ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS – BLOOD & CHOCOLATE LP – EXC UK 1986 NEW WAVE PUNK

Elvis Costello – Blood & Chocolate
(Imp Records  1986  XFIEND80)
Matrix No’s: A5/B3 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Excellent condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give some pops/crackles but sound quality is excellent overall – plays great up to the intro of I Want You and is crackly from there on)

Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some wear to edges/corners
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), better known by his stage name Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as part of London’s pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band. His second album, This Year’s Model, was released in 1978, and was ranked number 11 by Rolling Stone on its list of the best albums from 1967–1987. His third album, Armed Forces, was released in 1979, and features his most successful single “Oliver’s Army”. His first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, though differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello’s work since has been as a solo artist, though reunions with members of the Attractions have been credited to the group over the years. Steeped in wordplay, the vocabulary of Costello’s lyrics is broad. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a “pop encyclopaedia”, able to “reinvent the past in his own image”.

He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Singer. In 2003, Costello and the Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including “God Give Me Strength” from Grace of My Heart (1996, with Burt Bacharach) and “The Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain (2003, with T-Bone Burnett). For the latter, Costello was nominated (along with Burnett) for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Blood & Chocolate is the eleventh studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in the United Kingdom as Demon Records XFIEND 80, and in the United States as Columbia 40518. After his previous album King of America with producer T-Bone Burnett and different musicians, this album reunited him with producer Nick Lowe and his usual backing group The Attractions. It peaked at #16 on the UK Albums Chart, and #84 on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

All tracks written by Declan MacManus except as noted; track timings taken from Rhino 2002 reissue.

Side one

1. “Uncomplicated” — 3:28
2. “I Hope You’re Happy Now” (Elvis Costello) — 3:07
3. “Tokyo Storm Warning” (MacManus, Cait O’Riordan) — 6:25
4. “Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head” — 5:07
5. “I Want You” — 6:45

Side two

1. “Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?” — 2:09
2. “Blue Chair” — 3:42
3. “Battered Old Bird” — 5:51
4. “Crimes of Paris” — 4:20
5. “Poor Napoleon” — 3:23
6. “Next Time Round” — 3:28

Personnel

• Elvis Costello – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, harmonium, tambourine, bellows, canes, knives, bass, Vox Continental electric organ
• Steve Nieve – piano, organ, harmonium
• Bruce Thomas – bass, electric guitar, saxophone
• Pete Thomas – drums, alto saxophone