Elvis Costello - 1977-12-03 - Chicago, IL (FM)

Elvis Costello 
& the Attractions
1977-12-03
The Riviera
Chicago, Illinois
WXRT-FM broadcast
320 kbps
Artwork Included

01. Introduction
02. Welcome to the Working Week
03. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
04. Waiting For the End of the World
05. No Action
06. The Beat
07. Less Than Zero
08. Radio, Radio
09. You Belong to Me
10. Lipstick Vogue
11. Watching the Detectives
12. Pump It Up
13. Miracle Man
14. Encore Break
15. Mystery Dance

Elvis Costello - 1977-12-03 - Chicago, IL (FM)

In 1976, at the outset of the punk rock/new wave boom, entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman (aka Jake Riviera) founded Stiff Records in London. They quickly signed and promoted dozens of new artists, including Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric Ian Dury, and one Declan Patrick MacManus, better known as Elvis Costello. Costello released his first single on Stiff, Less Than Zero, in March 1977. It failed to chart, the same fate that befell his next 2 singles, Alison and (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes. Stiff Records had faith in Costello, however, and released his debut album, My Aim is True, in July 1977. The album did far better than the singles, reaching #14 on the UK charts. At the time, neither the singles nor the album were released in the US, however, as Stiff only had distribution deals in the UK. Stiff’s faith in Costello was further rewarded when he became the clear star of the Live Stiffs Tour of the UK that ran from October 3 to November 5, 1977. Folks across the pond started to notice Costello, and he signed with CBS records. As the Stiff Tour concluded, Elvis crossed the Atlantic for his first series of live shows in the US. This FM broadcast captures Elvis & The Attractions on December 2, 1977, 35 years ago today, in Chicago. Exactly 2 weeks later, on December 17, he’d be performing on Saturday Night Live, where his decision to stop playing Less Than Zero in order to perform Radio Radio, would result in his being banned from that show for over a dozen years! Download this one, then come back tomorrow for part 2 of this back to back entry.