ELVIS COSTELLO – OUT OF OUR IDIOT LP – Nr MINT A2 UK 1987 NEW WAVE PUNK

Elvis Costello – Out Of Our Idiot
(Demon Records  1987  XFIEND67)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– original Hype sticker on front
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
A few light dust crackles heard in-between tracks

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.

Out of Our Idiot is a 1987 compilation album of then rare and unreleased recordings dating back to 1979 by Elvis Costello, which was released in the U.K. on Demon Records. It was only available as an import in the U.S. and other markets. The album was credited to “Various Artists” rather than to Costello because the tracks were recorded and credited under a variety of names, including The Costello Show, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Elvis Costello and the Confederates, the Coward Brothers, Napoleon Dynamite, The Emotional Toothpaste and The MacManus Gang, and with a variety of collaborators, including Jimmy Cliff, Nick Lowe and T-Bone Burnett.

Two versions of Out of Our Idiot were released, a 17-track vinyl LP, and a 21-track CD. Tracks 6, 10, 18, and 19 on the CD were not included on the vinyl release. With the exception of “Little Goody Two Shoes”, all of the tracks on Out of Our Idiot were later released as bonus tracks on individual albums when Costello’s pre-1987 catalog was re-released on CD on the Rykodisc and Rhino labels. An alternate version of “Little Goody Two Shoes” was included on the Imperial Bedroom bonus disc.

Track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello except as indicated.

LP Version

Side one

1. “Seven Day Weekend”
2. “Turning the Town Red”
3. “Heathen Town”
4. “The People’s Limousine”
5. “So Young”
6. “American Without Tears No. 2”
7. “Get Yourself Another Fool”
8. “Walking on Thin Ice”

Side two

1. “Blue Chair”
2. “Baby It’s You”
3. “From Head to Toe”
4. “Shoes Without Heels”
5. “Baby’s Got a Brand New Hairdo”
6. “The Flirting Kind”
7. “Black Sails in the Sunset”
8. “Imperial Bedroom”
9. “The Stamping Ground”

Personnel

Elvis Costello (solo)

• (“American Without Tears No. 2 (Twilight Version)”, “Blue Chair”, “Baby It’s You”)
  • Elvis Costello – guitar, vocals
  • Nick Lowe – bass, vocals (on “Baby It’s You”)
  • T-Bone Burnett – rhythm guitar (on “Blue Chair”)
  • Tom “T-Bone” Wolk – bass (on “Blue Chair”)
  • Steve Nieve – keyboards (on “Blue Chair”)
  • Mickey Curry – drums (on “Blue Chair”)

The Coward Brothers

• (“The People’s Limousine”)
  • Elvis Costello – lead guitar, vocals (as “Howard Coward”)
  • T-Bone Burnett – rhythm guitar, vocals (as “Henry Coward”)
  • David Miner – bass
  • Ron Tutt – drums

Elvis Costello and the Attractions

• (“Seven Day Weekend”, “Turning the Town Red”, “Heathen Town”, “So Young”, “Get Yourself Another Fool”, “Walking on Thin Ice”, “From Head to Toe”, “The Flirting Kind”, “Black Sails in the Sunset”)
  • Elvis Costello – guitar, vocals
  • Steve Nieve – keyboards
  • Bruce Thomas – bass
  • Pete Thomas – drums
  • Jimmy Cliff – vocals (on “Seven Day Weekend”)
  • TKO Horns – horns (on “Walking on Thin Ice”)

Elvis Costello and the Confederates

• (“Shoes Without Heels”)
  • Elvis Costello – guitar, vocals
  • James Burton – guitar
  • Jerry Scheff – bass
  • Ron Tutt – drums

The Costello Show, featuring the Attractions

• (“Baby’s Got a Brand New Hairdo”)

Napoleon Dynamite and the Royal Guard

• (“Imperial Bedroom”)
  • Elvis Costello – guitar, vocals
  • Gary Barnacle – tenor & baritone saxophone
  • Annie Whitehead – trombone

The Emotional Toothpaste

• (“The Stamping Ground”)
  • Elvis Costello – guitar, vocals