snuh: armed and dangerous

snuh (

snuh) wrote,
@ 2008-03-11 17:23:00

armed and dangerous

The 1980 Hope And Anchor show is indispensable for Elvis Costello fans. I used to play it for fellow musicians, explaining this is how a live band should sound. It also has the absolute best version of Watching The Detectives, guitarist Martin Belmont really goes to town on it. All in all, this is the live album Elvis should've released. I could gone on, but Mr. Moderator over at Rock Town Hall put it best:

Here are some tracks from the most-influential bootleg/radio concert of my youth: Elvis Costello & The Attractions with Martin Belmont (Graham Parker and The Rumour) subbing on guitar for injured keyboardist Steve Nieve. This is a King Biscuit Flour Hour concert that I taped off the radio when I was however old I was the year my favorite album of all time, Get Happy!!, was released.

I love the way the band steamrolls through these songs. I love the way the recording actually sounds like someone stuck a mic up in the middle of the club (ie, rather than a dreadful "board mix"). I love the material. I especially love the way the band takes command of the material and makes it work be sheer force of will (and the strength of rock's finest rhythm section ever). No slight to Steve Nieve, because the full-strength Attractions back then could also pull this off, but as a youngster in the process of forming a 2-guitar band - without organ - getting to hear one of our favorite artist's music performed in this configuration was a godsend. I can't tell you how many times we sat around the bong and played the cassette of this concert, detailing all that was right about this approach. We might as well have been studying Ted Williams' swing.

Hope And Anchor – Islington, London, England - Elvis Costello & The Attractions with Martin Belmont 1980-05-14

Temptation - 4.44MB
Help Me - 4.16MB
I Stand Accused - 3.78MB
One More Heartache - 3.85MB
Secondary Modern - 3.24MB
Little Sister - 4.40MB
High Fidelity - 3.62MB
Lipstick Vogue - 5.26MB
Waiting For The End Of The World - 4.33MB
Don't Look Back - 6.07MB
Girl's Talk - 2.77MB
Watching The Detectives - 8.74MB
You Belong To Me - 4.24MB
Oliver's Army - 4.54MB
Pump It Up - 6.93MB

A zip file of whole show: click here

This YouTube video does a great job conveying what a typical Elvis concert was like during this period. Watch EC eying the audience with his steely gaze.

YouTube: Lipstick Vogue - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Costello a footie fan? Catch Football Italia host James Richardson work in some Elvis song titles in his review.

YouTube: Football Italia with ~~Ray Hudson~~ Elvis Costello

Here's a wonderful interview with vastly underrated guitarist Martin Belmont. Check out his MySpace page, he regularly updates it. The same website has an interview with guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, who further elucidates on the Fillmore East debacle I posted about in lowe profile.

Huge shoutouts go to Matthew Berlyant & Rock Town Hall, both who went out of their way making the Hope & Anchor show available. Check out their sites - they're chock full of heady goodness.

(Post a new comment)

	thanks (Anonymous) 2008-03-12 02:18 am UTC (link)
	thanks a lot for the boot. is the file missing songs 16-23? (Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: thanks

snuh
2008-03-12 04:28 am UTC (link)

I wanted to keep the emphasis on the live show. Zip file of the rest of Land Of Hope & Anchor: click here.

Tomorrow Coast To Coast - Elvis Costello & The Attractions 1981-02-03
-
New Lace Sleeves (4:11)
Watch Your Step (3:16)

John Peel Session - Elvis Costello & The Attractions (Recorded: 1978-10-23, Broadcast: 1978-10-30)
-
Really Mystified (1:47)

John Peel Session - Elvis Costello & The Attractions (Recorded: 1980-02-25, Broadcast: 1980-03-03)
-
Beaten To The Punch (1:52)
Possession (2:14)
B Movie (2:48)
High Fidelity (2:27)

Four Acres Club - Utica, NY 1977-12-06
-
The Roadette Song (4:54)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	erikkoons 2008-08-11 07:24 am UTC (link)
	Exe -- End of file - bytes And again, thanks a lot for your help. Sjpritch25 Distinguished Member with posts. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	carless_sam 2008-03-12 04:24 am UTC (link)
	Nice post. I've loaded the set to listen to later. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-12 04:31 am UTC (link)
	I can't even fathom how many times I must have listened to this. Enjoy! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	carless_sam 2008-03-12 04:32 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! If all goes according to plan... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-12 04:35 am UTC (link)
	Do you have a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	carless_sam 2008-03-12 09:12 pm UTC (link)
	No such luck. The plan was to get Vista to wake up and acknowledge my mp3 player. That's kinda like putting a tail on a weasel. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-13 05:54 am UTC (link)
	Vista sucks. M$ thought they were going to make a mint with it via DRM, so it's full of all sorts of crap that make it near impossible to play music or watch video files. That's definitely putting a tail on a weasel - upgrade to XP today! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	carless_sam 2008-03-13 03:15 pm UTC (link)
	Well, it came with the laptop so that's that. Actually, audio and video aren't that bad as long as you use Videolan and other, non-M$ software. DVD Jon is up to date with the DRM avoidance. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-13 08:45 pm UTC (link)
	You couldn't pay me to use Vista. I spend a lot of time installing XP on formerly Vista computers. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	carless_sam 2008-03-13 09:03 pm UTC (link)
	I considered it, but I only had an OEM copy of XP and didn't want to spend more $. If you go through and start turning off interface toys and services it speeds up significantly. Also, for whatever reason my ancient laser printer (still has DOS support by gum) worked without any problems. Guess I'm lucky. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-14 12:01 am UTC (link)
	Why anyone has to tinker with an OS to get it to work efficiently is beyond me. A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	carless_sam 2008-03-14 12:48 am UTC (link)
	Thing is I do that sort of thing at work, so on my home box I can just apply the changes during a commercial break. One of the few ups of this job. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	colleenizuje 2008-07-11 11:14 am UTC (link)
	Point is, nobody wants to repurchase content they already own Neutral Geoffrey Sneddon @ Aug 13th AM There's one vital difference between digital sales of music and video though: Video already has DRM everywhere. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	donaldmarton 2008-08-11 06:13 pm UTC (link)
	It isn't the files, because they play perfectly on Macs and PCs not using Vista. It may simply be a codec bug, I've been having fun trying to find codecs that media center for vista will accept. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lenspringar 2008-08-06 05:23 am UTC (link)
	" I'd like to say that after that, it IS my own opinion, and as such, I tend to get all firey. . . (yeah, talking about how wrong I feel about this IS one of my passions, admittedly. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	montyshoe 2008-08-11 07:47 am UTC (link)
	- Roger's and Hamerstien's Cinderella I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Reply from suspended user)

	kennethvaszcak 2008-08-06 05:06 am UTC (link)
	Hans Christian Anderson Jan 22 PM i can't even fathom how good they must have been on stage in the early years. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	adamappelhans 2008-08-11 12:32 pm UTC (link)
	Hans Christian Anderson Jan 22 PM i can't even fathom how good they must have been on stage in the early years. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Reply from suspended user)

	dukewisdom 2008-03-12 11:50 am UTC (link)
	NICE. DL'ing right now. I have tix to see EC w/ the Police in May! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-12 08:33 pm UTC (link)
	How much did you end up paying? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	dukewisdom 2008-03-13 11:41 am UTC (link)
	Ughh. I'd prefer not to think about that. It was over a bill each. Oh well. Hope and Anchor sounds great, btw - thanks for that! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-13 08:46 pm UTC (link)
	Are cameras allowed? Glad you liked the Hope & Anchor show. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2008-03-12 07:26 pm UTC (link)
	cool beanz (Reply to this) (Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-12 08:34 pm UTC (link)
	Glad you enjoyed! (Reply to this) (Parent)

ramsesthesecond
2008-03-13 08:58 pm UTC (link)

I see now the other style of Elvis you were talking about, you know I like it more than the first album, maybe because it is live concert and there is more music than the album you posted but he seems very reactive and active and that's why I like it.
PS: I downloaded 2 songs but I have technical deficulty here in my internet line, it is too slow so I will try to download the rest of the album and tell you my opinion about the whole live show.
Thanks for posting the live show, how did you get it, seems rare!
anyway thanks for your efforts.
I will try to post arabic music as soon as my line gets better.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

snuh
2008-03-13 11:58 pm UTC (link)

I see now the other style of Elvis you were talking about, you know I like it more than the first album

You would probably like the Get Happy!! album.

Thanks for posting the live show, how did you get it, seems rare!

It's available as a bootleg recording, but it was also broadcast over the US radio back in 1980. Rock Town Hall & Matthew Berlyant sent me copies, which was nice because I made some more cool virtual friends out of it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	ramsesthesecond 2008-03-21 11:44 am UTC (link)
	get happy album, well did you upload it yet, sorry for the late answer, was having exams! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	snuh 2008-03-21 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	That album is like 30 songs long, I'm not sure if I'm going to upload that. Hope you did well on exams! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	thanks (Anonymous) 2008-03-15 01:52 pm UTC (link)
	this is a great show! these songs are like old friends, and hearing them without the organ, with a second guitar instead, is truly revelatory. i download a lot o f concerts, and rarely listen to them straight thru--this one I did, from beginning to end. what energy! thanks for this! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: thanks snuh 2008-03-15 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	No problem, it's such a great show I wanted to share it. I love what you said about the songs, they are truly like old friends. When I listened to it the first time in a few decades, it brought back a flood of pleasant memories. I feel Martin Belmont gave a primer on the proper way to play guitar in a New Wave setting. (Reply to this) (Parent)

rockin!
(Anonymous)
2008-04-24 01:44 am UTC (link)

Thanks for this download. It is indeed one of my favorite boots. That version of "Detectives" is better than the studio version. I have listened to this since 1981 but my version has a more sparse label. It is called "something new" and is missing "Little Sister". I had never heard that before. I agree with you that the addition of Martin Belmont on guitar made for one rockin show. Thanks again!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: rockin! snuh 2008-04-24 03:20 am UTC (link)
	No problem! I couldn't imagine not having Little Sister, since it's one of the key numbers of the show. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Thanks! (Anonymous) 2008-11-17 03:37 am UTC (link)
	I remember having that show on cassette when I was a freshman in high school (1980) and absolutely loved it! The rendition of "Don't Look Back" always stuck out in my mind and I've been looking for this show forever. Thanks! Brings back great memories. BTW: The zip file doesn't connect. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Thanks! snuh 2008-11-17 05:34 am UTC (link)
	You Belong To Me is another goodie, glad you enjoyed it! I never thought I'd be able to replace my lost cassette tape, but the Internet is chock full of rarity goodness. I know about the zip link, after it went bad, I let it be, since 99% of the people have been downloading each song individually. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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