Elvis Costello & the Attractions/CA,USA 1978 Jon Wizardo Master Tapes

The release of the sound source that was once recorded by John Wizard is becoming the mainstream of vintage sound source excavation this year, but the one uploaded this time is 1978 Elvis Costello & Attractions. This year, they toured the United States a lot and solidified their popularity, and it was a year that left a strong impression that many live performances were broadcast on the radio as part of promotion. In the end, I think it’s time to officially give the impression of a rich live sound source, such as El Mocambo and Washington. However, really lucky, John recorded a day with a truly rare setlist. Basically, the live performances in 1978 mainly consisted of songs from Costello’s first two albums, and by touring all over the United States with that structure, they were able to gain great popularity in the first half of the year alone. Therefore, Costello gradually began introducing new songs that will be included in the third album “ARMED FORCES” from the second American tour of this year. Under such circumstances, it was this time in Santa Monica that John recorded the new songs for the same album all at once. In the first place, it is a development unique to this period that “Pump It Up” is performed as early as the second song of the live, but “Big Tears” which was the coupling song when the same song was released as a single was released. A series of new songs coming soon. Riding on that wave, the first song from “ARMED FORCES” to be performed was “Living In Paradise.” The song had already been tried out on stage since last year, but it’s interesting to note that it’s finally being performed with the arrangement from the same album. On the other hand, compared to the same song heard at Hollywood’s official “LIVE AT HOLYWOOD HIGH” a week later, it was a more innocent performance. What surprised me even more was “Busy Bodies.” This is the live premiere. As expected, the arrangement of “ARMED FORCES” has been completed, yet the performance is very careful. Live performance of this song itself is rare, and I can only say that I was lucky that John was able to capture the extremely valuable premiere. Another new song, “Goon Squad,” is also part of the repertoire that has been gradually playing since April, and you can see that the arrangement has solidified once again. This is a valuable document of the day, which has been updated to a very varied set list by boldly introducing new songs before release, and the performance is carefully performed without rushing too much throughout. Impressive. However, at that time John was obsessed with recording new wave artists, both British and American, and had no idea that he had recorded Costello’s rare gig. On the contrary, there was no evidence that this sound source had been released by VICKY VINYL, which was the supplier at the time, and it remained in storage for over 40 years. However, the sound source that saw the light of day this time has no sense of deterioration at all, and it is as fresh as John’s recordings that have been released so far. The unique sound image that gives a sense of depth is also attractive. Although it is certainly not the kind of audience recording that can be described as “just like a soundboard,” it is still a really easy-to-listen sound quality, so why was it not released in 1978? A level that makes you want to tilt your head. Above all, even in a year where we are blessed with sound sources both on the sound board and audience recording, it is a bliss to be able to enjoy a day with an extremely rare set list (the pattern of the finale being “You Belong To Me” is also rare!) with this sound quality. Please enjoy the original performance of the songs that will later be included in “ARMED FORCES” with excellent sound quality. Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA, USA 30th May 1978 TRULY AMAZING/PERFECT SOUND(62:41) 1. Mystery Dance 2. Pump It Up 3. Lip Service 4. Big Tears 5. Living In Paradise 6. Busy Bodies 7. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes 8. Allison 9. Goon Squad 10. This Year’s Girl 11. No Action 12. (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea 13. Party Girl 14. Lipstick Vogue 15. Watching the Detectives 16. You Belong to Me Elvis Costello – vocals, guitar Steve Nieve – keyboards Bruce Thomas – bass Pete Thomas – drums