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The Kim in ri/3i Ifl I By Steve Prazak Gamecock Staff Writer Elvis Costello,the king of pain, heartache, and pessimism has called his new album Get Happy? Has the bespectacled one finally flipped out? Not at all, Get Happy is just a moniker for another bunch of scathing testimonials from the pen 01 Mr. v;. inougn sarcasm runs rampant through its title, Get Happy contains more blatantly cynical Costellotunes than ever before; twenty, to be exact. GETTING TWENTY new tunes Ti/lr. P/XL-lnlln i? .. liuiii mi . vi/oiuuu 10 cci u treat, although they're all under three minutes long; Digesting twenty songs at once is a bit of a chore, especially songs that demand your attention as much as these. Producer Nick Lowe attributes the presence of so many songs on one LP to "groove cramming" and the record nears the end of each side. Thankfully, there is no fidelity loss present. Lyrically, Costello is as confused and angry as ever. He's reading through a dishonest girl's eyes that t*ivp her awav liko "motpl mat ches," but still needs that "human touch" amidst this mechanical world Costello almost comes off as a non-neurotic Woody Allen. Here he compares a girl to a "B movie," while another conniving female calls him "uncle" as he has "a heart attack around her ankles." Yes, the world is still a nnc(i) nlnno fnr TTli/ic rnctolln mmtV IIUOVJ piUVV V? JLJ 1 T VVUVVtIV *? ?V*1 that ever pointing finger of his aiming directly toward the vicious back-biting fairer sex. PRODUCTION WISE. Lowe ha: once again pushed the keyboard! up front while the guitar get knocked back a little deeper in th< mix. Costello's guitar is barel; audible (if it's there at all) on mos of the tunes. That marvelou nucleus called the Attraction; comes more to the fore here thai on any of the previous albums. Even Costello's voice is mixe< down to a level somewhat akin t Mick Jagger's voice circa oi Sticky Fingers. Although Steve Naive' keyboards dominate Get Happ: there's none of that think soum that characterized the Arme< Forces album. Far from a hollo\ sound, Get Happy shows more of variety of styles than most Costell efforts. "Human Touch" is a grea bluebeat stomper along the lines c Costello's first production client* the Specials. The Brinsley Schwarz-lik "Temptation", a Motownish " Movie", the country whine < "Motel Matches", a tune pretl enough to come from the pure pc pen of Nick Lowe: "Possession' the soulful stomp of Sam ar Dave's "I Can't Stand Up Ft Falling Down", as well as the moi rock'n rolling items make G< Happy a marvelous juxtapositic of musical styles. THIS ALBUM COMES out at rather contrversial time i Costello's English label, Rada folded late last year. Radar English distributor, Warner Brc then claimed to have bo Costello's and Nick Lowe's co tracts. Costello apparent I March KI. i<)H<) I The Township j as-cvnict : release'G thought otherwise and started a label of his own in cahoots with manager Jake Riviera: Offbeat Records. Both "Get Happy" and a 45 of "1 Can't Stand Up" (sporting a WSsBS ^ I SBjgm 'Elvis' the King l| - ' r^r, i ? . a i I active ; mi I Gan : Fan o it >f Keep up with the G< J' fashions from Belk, headauartersforal e USC needs, come in b support your team. First Floor Downto\ |p First Level Columbl; a ; , ? )r coach's jackei *e nylon shell with a s blend lining. Game Sizes S,M,L,XL...18.( is Baseball Jacket ha r, shell with 100%col s Features a cotton r fh cuffs and walstbar n Sizes S,M,L,XL...20.I ly Carolina Jersey Is \ garnet trim. A cott polyester blend. Sizes S,M,L,XL...8.<X IEach Is machlng w; for easy care. jI as ever i luppy flipside of Costello's own version of the song he wrote for Dave Edmunds: "Girl's Talk") are on the Offbeat label. Buying the English import might be more worthwhile as Columbia often takes a song or two off the American issue. They have done this before with both Armed Forces and This Year's Model. The English pressing is usually of higher quality anyway. The cover art usually stavs the same in both countries. * Get Happy's cover continues Costello's fascination with geometric designs (even down to the Offbeat logo). Both sides of the cover seem to show a bit of wear and tear, i.e. the outline of the record and its label showing up as white splotches. This is NOT a defect in the cover. They were all made like that. Elvis is really a joker, he's even smiling on the cover. Now it's your turn to get happy. V I" ? 8 B r > f I I ? : ui i l rseccck jmecocks In I your fnriau anrl LVMM 7 Ml I V? wn, a Mall. k> ? ? ^ 11 i" n r i 1 H H ft' k Icaiui c J a i ww v oft cotton t. H> s a nylon tton lining. lb knit collar, id. 50 whlfp with /\ ?* > \ ? JLI \ ! A / " W \ | Midnight B Midnight Blue, a local banc plays a wide variety of music q performed all over South Car ' Florida, with such artists as 1 | modores and Wet Willie. Along with original mater Wind and Fire, Natalie Cole, I Sounds will be presenting Midr Ballroom. ^'^ifL wed. * Th UTimtJU ou \m 10 per ci jJJI AT THE? 2909 PLATT SPRINGS Rt I Pregnancy ? Counselin I] RHneg.sl J SI50 Monday-\\ The Lac 1411 Barnwell St. Cc This is noun Stand out M AHamSMM II cvciiin%| wr raaiiiv P.M., Friday, Marct allroom, wade Han :elebrate the rites of Spring in exciting Belk of Columbia ashlon show, then dance tc Ive music of Billy Scott and t -ropnets. 5.uu per person, n ashlon show, refreshments xdvance tickets available at Russell House or at the door >f the show. v - fr" \v CAROLINA I. I me to perform | i that has been together for 6 years , from soul to rock 'n' roll. They have olina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Floy Ayers, Mothers Finest, the Comial they perform music by Earth, and Rick James. Contemporary j light Blue on Thursday at 8 in the RH ^HnnnBanB^ yUU[JUI IH )N SPECIAL! 1? MM G0LDi$2.95 ea.JB urs. Mar, 12 & 13 |R D pply-No Mail Orders No Dealers.!^ jstomer, per visit with coupon 'mm JEWELRY WAREHOUSE SALE H W. COLA., 9 til 6 Mon. Sat. CouponHHHHr i iini ici&ivjfli ig Available lot included 'ednesday-Friday | lies Clinic >lumbia. sc: 2S4-7SS3 refrrml rigrncv for spring" m & aancing 11 114 II nptonDorm IE with || >the |l the 11 icludes 11 . music. 11 the night \ y 7 ffk m ~ V:K I ? ? % % % * # * f