Tag: Stiff Records Week

Stiff Records Week – Nick Lowe – Halfway To Paradise

How cool was it that Motörhead and Nick Lowe were labelmates? That shows you the diverse talent in Stiff Records. 

I’m going to wrap it up this week with some Nick Lowe. This was his second and last single for Stiff Records. You know what? I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Nick Lowe song I didn’t like. I was going to include The Damned and Lene Lovich this week but they will be coming soon. A blogger named Warren asked about Lene Lovich and I will have a post on her in the coming weeks…thank you Warren for the suggestion. I already had today’s posts written. 

Listening to this song and I’m struck by backup vocals going on. He paints a sound picture with layers of backups with a simple musical structure. Yes…I get really excited by power pop (hence the blog’s name) done right and Lowe does it right. When you listen to this song…it fits in so well with Lowes catalog that I would have thought he wrote it. But this is some Brill Building brilliance here made better by Lowe. Simple yet so likable.

Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote the song. Tony Orlando first recorded it in 1961, peaking at #39 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Billy Fury recorded it as well. This Lowe version was later included as a bonus track on re-releasing his 1978 album, “Jesus of Cool.” 

I hope you enjoyed this week and these posts might have introduced you to a new song. I have a new appreciation for this record label…what they were able to do and the talent they found. In the middle of disco, Led Zeppelin, reggae, Pink Floyd, and other types of music…Stiff Records made a home for these different type of artists to flourish…thank you all for reading.

And remember Stiff Records… If it ain’t stiff it ain’t worth a f***

A short bio on Nick Lowe talking about his career I thought you might like. Have a great weekend!

Halfway To Paradise

I want to be your loverBut your friend is all I’ve stayedI’m only halfway to paradiseSo near, yet so far away

I long for your lips to kiss my lipsBut just when I think they mayYou lead me halfway to paradiseSo near, yet so far away, mmm

Bein’ close to you is almost heaven (heaven)But seein’ you can do just so muchIt hurts me so to know your heart’s a treasure (treasure)And that my heart is forbidden to touch, so

Put your sweet lips close to my lipsAnd tell me that’s where they’re gonna stayDon’t lead me halfway to paradiseMmm, so near, yet so far away

Oh, uh, oh so near, yet so far awayYeah, yeah so near, yet so far away

…

Stiff Records Week – Elvis Costello – Watching The Detectives

 I was around 11 walking through a drug store in the late seventies and I saw this album cover…I thought what? Another person named Elvis? Who is this skinny guy?

Image result for elvis costello my aim is true cover

While at the drug store, the guy was playing this album for the entire store and I heard Alison… That was the first thing I ever heard from Elvis from his debut album My Aim Is True. Later on, I would get the album and I knew this guy was different. He would blend punk, reggae, pop, pub rock, and new wave.

This song was inspired by Costello’s experience of staying awake for 36 hours, during which he listened repeatedly to The Clash’s debut album. Initially unimpressed, he grew to appreciate it after many listens. He stayed up by consuming an entire jar of instant coffee and that led to the creation of Watching The Detectives. 

Costello has said that Watching the Detectives was a favorite of his from the early years of his career. He also experimented with different arrangements of the song, including a big band version with Allen Toussaint to capture the film qualities and swing rhythms of 1950s detective shows. 

Before recording the album, Costello worked as a computer operator while performing in pubs and writing songs. He sent demo tapes to different record labels but initially received little interest. Costello caught the attention of Jake Riviera, co-founder of Stiff Records known for his edgy approach. Riviera saw potential in Costello’s demos and signed him.

My Aim is True was released in 1977 and peaked at #14 in the UK, #32 on the Billboard Album Charts, #24 in Canada, and #32 in New Zealand. The song peaked at #15 in the UK and #60 in Canada. 

Elvis Costello: “When we did ‘Watching the Detectives,’ it was the first record that Steve Nieve played on. He was 19, straight out of the Royal College, and we’d only just met. I said, ‘This is about detectives, I want a piano thing that sounds like Bernard Hermann,’ and, of course, he didn’t know what I’m talking about, so I go [makes staccato, sharp sound], and what you hear on the record is this galloping piano thing that rushes the beat and it sounds like one of those sudden jarring gestures that Hermann would use a lot. But we didn’t have 19 clarinets or whatever he used [in] Torn Curtain; we just had a battered upright in an eight-track studio. What you imagine you have to render whether you use a fuzz-tone guitar or a symphony orchestra and everything in between.”

Elvis Costello: “I spent a lot of time with just a big jar of instant coffee and the first Clash album, listening to it over and over. By the time I got down to the last few grains, I had written ‘Watching the Detectives.’”

Watching the Detectives

Nice girls, not one with a defectCellophane shrink-wrapped, so correctRed dogs under illegal legsShe looks so good that he gets down and begs

She is watching the detectives“Ooh, it’s so cute”She’s watching the detectivesWhen they shoot, shoot, shoot, shootThey beat him up until the teardrops startBut he can’t be wounded ’cause he’s got no heart

Long shot of that jumping signInvisible shivers running down my spineCut to baby taking off her clothesClose-up of the sign that says: “We never close”

You snatch a chill and you match a cigaretteShe pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnetI don’t know how much more of this I can takeShe’s filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake

She is watching the detectives“Oh, he’s so cute”She is watching the detectivesOh, and they shoot, shoot, shoot, shootThey beat him up until the teardrops startBut he can’t be wounded ’cause he’s got no heart

You think you’re alone until you realize you’re in itNow baby’s here to stay, love is here for a visitThey call it instant justice when it’s past the legal limitSomeone’s scratching at the window, I wonder, who is it?

The detectives come to check if you belong to the parentsWho are ready to hear the worst about their daughter’s disappearanceThough it nearly took a miracle to get you to stayIt only took my little fingers to blow you away

Just like watching the detectivesDon’t get cuteJust like watching the detectivesI get so angry when the teardrops startBut he can’t be wounded ’cause he’s got no heart

Watching the detectivesIt’s just like watching the detectivesWatching the detectivesWatching the detectivesWatching the detectivesWe’re watching the detectivesThey’re watching the detectivesWatching the detectivesWatching the detectives