Defend The Indefensible: Elvis Costello's "No Action"

Happy Anniversary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK3xJ2nyHiI

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

Hm, Spotify just told me this was one of my favorite albums.

Can't believe it was never mentioned here, but apropos of Kim Shattuck's passing last year, The Muffs did a ferocious cover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31EKxbyx3Os

Heard about that somewhere else, on social media.

Every time I Zoom you

And if you had told me a few weeks ago I would be sitting in my bedroom watching Steve Nieve and his wife live streaming from their living room I would have expected you to say...

lol I hadn't seen this thread before and it totally got me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbeMC7ZMnqw

Also, too bad those lemonade ads of his dad went missing.

And this, which I will replace, now with commentary from you-know-who:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az0HdhdqfNs

This one is new:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxkGwcHD9hI

The Secret Lemonade Drinker plus some Britishes children's animated character I am unfamiliar with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o77C9epx-VM

lol i've never seen the mr benn version

v deep cut, only one series, 13 eps 1971-72

Seems there were books before the BBC version.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Benn

Here is the "Watching the Detectives" session demo version of this song mentioned upthread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTSZUw8PTy8

So is that Steve Goulding on drums? Anyway, boy does that underscore what an incredible band the Attractions were. They brought so many ideas and so much personality.

Yes, Steve Goulding on drums and Andrew Bodnar on bass.

still the most baffling 'indefensible' thread on ILM, 'no action' is one of Costello's greatest songs.

very bizarre claim at top of thread that the Attractions had a bad rhythm section

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmVfF3WX_Q

I always thought the thread was a joke thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9f6JEi3ZuE

A fantastically sequenced album from start to finish, No Action is perfect, w the actual f

Watched the RRHOF induction recently. Shocked and stunned.

Of EC & the Attractions. SIr Elton's speech was good, Elvis's too. The bad energy with Bruce Thomas made the skin crawl. Then the Imposters played instead of the Atttractions.

The demo version posted a little ways up sounds like Buddy Holly.

That makes me think I would like to hear EC and Richard Thompson do "Learning the Game."

It's really quite remarkable when you compare his demos to the band versions how many of his early songs are relatively early rock and roll simple, in terms of chords and whatnot. Early Beatles, Buddy Holly or whomever. The band brings so much.

Yeah, trying to think of a comparable matchup, coming up with lint.

This interview is good: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/magazine/elvis-costello-looks-back.html

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/elvis-costello-this-years-model-spanish-1197730
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc_MYgfqHXI

is there a more wrong thread title/opening post than this on ILX?

It was an April Fool, as the OP eventually confirms.

So Nina Diaz singer/guitarist of Girl in a Coma is gonna do the Spanish language version

Good, bad or otherwise...this is so very true.

“Initially I was just sort of shocked,” Krys says, remembering his reaction when Costello brought the concept to him. “And then I started thinking about it. One of the things I’ve always loved about Elvis as an artist is that he really follows the music and not necessarily what people expect."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8swSoxoaryw

The Rhumba remake, wasn't far off after all...

was wondering if he'd do ~that~ line but it looks like he rewrote the entire verse?

Released on this day in 1978.

My favorite EC album and still one of my very favorites. It's been reissued way too many times, remastered with more and ore compression but usually baited with different bonuses.

They remastered it yet again last year with only "Radio Radio" and "Big Tears" as a bonus, but it's actually the best it's ever sounded in digital by a good margin. (One caveat - "Big Tears" sounds like it has some unfortunate tape damage that wasn't present on previous releases. Everything else sounds great though.)

Otherwise, among the bonuses, Rhino's reissue still "looks" the nicest with the best print quality, full liner notes, and an extra disc of bonuses. Hip-O or Universal has a deluxe set that added a great February 1978 Washington D.C. show as a bonus, and IMHO it challenges Hollywood High as the best show on that tour (arguably the best tour they ever did).

No CD reissue completely duplicates the original LP pressing's cover, which intentionally made it look like the cover sleeve was printed off-center with color bars exposed to one side. MFSL did with their vinyl reissue but it used the altered, shorter U.S. album tracklist.

Avoid the Rykodisc CD, it's now the most worthless one due to redundancy and poor mastering. (For starters, they used the master for "Living in Paradise.")

*more and more

*they used the wrong master for "Living in Paradise"

and you're already lookin for another
fooooooool like me

otm

It's that time of year again.