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Screen13 · 07-07-2013, 10:13 PM

THE SINGLES CLUB #4
ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS - I CAN'T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN (US 4 track EP)

Columbia, 1980
"Girls Talk" single only until the Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers and Taking Liberties collections

Starting off with the promo mainly to bring back the memories of catching this on one of the many little known video based shows that were usually shown on UHF stations (That's channels 14 on up in The Pre-Cable US for those asking). Yeah, that's how a number of people, not saying a lot, caught these better songs on television if they were not watching Saturday Night Live before MTV got into the game big time. Like little pretenders to the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert throne, shows like Rockworld would appear from time to time, attracting those looking for a little Rock and Roll on the TV, possibly like letting the viewer know that they were into music big time.

That's how I got into this song.

With this 1980 released single to promote the Get Happy album, Columbia decided offer a little extra on this single - 4 songs instead of 2. Possibly trying to create a collector's edition out of releasing a great single that was already collectable, this was like a nice sampler of what he has been up to. Sadly, the choice songs for the B were already on the album, showing a little laziness as there was a mountain of Bs to choose from, but that's a minor complaint as I'm the type who loves the singles exclusives.

Knowing that Elvis Costello had a strong audience in The US with a body of work that was already a critics favorite, this was a neat way of bringing in more, but one that found few buyers. He was not one for the American Top 40 in 1980, and the resistance by Pop stations with the Rock ones that were not interested in playing a good Soul cover (The original was best known through it's version by the legendary Sam and Dave) made this go unnoticed in many areas of the country beyond devoted fans and those lucky enough to be near a store that sold singles beyond the chart makers. This partially resulted in a lot of copies resting on the shelves for years - in fact I remember seeing this single still being sold in a local record store two years after the fact plus buying this recently in a box at another store that had two other copies which might have been from that same batch (the old store went RIP circa 2007).

Three of the songs were on Get Happy!, which at least did very well, and "Girls Talk" was about to be on a couple of collections later that year, so it was not that these were overlooked songs, it's that I was not too happy of seeing yet another great single do next to nothing in The US. Onto the record itself!

Side One of this disc is the lead off song along with "Girls Talk", a song already known in The UK with a cult following in The US through Dave Edmunds' classic version, both already on a single that's one of the Costello Collectables through a release on 2 Tone in The UK as a quality-based one off single and stop gap while he was looking for another label to sign up with after Radar closed shop (Resulting in Jake Riviera setting up the F Beat label). WEA, who handled Radar, put a stop to the release, resulting in a number of unsold singles that were given away at concerts and a second pressing that had some copies sold at a New York concert in 1981 after others were also given away.

The performance on Costello's own version of "Girls Talk" is not as exciting as Edmunds', but there is a tenseness that works in it's own way if not perfectly. In a busy year for Costello watchers, there was also a version released in 1980 by Linda Ronstadt on the Mad Love album based on Edmunds' classic version, already showing some mainstream acceptance for his songs, although not really getting it right to many ears. By the end of 1980, the song got around to a lot of people deservedly.

On the B were two songs from Get Happy - Secondary Modern and King Horse. Both good and a nice closer to a 4 song EP.

In the end, the low sales of this single in The States was further proof that before the 12 Inch Single was EP was popular with the New Pop crowd in 1982, the 7 Inch EP was never a big thing in The US even if all the songs were good - just ask Beatles collectors who still remember those Capitol released in the height of Beatlemania.

Trivia: In 1982, Costello would also be a part of another Columbia singles sales hype, although it was the very ill fated one-sided single concept when they released "Man Out of Time" in it's series. A great song, but sadly promoted through a tacky way that was ill fitting for the song and his fans.

This leads to...BONUS TRACK TIME! Enjoy!

07-07-2013, 10:13 PM	#34 (permalink)
Screen13 Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 1,388	THE SINGLES CLUB #4 ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS - I CAN'T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN (US 4 track EP) Columbia, 1980 "Girls Talk" single only until the Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers and Taking Liberties collections Starting off with the promo mainly to bring back the memories of catching this on one of the many little known video based shows that were usually shown on UHF stations (That's channels 14 on up in The Pre-Cable US for those asking). Yeah, that's how a number of people, not saying a lot, caught these better songs on television if they were not watching Saturday Night Live before MTV got into the game big time. Like little pretenders to the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert throne, shows like Rockworld would appear from time to time, attracting those looking for a little Rock and Roll on the TV, possibly like letting the viewer know that they were into music big time. That's how I got into this song. With this 1980 released single to promote the Get Happy album, Columbia decided offer a little extra on this single - 4 songs instead of 2. Possibly trying to create a collector's edition out of releasing a great single that was already collectable, this was like a nice sampler of what he has been up to. Sadly, the choice songs for the B were already on the album, showing a little laziness as there was a mountain of Bs to choose from, but that's a minor complaint as I'm the type who loves the singles exclusives. Knowing that Elvis Costello had a strong audience in The US with a body of work that was already a critics favorite, this was a neat way of bringing in more, but one that found few buyers. He was not one for the American Top 40 in 1980, and the resistance by Pop stations with the Rock ones that were not interested in playing a good Soul cover (The original was best known through it's version by the legendary Sam and Dave) made this go unnoticed in many areas of the country beyond devoted fans and those lucky enough to be near a store that sold singles beyond the chart makers. This partially resulted in a lot of copies resting on the shelves for years - in fact I remember seeing this single still being sold in a local record store two years after the fact plus buying this recently in a box at another store that had two other copies which might have been from that same batch (the old store went RIP circa 2007). Three of the songs were on Get Happy!, which at least did very well, and "Girls Talk" was about to be on a couple of collections later that year, so it was not that these were overlooked songs, it's that I was not too happy of seeing yet another great single do next to nothing in The US. Onto the record itself! Side One of this disc is the lead off song along with "Girls Talk", a song already known in The UK with a cult following in The US through Dave Edmunds' classic version, both already on a single that's one of the Costello Collectables through a release on 2 Tone in The UK as a quality-based one off single and stop gap while he was looking for another label to sign up with after Radar closed shop (Resulting in Jake Riviera setting up the F Beat label). WEA, who handled Radar, put a stop to the release, resulting in a number of unsold singles that were given away at concerts and a second pressing that had some copies sold at a New York concert in 1981 after others were also given away. The performance on Costello's own version of "Girls Talk" is not as exciting as Edmunds', but there is a tenseness that works in it's own way if not perfectly. In a busy year for Costello watchers, there was also a version released in 1980 by Linda Ronstadt on the Mad Love album based on Edmunds' classic version, already showing some mainstream acceptance for his songs, although not really getting it right to many ears. By the end of 1980, the song got around to a lot of people deservedly. On the B were two songs from Get Happy - Secondary Modern and King Horse. Both good and a nice closer to a 4 song EP. In the end, the low sales of this single in The States was further proof that before the 12 Inch Single was EP was popular with the New Pop crowd in 1982, the 7 Inch EP was never a big thing in The US even if all the songs were good - just ask Beatles collectors who still remember those Capitol released in the height of Beatlemania. Trivia: In 1982, Costello would also be a part of another Columbia singles sales hype, although it was the very ill fated one-sided single concept when they released "Man Out of Time" in it's series. A great song, but sadly promoted through a tacky way that was ill fitting for the song and his fans. This leads to...BONUS TRACK TIME! Enjoy!