poll Results