1980-81: Years of Growth And Ferment Number 8: Elvis Costello (Looking Italian)

Why not talk about 1980's "Get Happy"? Why be complex and instead refer to this monstrous pile of genius that came out in the early weeks of '81?

1. When I was 16 Brother Neddie put this on the other side of the "Black Sea" tape he made me that destined me to a life of adventure, bitterness, poverty and laffs. Not "Get Happy".

2. I think it's a crazy crazy record.

3. "Get Happy" has always been clouded in Apologiaism for the whole Ray Charles/Bonnie Bramlett thing for me, with its R&B vibe. I think that whole incident would be much funnier if Elvis stood by that event to this day.

4. I don't know it that well.

SO:

TRUST----------

Boy, Elvis took a quantum leap on this cocksucker. It's really dark, you know? "Big Sister's Clothes"? "Shot With His Own Gun"? Holy shit. "Clubland"?

People have mixed feelings about "Shot With His Own Gun" which I'm not sure I understand. This is some crazy music, and more importantly some crazy lyrics. I think this song might have been my introduction to Brilliant Lyrics when I was a kid. When I realized what "His Own Gun" was I about freaked.

Steve Nieve takes over this record, babe. His harmonic signature was never more apparent, his supremacy in the mix never more obvious. I think a lot of the dark tone of this record has to do with Nieve's addition of a lot of juicier and more pianistic chords and voicings than we'd heard before in Elvis' songs. "Clubland" is downright spooky, and the way the middle 8 majorizes the minor motif is so beautiful. I can remember listening to this before I was musical and understanding intuitively what that shift was, and what was going on.

I've referred to New Wave as 60's pop with small innovations in the instrumental attack; "Trust" is New Wave down to the minutiae of song construction and melodic setup. The best New Wave seemed like retro music for an era that never was. That's cool, isn't it? But you know what I mean, don't you? I mean, the B-52's had beehives but who sounded like them in the 60's?

Trust: Growth and Ferment Score: A plus.