- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The recording artists listed on Live Stiffs are Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric, and Larry Wallis, with a band for each artist.
Stiff Records – Live Stiffs (1978): “Stiff” is recording industry slang for an especially unsuccessful release, and the independent and irreverent label Stiff Records uses their name cleverly in their promotion activities. Besides the name of this album Live Stiffs, a nicely done oxymoron (the album was originally released under the name Live Stiffs Live), another of their compilation albums is called Hits Greatest Stiffs (1977). The motto of Stiff Records is, “If they’re dead, we’ll sign them”; and they call themselves “Undertakers to the Industry”. Stiff Records was founded at the onset of the punk rock and new wave era, and their recording artists include Elvis Costello, the Damned, Nick Lowe, Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Ian Dury, Devo, Madness, the Pogues, and Tracey Ullman. My copy of Live Stiffs is actually a reissue of Live Stiffs Live on Music for Pleasure Records, a British budget-reissue label comparable to Pickwick Records in the U.S. The recording artists listed on Live Stiffs are Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Nick Lowe’s Last Chicken in the Shop, Wreckless Eric and the New Rockets, and Larry Wallis’ Psychedelic Rowdies; there is considerable overlap among many of the backing bands listed. Except for the latter band, each artist has two songs on the album; and everyone contributes to the final song, Ian Dury’s hit “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” (shown as “Sex + Drugs + Rock ’n’ Roll + Chaos” on the record label), a surprisingly subdued performance considering the bombastic song title. I remember reading somewhere that Ian Dury had the best reception during the Stiff Records tour that was documented on Live Stiffs. Ian Dury has an extraordinarily thick Cockney accent and is a fine songwriter; he had a bout with polio as a child that left him partially paralyzed. Ian Dury originally founded a pioneering and influential pub rock band called Kilburn and the High Roads way back in 1970; their sole album Handsome was recorded in 1974 but not released until 1975. After they disbanded, Ian Dury had considerable success with his later band Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus) is the best-known recording artist on this album; he has had many decades of recording success. One of his songs on Live Stiffs is “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself”, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David; the song is also included on Dusty Springfield’s Greatest Hits. My favorite Elvis Costello song is “Veronica” (1989), a tender song about his grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease. The music video for “Veronica” features a long spoken-word introduction, and there is also some overdubbed commentary on the song. “Veronica” was co-written by Elvis Costello with Paul McCartney, who also plays bass on the track. “Veronica” is Elvis Costello’s highest-charting hit in the United States, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, No. 1 on its Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 10 on its Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Nick Lowe is a power pop musician who has released numerous songs and albums over the years; he is best known in this country for his #12 hit “Cruel to Be Kind” (1979). Nick Lowe also wrote the endearing hit song for Elvis Costello, “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” (1978). I don’t know much about Wreckless Eric, but he has had a long music career in the U.K. While not a charting hit single, his best-known song is “Whole Wide World”; more than two decades after its release, the song was included in Mojo magazine’s list of the best punk rock singles of all time. I first ran across Larry Wallis as one of the bandmembers on the third Pink Fairies album, Kings of Oblivion (1973), by far the easiest Pink Fairies album to find, at least in this country; he was their main songwriter on the album and is credited with playing “big guitar”. The Pink Fairies was signed with Stiff Records for a time, and one of their songs, “Between the Lines” is included on Hits Greatest Stiffs. Larry Wallis was also in the line-up for the Pink Fairies comeback album Kill ’Em and Eat ’Em (1987). Larry Wallis has played with underground rock star Mick Farren and produced his second solo album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money (1978); he also has performance and production credits with others in the Mick Farren coterie, including Steve Took and Shagrat. In addition, Larry Wallis was an early member of Lemmy’s band Motörhead. Larry Wallis’ name was the main attraction for me on Live Stiffs, although I knew several of the other artists as well. The song on Live Stiffs that was written and performed by Larry Wallis and his band the Psychedelic Rowdies, “Police Car” was one of the songs on the live album by Mick Farren’s band the Deviants called Human Garbage (1997); the concert was recorded in 1984, and Larry Wallis was among the bandmembers on hand.