Universal Music Acquires Early Elvis Costello Catalog/compilations , 2007

Pretty self-explanatory
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martinfoyle
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Post by martinfoyle »

Michael Hernandez posted this message today on the eclistserv


Got this from Richard Groothuizen this morning:

<<
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: "Groothuizen, Richard"
Sent: Apr 18, 2007 1:16 AM
To: Mike Hernandez
Subject: Elvis Costello New Releases


Following the Hip-O releases more will released: this fall

- Elvis Costello: Gold (2CD all encompassing 30 yr collection)
- BBC/TV Appearances – DVD

2008:

· SINGLES BOXSET
· Hope and Anchor 1980
· Hammersmith 1983
· LIVE AT THE BBC/PEEL SESSIONS
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pophead2k
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Post by pophead2k »

NOW we're talking!!
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wardo68
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Post by wardo68 »

martinfoyle wrote:Michael Hernandez posted this message today on the eclistserv Got this from Richard Groothuizen this morning:
this fall
- Elvis Costello: Gold (2CD all encompassing 30 yr collection)
- BBC/TV Appearances – DVD
2008:
· SINGLES BOXSET
· Hope and Anchor 1980
· Hammersmith 1983
· LIVE AT THE BBC/PEEL SESSIONS
The "Gold" collection doesn't surprise me, as Universal's been pushing that cash cow for everyone that's ever been signed to the label. Another TV DVD would be nice, along with BBC and live stuff. The "singles box set" worries me.

But all in all, it's nice to look forward to something different.
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pophead2k
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Post by pophead2k »

I'm really excited about the live stuff. I really hope he follows in the footsteps that Neil Young is creating right now as far as live releases.
martinfoyle
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Post by martinfoyle »

That's a good theory about Elvis being influenced by the long overdue appearance of Youngs archive sets. Hope and Anchor 1980 & Hammersmith 1983 have been heavily bootlegged over the years, it'll be great to hear versions straight from the original tapes. Both are excellent recorded of examples of where Elvis was at, at the time. His Montreux sets, all of which were recorded, are an even better series of shows that document Elvis various live shows over the years, hopefully he'll get them properly available as well. Methinks all this staying in doing the new dad thing has given Elvis time to go through the tapes and sort the wheat from the chaff.
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wardo68
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Post by wardo68 »

And just think -- it only took Neil 18 years to make good on his Archives, so maybe we'll see Elvis's version by 2025!
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.eyeweekly.com/daily/?p=210

Image

Contest: win the Elvis Costello catalogue!

April 19th, 2007
Eye Daily



'Universal Music Canada and Eye Weekly are giving you the chance to win Elvis Costello’s first 11 albums from 1977-1986 (before he went all classical and hooked up with that other Lady Diana). To enter, give us your deets here.' ( at above link)
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html ... lenews_wsj


Like That Album?
Buy It Again, and Again...

Limping Music Industry
Re-Reissues Classics;
'Pet Sounds,' Version 10

By ETHAN SMITH

April 20, 2007; The Wall Street Journal

Music geeks consider Elvis Costello's 1977 debut, "My Aim Is True," a touchstone for its witty lyrics and bittersweet outlook on matters of the heart. For retailers and hard-core collectors, it bears another distinction: By year's end, it will have been released in four different configurations by four different record labels during the CD era.

The newest, due out later this year, is a "Deluxe Edition" two-disc set from Universal Music Group, in honor of the album's 30th anniversary. How "deluxe" it actually will be compared to past editions is unclear. The original version of the album -- released on vinyl and cassette in 1977 by Columbia Records (now part of Sony BMG) -- contained 13 tracks, including classics like "Alison" and "Mystery Dance." The first CD of "My Aim Is True" was limited to that material.

Then in 1993, independent label Rykodisc reissued the album in a 22-song set that included outtakes, alternate versions and other flotsam. In 2001, Warner Music's Rhino Records released a "bonus disc" edition that included 13 songs on its second disc. Nine of those songs, however, were on the previous Rykodisc version (the other four were live cuts and outtakes).

Now it's Universal's turn. A representative for the label says the Deluxe Edition's second disc will contain demos, alternate versions and live tracks, though the exact lineup hasn't been determined. While the new set won't come out until fall, the songs from the original "My Aim Is True" will be released digitally on May 1 for the first time as part of a much broader release of Mr. Costello's first 11 albums through digital music retailers such as Apple's iTunes Store.

Suckers for Same Music

Improved sound quality and previously unreleased tracks are usually the selling points for the endless recycling of classic albums. The primary target is die-hard fans, who are suckers for buying the same beloved music over and over just to get versions that sound a little bit better, or have one or two additional obscure oddities.

Darren DeVivo, a DJ on New York's WFUV, admits to being in the marketing cross hairs for such endeavors. "People like me, who will go buy a second and third edition of an album, are clearly in a minority," Mr. DeVivo says. "Although while I'm spending my money, I'm thinking, 'You're ripping me off here -- and I'm letting you do it. Please don't do it to me again.' "

Incredibly, the release of the "My Aim Is True Deluxe Edition" doesn't even set a reissue record. The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" has been reissued in nine configurations since its release in 1966, including three new ones in 2006 alone. Those 40th-anniversary releases included a double LP on green and yellow vinyl records. Miles Davis's iconic "Kind of Blue" and the Who's "Live at Leeds" also are contenders for the title of most-reissued albums, with as many as seven incarnations apiece.

Each of these albums has received the serial-reissue treatment for different reasons. Mr. Costello's compilations, for instance, have moved from label to label because unlike most artists, he owns the rights to his recordings and has periodically struck more lucrative deals.

But there's a bigger force: In a market that has seen CD sales fall more than 20% so far this year, proven sellers are one of the few bright spots left. The cost of issuing a new version of an album can vary wildly, according to label executives, since it can involve everything from engineering costs to new packaging. But in general, it is much cheaper than creating a new album from scratch for a new -- and untested -- act.

For consumers, the phenomenon can be the source of head-scratching. If you already shelled out in 1992 for the "MasterSound Gold CD, super-bit mapping, corrected speed" version of "Kind of Blue," was it worth the money, five years later, to get the edition of the album that featured "20-bit remastering," plus a previously unreleased song?

The label's answer: Of course. Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of A&R at Legacy Recordings -- which oversees back-catalog releases for Columbia's parent, Sony BMG -- says the technology for transferring music from original analog tapes to digital media has evolved immeasurably since the early days of CDs. An album remastered using a high-quality source tape and modern equipment is likely to sound more like what the musicians and producers aimed for in the studio than any earlier version, including the original vinyl release often prized by collectors.

In the dawn of the CD era in the early 1980s, engineers tried to replicate the sound of vinyl albums. But more recently they have realized that the standards for creating LPs were based on factors like how much dynamic range a typical turntable could handle without making the needle skip. CDs, on the other hand, have fewer such limits.

Also contributing to the reissue fever affecting "Kind of Blue": In the early '90s a Sony engineer discovered while digging through studio records that the tape machine used to record side one of the album had subsequently been taken out of service for running slower than it should have. As a result, every version of the album since its original release in 1959 featured three songs that sounded about one quarter note sharper than the other side.

"I've probably bought 'Kind of Blue' a dozen times myself," says Gary Arnold, senior vice president for entertainment at retailer Best Buy. Mr. Arnold says perennially reissued discs typically appeal to "the fanatic, the collector, the person who wants to have everything a given artist has put out."

Reeling In 'Completists'

Mr. Berkowitz insists that tactics like including bonus material are more than a ploy to reel in "completists," those who are compelled to own each iteration of an album. "We try to put valid bonus tracks of quality that pertain to the album," Mr. Berkowitz says. "We don't gratuitously put them on because we think it might sell more copies."

While some albums seem to roll out in a new edition every other year, other classics have been immune. The Beatles haven't upgraded the sound of their studio albums since they were first released on CD in 1987, although Neil Aspinall, the former head of the Fab Four's Apple Corps company, said last year that they were in the process of being remastered.

Bruce Springsteen has issued a spiffed-up edition of only one of his albums, "Born to Run." "Bruce has complete control over everything that comes out and to the best of my knowledge they're exactly the way he wants them to be," says Legacy's Mr. Berkowitz, who previously worked at Columbia, Mr. Springsteen's label.

Nick Lowe, Mr. Costello's producer on his early albums and an important musician in his own right, has a problem beyond poor sound quality. Some of his landmark discs aren't available on CD because they went out of print in the early 1990s. As a result, CD editions of cult favorites like 1979's "Labour of Lust" fetch high prices on eBay. Mr. Lowe's manager, Jake Guralnick, says the singer owns the rights to his recordings, and is in the process of lining them up for rerelease late this year or next year. The holdup, he says, came from waiting for distribution agreements in other parts of the world to expire so they could carry out the process in one fell swoop.

But amid all the reissue-itis, record labels are finding that in a severely diminished market, with thousands fewer record stores, the practice can be too costly to justify. Increasingly, the more-obscure titles from the catalogs of artists including Mott the Hoople and Cheap Trick are available for sale only on digital services.

"Retail will not carry them," says Mr. Berkowitz. "It's not that we don't want to make the CDs. But if the record stores are only going to sell 1,200 of them it's not cost effective for anyone."

For old-fashioned fans of such acts who still like their music with cover art they can hold in their hands and liner notes they can read, Mr. Berkowitz has a suggestion: eBay.
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

From listserv -

Finally some good news about releases in Europe, from ECIS man,
Richard. Not sure if these are Europe only.

Cheers, JohnE

>
>
> HIP-O Europe has a different release policy:
>
>
>
> May =96 release of the 1977-1981 albums in original versions
>
> 1. My Aim Is True
>
> 2. This Years Model
>
> 3. Armed Forces
>
> 4. Get Happy
>
> 5. Trust
>
> *6. **El Mocambo*
>
> 7. *Best Of 1977-81* aka first batch of above (10-11 tracks limited
> edition)
>
>
>
> June/July - *Taking Liberties Volume 1*
>
>
>
> September =96 release of the 1981-86 albums
>
> 1. Almost Blue
>
> 2. Imperial Bedroom
>
> 3. Punch The Clock
>
> 4. Goodbye Cruel World
>
> 5. King Of America
>
> 6. Blood & Chocolate
>
> *7. **Taking Liberties Volume 2*
>
> 8. *Best Of 1981-1986* aka second batch of above (10-11 tracks
> limited edition
>
>
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wardo68
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Post by wardo68 »

The existence of a "Taking Liberties Vol. 1 & 2" would suggest that the albums are indeed the original tracks without bonuses, many of which were on TL. A couple of questions though -- do we assume Vol. 2 will mirror "Out Of Our Idiot"? And if they're coming out in Europe, why are they calling them "Taking Liberties" and not "10 Bloody Marys"?
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And No Coffee Table
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Post by And No Coffee Table »

With the way they're splitting the albums into batches of 1977-81 and 1981-86, I wonder if the plan is to put "So Young," "Big Sister," and "Black Sails In The Sunset" on Taking Liberties Volume 1.
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Post by The Gentleman »

And No Coffee Table wrote:With the way they're splitting the albums into batches of 1977-81 and 1981-86, I wonder if the plan is to put "So Young," "Big Sister," and "Black Sails In The Sunset" on Taking Liberties Volume 1.
And perhaps add a few of the key outtakes that debuted on the Rhinos? They certainly wouldn't have room for the great bulk of the material, but a few fully produced, otherwise unreleased songs like "Slow Down" and "Baby Pictures" might find a place.
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Post by Poor Deportee »

This is irrelevant, but I just wanted to tip my hat to the title of 'Out of Our Idiot' - one of EC's more amusing puns, sadly lost on an album of left-overs. :lol:
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
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Post by johnfoyle »

Another competition to win the lot -

http://www.bullz-eye.com/contests/2007/ ... stello.htm
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wardo68
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Post by wardo68 »

johnfoyle wrote:Another competition to win the lot -
Thanks again and again for posting these. I'm hoping more places will offer giveaways, especially for folks like us. I keep looking for something like "You must already own each of these albums in their previous three CD editions and at least once on LP or cassette to be eligible for this competition."

Well, I can dream anyway.
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Post by SkaDan »

reveiws for Rock and Roll Music and First 10 Years, are up at Allmusic.com. 10 Years got 4 1/2 stars, Rock and Roll got 4.
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Post by Neil. »

Sorry, Poor Deportee, but I'm ashamed to say I don't get the pun about Out of Our Idiot. I think it's a good album title, but is it a pun on another phrase, then?
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And No Coffee Table
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Post by And No Coffee Table »

Jimbo on the IMWAN board apparently got his copies:
There are no bonus tracks per se, although the first 3 include all the tracks that were on both the US and UK editions of the original albums (there were some differences). For those not averse to digipaks, the packaging is quite attractive. There was no point in trying to outdo EC's self-penned liner notes from the Rhinos, but each booklet includes period photos and complete lyrics. Where appropriate, the CD cover and the booklet cover reflect the different US and UK album covers (My Aim Is True, Armed Forces). The disc designs are throwbacks to the albums too--My Aim Is True resembles the old Stiff label, This Year's Model has the "Costello" ring around the outside (although for copyright reasons the disc is blue rather than red).
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migdd
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Post by migdd »

And No Coffee Table wrote:Jimbo on the IMWAN board apparently got his copies:
There are no bonus tracks per se, although the first 3 include all the tracks that were on both the US and UK editions of the original albums (there were some differences). For those not averse to digipaks, the packaging is quite attractive. There was no point in trying to outdo EC's self-penned liner notes from the Rhinos, but each booklet includes period photos and complete lyrics. Where appropriate, the CD cover and the booklet cover reflect the different US and UK album covers (My Aim Is True, Armed Forces). The disc designs are throwbacks to the albums too--My Aim Is True resembles the old Stiff label, This Year's Model has the "Costello" ring around the outside (although for copyright reasons the disc is blue rather than red).
I'd like to take a gander at the reissues; they look sort of interesting in that they eschew a bunch of bonus sh*t and go for the nostalgic purity of the original recordings. Not a bad approach for the price, IMHO.
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And No Coffee Table
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Post by And No Coffee Table »

The albums are beginning to show up on iTunes (at least in the US).

And yes, it is possible to download the two new tracks from Rock and Roll Music ("Welcome to the Working Week" and "Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?") individually for $0.99 each.
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Post by sweetest punch »

The two "new" (previously unreleased) tracks sound great.

Hear 30 second audioclips here:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... =252702192
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... =252702209
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Post by marc w »

Neil. wrote:Sorry, Poor Deportee, but I'm ashamed to say I don't get the pun about Out of Our Idiot. I think it's a good album title, but is it a pun on another phrase, then?
Thank god I'm not the only one! I don't get the pun either. Please explain. I've lived with that title for so many years that I can't see round it. Put me out of my misery on this!
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And No Coffee Table
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Post by And No Coffee Table »

Neil. wrote:Sorry, Poor Deportee, but I'm ashamed to say I don't get the pun about Out of Our Idiot. I think it's a good album title, but is it a pun on another phrase, then?
I think the pun in question is based on "out of [one's] idiom."
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