The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 12, 1980, Page Page 11, Image 12
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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
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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
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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
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I The Township
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: 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
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'Elvis' the King l|
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: Fan
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>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.
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| 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"
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with ||
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