“I’m not gonna tell ‘em where we are…”

Some music fans have the bootleg gene; others don't. Ever since I first found a strange-looking Elton John CD release deep in the stacks at my local college indie record store with a $29.95 pricetag from a label I'd never heard of, I've been a bootleg junkie. I love the thrill of discovering lost or hidden moments of magic. 

My first Elvis Costello bootlegs were from the late seventies. That was an incredible time for his career, and alongside the Attractions, he was an incredible live act. But the shows didn’t offer a lot in the way of variety; if you’ve heard one EC bootleg before about 1980, you’ve heard them all. (With the possible exception of shows where he was playing early versions of the songs from Get Happy!!, which hadn’t yet been transformed into neo-R&B and were instead an extension of the Armed Forces new wave sound. But we’ll get to those in another post.)

In 1983, EC was touring behind Punch the Clock, an album often derided by diehard fans (which I don’t understand, but again, that’s another post). For that tour, he brought out a combo that included the Attractions at its core (Steve Nieve, king of the keyboard jungle; Pete Thomas, the Empire State of stick; Bruce Thomas, the future of the four-string) but added the TKO Horns, all former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners. (Appropriate, since the producers of Punch the Clock, Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley, had just a year before produced Too-Rye-Ay for Dexy's, including the smash hit "Come On, Eileen.”) On some dates, the backing singers featured on Punch the Clock, a female duo known as Afrodiziak, also joined the band.

The Gangster Is Back documents the Austin, TX stop of the tour on September 7, 1983, partially broadcast live on FM radio. It originally entered my life via one of those dusty old record stores in Evanston, IL where I uncovered so much good music in college. More recently, a release called The Ultimate Gangster expanded upon it, including audience-taped versions of songs that were excluded from the original FM broadcast. 

As we know, Costello has always been a musical chameleon, and that’s especially true live. In his earliest shows, he wasn't afraid to trot out a subdued Bacharach/David cover amid the punk posturing. The Ultimate Gangster finds him in full-on soul revue mode, lathering horn parts onto not just tracks from his then-current record but on classics and obscurities from his back catalog. 

As you might expect, songs from his Stax homage Get Happy!! are featured prominently; hearing a full horn section blare out Steve Nieve's organ hook from "Possession" is just one of the first and best "holy shit" moments the concert offers. There's a one-two medley of the O'Jays' “Backstabbers” and EC's own "King Horse" that will leave you in a puddle on the floor. 

By this point in his career, Costello was over the “angry young man” persona he cultivated in his early tours. Instead, he sounds like he’s genuinely having a good time, and Costello warmly engages the crowd throughout as he puts the band through their paces. He's more open, more expressive and emotional, and as a result, it's not the confrontational mood of his 1977 concerts. It's a old-time revival with the audience as the eager converts. 

Because it’s being broadcast on the radio, there's an added level of excitement in the air. EC sets up this bit where he trains the audience that when he shouts “1-2-3,” they shout, “AUSTIN!” By the time the encore rolls up and the horns anchor a relentless, driving "Pump It Up," I'm practically on my feet, even if I'm in the car, even if I'm driving it. I wish for time travel technology solely to travel to 1983 and attend this concert.

In future installments, we’ll talk about more amazing illicit recordings of Elvis Costello, but this is one case where we’ve absolutely started with the best. If you never download another show again in your entire God-forsaken life, find this show and listen. It's a phenomenal creative talent at the top of his form with a kickin' tight band, delivering moment after moment of pure rock-soul bliss. 

(As a matter of fact, twenty-five years after I had to frequent the shady corners of reputable music emporiums to get my bootleg fix, you can now find amazing treasures on YouTube. Here’s a shakily filmed but exceptionally tight 90 minutes from the Rockpalast TV show in November 1983, just a few months after the Austin date.)

From the Housekeeping department, I have exciting news to share: You can now read That Fatal Mailing List in the new Substack app for iPhone.

With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.

The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.