Retrospective # 1

MY AIM IS TRUE, ELVIS COSTELLO. 1977

A sunny afternoon in 1977;
Girlfriend in hand, stepping out in bright sunshine from the dark confines of The Slip Inn we headed straight to the record store. This album jumped out of the rack in to my eager palm I swear. It came home with us, along with a couple of bottles of wine & an afternoon of…...Well modesty prevails.

I was not ready for the vitriol, passion & sarcasm that lay beneath a cardboard sleeve featuring a gangly gawky geek. It seemed that the guy came from nowhere to hit you right between the eyes, with songs that instantly made you feel envious.

It features 2 of my all time favourite Costello songs “ Red Shoes “ & “ Alison”, but there is more than just album filler separating them on the disc. Some tracks have not aged too well, “ Miracle Man “ springs to mind but again, there is still enough to attract your interest. One of the tracks “ Mystery Dance “ leapt from the grooves of this disk & straight in to the set of the band I was then performing with. It remained there for quite a while as a crowd pleaser.

Costello has gone on to become a songwriters “ Writer “, but those first years for me remain his best & this album takes pride of place in my collection.