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I was ranting in another thread about the intangible nature of band dynamic. This song is flawless from a songwriting perspective (Dylan called it one of his favourite tunes) but the brilliant interplay of the individual members speaks to a band truly being the sum of it"s parts. Love this tune. A masterclass by Steve Nieve on how to come up with perfect hooks while Bruce Thomas plays counter melody throughout!

 

[video:youtube]

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Mike it's a wicked tune. He started it as a Reggae tune originally. I was a freshman in HS I think when this came out. Interesting to note the background singers have their own history. Both of them were from the English Reggae scene. Claudia Fontaine and Caron Wheeler were the back up singers but one went to be in Soul to Soul. I was bouncing in a club in 1989 and that group was hot. Caron is gorgeous and has a hell of a voice. Unfortunately Claudia passed in 2018. Here is a clip of Caron from 2014:

 

 

[video:youtube]

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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Totally. This has always been one of my favorite arrangements. To quote Spinal Tap: "simple lines . . . intertwining . . . "

I would have thought that from Spinal Tap, it would have been "parallel lines ... intertwining" :facepalm:

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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Thanks for posting. I had kind of lost that song in my subconscious, and that replay helped me listen with a new perspective. The Attractions were/are a great example of talented musicians with "personality" in their playing.

 

I'm not particularly fond of Costello's vocal style, but I know many disagree, and that's cool.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Saw Elvis and the Attractions maybe 7-8 years ago and they were amazing. Peter Thomas on drums in mesmerising to watch alone, let alone what else is going on.
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By then (7-8 years ago...) the band would have been Elvis Costello and 'The Imposters.' After Bruce Thomas left, they retired the name 'The Attractions.' Davey Faragher (Cracker, John Hiatt) replaced Bruce Thomas on bass. Despite the acrimony between Bruce and Elvis, even he realized that it was not the same band after Bruce left.

 

Bruce was like McCartney in that his melodic bass lines really defined the sound of the band.

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By then (7-8 years ago...) the band would have been Elvis Costello and 'The Imposters.' After Bruce Thomas left, they retired the name 'The Attractions.'

 

always wondered about that, thanks for posting this.

 

Saw "The Imposters" 5 years ago, the were on a US Tour opening for Steely Dan. 60 minutes of hits. :cool:

 

First time I saw "The Attractions" was on EC's 28th birthday, August 25th, 1982. I was 21. Good times. :)

:nopity:
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A gem from the golden age of MTV, which you have to be of a certain age to even remember. Apparently Costello wrote it as a farce. Says all you need to know about Costello that he purposefully tried to write a throwaway shallow pop song and it's a masterpiece. Found this:

 

 

Esquire magazine once called this "the most intellectually satisfying pop song ever written." Costello didn't put much thought into it though. "I wrote it just for a joke," he told Performing Songwriter in 2004. "But that's often the way to write a hit record (laughs). We had a group on the road with us that was trying to write these very self-conscious pop jangly kind of songs and that was their trip. So I thought I'd tease them by writing something that was like what they did, only sort of better than them. I wrote it in ten minutes."

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Davey Faragher (Cracker, John Hiatt) replaced Bruce Thomas on bass. Despite the acrimony between Bruce and Elvis, even he realized that it was not the same band after Bruce left.

 

Bruce was like McCartney in that his melodic bass lines really defined the sound of the band.

I will add that Faragher is a badassed mofo as well. Saw Elvis+Imposters footage from Glastonbury a few years ago, he's cool. That doesn't take anything away from Bruce T, of course.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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