And they pulled him out of the polled polled ground: Elvis Costello Poll Results

Genuinely peeved at myself for not balloting or following along or anything BUT --- very stoked to see that Party Girl got all the way to #4...and a lot of what would have made my 10 ended up in the top 10 :D :D

i am having my own little EC karaoke - headphones & a closed door means that I can pretend noone can hear me singing lol

The anecdote, in Franklin Bruno's awesome Armed Forces book, about the debt that "Accidents Will Happen" owes to "Dancing Queen" has made sure that I'll never hear one without thinking of the other ever again.

Was it not "Oliver's Army" ?

yeah it was "Oliver." also a lyrical nod to "Dancing Queen" much later on in "When I Was Cruel No. 2."

D'oh! "Oliver's Army," not "Accidents Will Happen." Thanks, guys.

"accidents will happen," on the other hand, according to bruno, owes a debt to elvis presley, the supremes, bacharach/david, randy newman and phil spector.

you drink yourself insensitive and
hate some dude in the morning

this was a good poll imo

nothing for 'comedians'!! man

balls, you like The Juliet Letters as much as I do, right?

After listening to KOA a lot recently, I've realized I love its great songs b/c I love Mitchell Froom's keyboard lines and production early Crowded House.

outside of a few cuts i haven't listened to it in forever. i may have had "jacksons, monk, and rowe" on my ballot, it was definitely on the shortlist in any case. in my head i'm still fond of it though, i would guess that other than all this useless beauty and probably brutal youth i like it more or at least would be more likely to listen to it than anything else post-columbia. actually strike that, i still haven't heard the album he did w/ bacharach (i'm not sure i've heard the entirety of any of his post warners albums, i think i've heard all of when i was cruel but i'm not sure), i am curious about that one. very very fond of koa, there are a handful of cuts that are kinda pointless exercises but in the expanse of the album i don't mind them.

Reading the Costello memoir reignited my interest in TJL. It's in my closet, and I can still hum "Jackson, Monk, and Rowe" and "I Almost Had a Weakness" and "The Birds Will Still Be Singing," so that's something (EC sez TJC sold about 300,000 worldwide and thus made a small profit off it). Still haven't heard the Bacharach album.

Just bought a $5 used copy of King of America today!

"I Almost Had a Weakness"

that and the imperial bedroomish "taking my life in your hands" were the two keepers for me.

Dipped into the memoir recently. Seems much better written than a lot of his recent song catalog, although he is too prolific for me to keep track of everything so who knows.

Juliet Letters was a huge album for me when it came out, I played the hell out of it. Haven't listened to it all the way through in years.

Here are ones I'd torch.

I like at least four of them

haha "Pidgin English" was #1 on my ballot. I thought it was odd that it didn't make the cut, but apparently some really dislike it...?

"two little hitlers" is a good tune but a terrible lyric, yeah

I always assumed it was an indulgent reference/sequel to Nick Lowe's "Little Hitler."

"Two Little Hitlers" is a bizarre ditty but the lyric actually works because that part is so damn catchy. It may also be his vocal too which is just right for it - a prettier or "nicer" voice couldn't pull it off. I guess that might apply to a lot of those vitriolic songs on the first three albums.

*actually works for me

I find "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood" very atmospheric - the pensive marimbas, and startling metallic raking sound in the chorus. I also love the hazy VGPS-era Kinks shuffle feel, and chromatic descending chord hook in "Dr. Luther’s Assistant".

I hate his shouty voice.

Hitler analogies to limn relationships, whether EC or Woody Allen's, were gross even in the Carter era.

Would you have objected to the original title of Armed Forces: Emotional Fascism?

It's the jaundiced perspective of an unreliable narrator. Saying it's gross feels like it's missing the point, especially when you broaden the argument to include Woody Allen - his work never felt like it was anything but his own real life voice, often to a fault.