October 2, 2020 The Complete Armed Forces (as it turns out to be called) has been officially announced. In addition to the vinyl releases mentioned below, it will be available on download and streaming services, but there is no indication of a CD release. October 1, 2020 The track listing for the Armed Forces super deluxe edition has been revealed. It will be released November 6 on black vinyl and color vinyl. There is not yet any word on whether it will be available in other formats, but an announcement should be imminent. Armed Forces 12” LP A1. Accidents Will Happen A2. Senior Service A3. Oliver’s Army A4. Big Boys A5. Green Shirt A6. Party Girl   B1. Goon Squad B2. Busy Bodies B3. Sunday’s Best B4. Moods For Moderns B5. Chemistry Class B6. Two Little Hitlers B7. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?   Sketches for Emotional Fascism 10" LP A1. Clean Money A2. Talking In The Dark A3. Wednesday Week A4. Tiny Steps   B1. Crawling To The U.S.A. B2. Big Boys (Alternate Version) B3. Green Shirt (Demo Version) B4. My Funny Valentine   Riot At The Regent – Live In Sydney ’78 10” LP A1. Oliver’s Army A2. Waiting For The End Of The World A3. Big Boys B1. This Year’s Girl B2. You Belong To Me B3. Pump It Up   Europe ‘79 – Live At Pinkpop 12” LP A1. Goon Squad A2. B-Movie A3. Green Shirt A4. (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea A5. Opportunity A6. So Young A7. High Fidelity B1. Lipstick Vogue B2. Watching The Detectives B3. Big Boys B4. Pump It Up B5. You Belong To Me B6. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?   Christmas In The Dominion - Live 24th December ’78 10” LP A1. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes A2. No Dancing   B1. I Stand Accused B2. (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?   Live at Hollywood High & Elsewhere 1978 12” LP A1. Accidents Will Happen A2. Mystery Dance A3. Goon Squad A4. Party Girl A5. Stranger In The House B1. Alison B2. Lipstick Vogue B3. Watching The Detectives B4. You Belong To Me B5. Chemistry Class (Live at The Warner Theatre, Washington D.C.)   “Oliver's Army” 7" A1. Oliver's Army B1. Big Boys (Demo)   “Accidents Will Happen” 7” A1. Accidents Will Happen B1. Busy Bodies (Alternate)   Nick Lowe & His Sound “American Squirm” 7" A1. American Squirm B1. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding? September 22, 2020 The November issue of Mojo quotes Elvis with a few details about the Armed Forces reissue: The upcoming box set reissue, he says, includes "facsimiles of my original notebooks, all handwritten, lines scrawled out, half verses not used and all these subtle changes. It was a way of learning the songs as I wrote them, how to sing them, and also to understand the story the album told." There are also comic books, postcards and six discs, including two 10-inch live records, the entirety of their June 4, 1979 Pinkpop festival show and the original album remastered directly from the studio tapes. "It sounds as close to the way it sounded to us in the studio as we could make it," says Costello. "That's a beautiful thing." The Pinkpop setlist can be found at the Elvis Costello Home Page. September 21, 2020 A list of upcoming music releases at CBS News says the Armed Forces super deluxe edition box set will be released November 18 — but take that with a grain of salt, because November 18 is a Wednesday, and music releases are usually on Fridays. September 18, 2020 In a Billboard interview, Elvis teases major reissues news, beginning with "a six-record set based on Armed Forces" that "includes three live recordings ranging from the summer of '78 to the summer of '79, so it traces the development of the Attractions as a live act, from a club combo to a successful pop group – it's quite interesting to hear. I had expert help in photographing my handwritten notebooks. So you're getting something." Asked if his other albums will receive similar reissues, Elvis answers: "If we can." Also planned is "a compilation based on [Costello’s 1998 album with Burt Bacharach] Painted From Memory, in the hope that we'll complete the picture with some other songs we’ve written that people still haven’t heard." This would presumably include songs intended for the proposed Painted From Memory musical. He also mentions "a new version of one of the albums from my catalog, and that's going to come out next April." This is probably the same project he mentioned in a January interview, when it was planned as a 2020 release: "Sebastian's [Look Now producer Sebastian Krys] just finished remixing an album of ours from the very beginning of our career. And the nature of that remix is going to be so surprising to you when you hear it, because it involves taking my voice off the record and replacing it entirely with Spanish singers from across 12 Latin countries and Spain. And that's something that will come out later in the year as apart of a revisiting of our catalogue." He did not specify the reinterpreted album in the January interview, but he told a March concert audience that it was This Year's Model.

Upcoming releases October 30, 2020 Hey Clockface (CD) Hey Clockface (vinyl)

For older news, see What's Old.

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