armed forces (1979) - elvis costello & the attractions: radar records, RAD-14

Elvis Costello (nee Declan Patrick McManus) has always been a tough monkey to pigeon-hole.  On the one hand he's punk, but he most definitely is not.  He's not quite new wave, nor new romantic - though he has dabbled.  His albums have spanned pop, punk, ska, new wave, blues, motown, country, bluegrass, symphonic, lounge ... and most everything in between.  In fact, about the only musical styles you can't attribute to Costello is gospel, prog, and mariachi.

Armed Forces is Elvis' third album, and introduced The Attractions as his official off-and-on again (in different variations) band, with Steve Nieve on keyboards, Pete Thomas on drums, and Bruce Thomas on bass.  The backing trio proved to be quite adept at keeping up with Elvis' ever impatient musical tastes, both over the course of a couple of decades and within this album.

Side 1: Adcicents Will Happen Senior Service Oliver's Army Big Boys Green Shirt Party Girl
Side 2: Goon Squad Busy Bodies Sunday's Best Moods for Moderns Chemistry Class Two Little Hitlers

Many of the songs on Armed Forces (such as Big Boys) have a distinct motown R&B vibe to them, provided by Nieve's retro organ and Bruce Thomas' slightly funked bass. Once again, however, the music was supported by lyrics with a bite. For example, Oliver's Army, a particularly pointed song referencing the legacy of Oliver Cromwell (who established the first organized citizen army), the British presence around the world, and the callous attitude of military thought toward human life includes such tasty bits as:

Only takes one itchy trigger
One more widow
One less white nigger

Ouch!

Sitting down to listen to an album that I've probably heard hundreds of times since I first got it way back in 1979, I was pleasantly surprised  to find that it still sounds fresh and relevant. There's no weird time-warping with the listen.  Now that's impressive.

And speaking of impressive ... how about this cover!  It almost defies description.  It's a single piece of cardboard that one can fold into an envelope in which the record rests.  But here's the cool part - there are dozens of permutations of folding.  You have the option of choosing either the elephants or the Jackson Pollack-like painting as the front cover, and the flaps can be folded in a variety of ways to show part or all of the tank patrol, the navy guys, sergeant stripes, etc etc.

Sadly, this cover was only available with the UK Radar Records release (RAD-14), not the Columbia Records release here in the US (JC-35709), which was a plain, non-gate jacket with the painting cover - although the US release did include (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love, & Understanding at the end of side 2.  I can only imagine that this was due to Elvis' relative low popularity in America, and the label just didn't want to shell out the extra money. 

Adding to the weirdness is the record sleeve, which show chips bearing various color names despite all being identical (a commentary on crass consumerism); photos of the lads before a show and afterwards; bearing the heading "Our Place ..." and "... Or Yours"; with the caption "Emotional Fascism" on the blue.

There's clearly a lot going on here in the packaging.

But like those late-night Ronco commercials, that's not all.  The Radar Records release also had a 7" 45 bonus record, with three songs (Watching the Detectives, Adcicents Will Happen, and Alison) recorded from a show at Hollywood High.

Emotional fascism, indeed.

Up next: Subversive crooning