Re-Re-Re-Releases Press Release
Rhino Releases Elvis Costello's Get Happy!!, Trust, and Punch The Clock With 73 Bonus Tracks On September 9
Rhino hits a new high in value-packed expansions with the fourth wave of reissues of the Elvis Costello catalog, with expanded, remastered versions of GET HAPPY!!, TRUST, and PUNCH THE CLOCK due September 9. All three titles are double-disc releases and will be available at all retail outlets, as well as at www.rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $17.98.
This batch of discs emphasizes the evolving sound of the Attractions; originally released within three years of each other, the albums demonstrate an incredible diversity of styles and sounds. Adding 73 bonus tracks to the original albums' 47 cuts (for a staggering total of 120 songs), each Rhino release consists of the album as originally released, plus a disc consisting exclusively of archival material from the Costello vaults, much of it previously unreleased. Every title contains liner notes by Costello himself as well as printed lyrics for all Costello-penned cuts, a first for GET HAPPY!! and TRUST.
Steeped in Stax/Motown sounds, GET HAPPY!! took everyone by surprise when originally released in 1980-the album marked the first time Costello radically remade himself, and it would not be the last. Its 20 tracks featured 18 Costello originals -- including "King Horse," "Clowntime Is Over," "New Amsterdam," "High Fidelity," and "Riot Act" -- and two outstanding covers (Sam & Dave's "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down," and "I Stand Accused," a Top 40 U.K. hit for The Merseybeats in the early '60s). The bonus disc on this reissue packs in an astounding 30 cuts, making GET HAPPY!! a 50-song set. Highlights include a drastically different take on "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" (much closer to Sam & Dave's version), a more rocking version of "Girls Talk," early versions of songs that would appear on TRUST ("New Lace Sleeves," "From A Whisper To A Scream," "Watch Your Step"), and demo, live, and alternate versions showcasing songs from GET HAPPY!! in a dramatically different ! light.
TRUST (1981), the last rock album Costello would make for five years, Marked by Costello classics "Clubland," "New Lace Sleeves," and "From A Whisper To A Scream." TRUST's bonus disc provides two versions of "Black Sails In The Sunset" and "Big Sister," a raucous take of "Watch Your Step," a different alternate version of "From A Whisper To A Scream" than on Get Happy!!'s bonus disc, an alternate recording of "Clubland," an instrumental piano demo of "The Long Honeymoon" (which would end up in finished form on Imperial Bedroom), a solo demo version of the Billie Holiday classic "Gloomy Sunday," and an early glimpse of Imperial Bedroom's "Boy With A Problem."
With production by the '80s pop production team of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Teardrop Explodes), PUNCH THE CLOCK (1983) saw Costello traffic in a more contemporary pop style, giving him his first taste of chart success with "Everyday I Write The Book." The album also housed the classic "Shipbuilding," featuring jazz legend Chet Baker on trumpet. While the original album held 13 tracks, the bonus disc here offers up another 26 cuts, for a grand total of 39. Among the standouts are the "Studio Merseybeat Version" of "Everyday I Write The Book," BBC live versions of "Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down Margaret" and Percy Mayfield's "Danger Zone," two drastically different versions of "Heathen Town," preproduction home demo versions of most of Punch The Clock's songs, and five live tracks featuring the TKO Horns (including a rousing version of "Back Stabbers/King Horse").
It's a virtual boxed set's worth of material, so clear your CD player!
(Submitted by Micheal Hernadez)