GET HAPPY!!
Original album released 1980

Get Happy!! (48:21)
  1. Love for Tender (1:57)
  2. Opportunity (3:11)
  3. The Imposter (1:57)
  4. Secondary Modern (1:56)
  5. King Horse (2:59)
  6. Possession (2:02)
  7. Men Called Uncle (2:16)
  8. Clowntime Is Over (2:57)
  9. New Amsterdam (2:10)
  10. High Fidelity (2:26)
  11. I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down (2:05)
  12. Black & White World (1:55)
  13. 5ive Gears in Reverse (2:37)
  14. B Movie (2:01)
  15. Motel Matches (2:28)
  16. Human Touch (2:27)
  17. Beaten to the Punch (1:47)
  18. Temptation (2:31)
  19. I Stand Accused (2:18)
  20. Riot Act (3:35)
(click arrows below to show/hide bonus material)
Rykodisc/Demon version (1CD) released 1994
Extended Play (28:31) [total 77:07]
  1. Girls Talk (1:55)
  2. Clowntime Is Over No. 2 (3:43)
  3. Getting Mighty Crowded (2:07)
  4. So Young (3:26)
  5. Just a Memory (2:15)
  6. Hoover Factory (1:44)
  7. Ghost Train (3:05)
  8. Dr. Luther's Assistant (3:26)
  9. Black & White World (demo) (1:49)
  10. Riot Act (demo) (2:48)
  11. Love for Tender (demo) (1:39)
Rhino/Edsel version (2CD) released 2003
Disc 2: Bonus Disc (79:35)
  1. I Stand Accused (alternate version) (3:09)
  2. So Young (3:26)
  3. Girls Talk (1:55)
  4. Human Touch (alternate version) (2:19)
  5. Temptation (alternate version) (2:27)
  6. Motel Matches (alternate take) (2:26)
  7. Clowntime Is Over No. 2 (3:43)
  8. B Movie (alternate version) (2:26)
  9. Girls Talk (alternate version) (2:03)
  10. Getting Mighty Crowded (2:07)
  11. From a Whisper to a Scream (alternate version) (2:29)
  12. Watch Your Step (alternate version) (2:01)
  13. Dr. Luther's Assistant (3:26)
  14. Ghost Train (3:05)
  15. New Lace Sleeves (alternate version) (3:45)
  16. Hoover Factory (1:44)
  17. Just a Memory (2:15)
  18. I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down (alternate version) (2:43)
  19. New Amsterdam (alternate version) (2:29)
  20. Black & White World (demo) (1:49)
  21. Riot Act (demo) (2:48)
  22. 5ive Gears in Reverse (demo) (2:31)
  23. Love for Tender (demo) (2:05)
  24. Men Called Uncle (demo) (2:04)
  25. King Horse (demo) (2:43)
  26. Seven O'Clock (demo) (1:58)
  27. High Fidelity (live) (3:17)
  28. Opportunity (live) (2:33)
  29. The Imposter (live) (2:11)
  30. Don't Look Back (live) (3:01) / CBS Radio Commercial (1:30)

Get Happy!! was largely recorded at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum, Netherlands, in October 1979, with the final sessions taking place at Eden Studios in London.

Quality aside, one of the selling points of Get Happy!! has always been quantity. This began with its initial release in 1980 as a 20-track single LP and continued in 1994 with Ryko's 30-track CD.

Rhino's 50-track two-disc set continues in that spirit, and it is even recognized with a "50 GREAT HITS" graphic added to the cover art. Eighteen of its 30 bonus tracks are previously unreleased (11 studio outtakes, four demos, and three live recordings), mostly of very high quality, and with only one song ("Girls Talk") making two appearances on the bonus disc.

REISSUE BONUS TRACKS

I STAND ACCUSED (Alternate Version) (3:09) RHINO
Oddly, the UK Get Happy!! reissue (from July 2003) and the US version (from September 2003) give different information about this track. The UK version says it was recorded May 28, 1979 at Abbey Road Studios (at the same time as "So Young," suggesting it might have been intended as the B-side for the planned single), while the US version says it was July 18, 1979 at Ramport Studios. Elvis' liner notes (for both releases) indicate it was Abbey Road, but it is unclear whether he says that based on his own recollection or because he was provided with that information. Since the track notes are otherwise identical, my guess is that the US release is the accurate one, its later release date offering time to correct the original error.

SO YOUNG (3:26) RYKO RHINO
A May 28, 1979 session at EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 2 was scheduled for the specific purpose of recording "So Young" for a summer single. Instead, the recording was shelved until its appearance on Out of Our Idiot in 1987. The credit "produced at gunpoint by Nick Lowe" hints at the mood of the session.

GIRLS TALK (1:55) RYKO RHINO
Dave Edmunds' version of "Girls Talk" had already been a UK hit by the time Elvis attempted his own version(s) in October 1979. He apparently never recorded it to his satisfaction, since he writes in the liner notes, "Neither of the Attractions' versions were really completed." Nevertheless, this version was used as the B-side of "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" and later included on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys as well as the cassette version of Girls + £ ÷ Girls = $ & Girls. Elvis remembers it being recorded at Eden Studios, but Rhino's track notes say it was Wisseloord Studios.

HUMAN TOUCH (Alternate Version) (2:19) RHINO
Elvis' liner notes mention that "'Human Touch' was clearly made under the spell of my recent work with The Specials." That influence is especially obvious in this alternate arrangement. Although Rhino's track notes may be a bit presumptuous in identifying all of the Get Happy!! alternates as coming from Wisseloord Studios when the October 1979 sessions for the album were split between Wisseloord and Eden Studios (see the discussion of "Girls Talk" and "Clowntime Is Over No. 2" below), the alternates of "Human Touch," "Temptation," "Motel Matches," and "B Movie" all seem to present the songs in early arrangements, and it seems reasonably safe to assume that they come from the initial sessions at Wisseloord.

TEMPTATION (Alternate Version) (2:27) RHINO
Although the overall sound is very similar to the album version, this alternate uses the "I see you lying so wide awake..." bridge of the album version as a chorus instead and lacks a bridge of its own.

MOTEL MATCHES (Alternate Take) (2:26) RHINO
This is listed as an "alternate take" rather than the usual "alternate version," perhaps because the differences in the overall arrangement are relatively subtle. This features a different vocal approach and lacks the somewhat washed-out sound of the album version.

CLOWNTIME IS OVER NO. 2 (3:43) RYKO RHINO
After years of expanded reissues, Costello fans have grown accustomed to the same song being released in multiple arrangements. But in April 1980, when "Clowntime Is Over No. 2" (sometimes known as the "slow version") was released on the "High Fidelity" 12-inch single, just two months after the "fast version" had been released on Get Happy!!, this was unusual. Like "Girls Talk," Elvis' memory places this as an Eden Studios recording, while Rhino's track notes say it is from Wisseloord Studios.

B MOVIE (Alternate Version) (2:26) RHINO
This completely different arrangement sounds like a finished recording.

GIRLS TALK (Alternate Version) (2:03) RHINO
Elvis had hinted at the existence of an alternate "Girls Talk" in the liner notes for both the cassette edition of Girls + £ ÷ Girls = $ & Girls ("sadly no final mix exists of our spectacular 'Glitterband' arrangement") and the Ryko Get Happy!!, but this "weird thrash" (as Elvis describes it in the Rhino notes) was unreleased until 2003 (or as Elvis puts it, "has been sensibly buried in the vaults until this edition"). Just to keep things confusing, Rhino's track notes identify both versions of "Girls Talk" as being recorded at Wisseloord Studios, while Elvis' liner notes specifically identify both as coming from Eden Studios.

GETTING MIGHTY CROWDED (2:07) RYKO RHINO
Recorded at Eden Studios during the Get Happy!! sessions, "Getting Mighty Crowded" did not make the album and instead turned up first on the B-side of "High Fidelity" in the UK and later on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys. In the US, it was also the A-side of a single released at the time of Taking Liberties.

FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (Alternate Version) (2:29) RHINO
WATCH YOUR STEP (Alternate Version) (2:01) RHINO
These early versions of two songs that would end up on Trust were recorded in November 1979 at U.K. Pro Studios (Nick Lowe's home studio, soon to be renamed Am-Pro). Elvis does not specifically address these recordings in his liner notes, speaking only in general terms about "demos" and "recording experiments" from this period, some featuring Elvis playing all the instruments and others utilizing the rhythm section of Pete Thomas and Paul "Bassman" Riley. No indication is given of who plays on these two tracks. Both are considerably rougher than their finished counterparts, with "Watch Your Step" taken at a much faster tempo and "From A Whisper To A Scream" being sung by Elvis alone in contrast to the later duet with Glenn Tilbrook. Different "alternate versions" of both songs can be found on the Trust bonus disc.

DR. LUTHER'S ASSISTANT (3:26) RYKO RHINO
"Dr. Luther's Assistant" was written in 1977 and was at one point considered a contender for This Year's Model, although it apparently went unrecorded until March 1980, when this version (surprisingly similar to the band's live arrangement from 1977) was recorded at Am-Pro Studios with Elvis playing all the instruments except the drums, which Pete Thomas overdubbed later. It was first issued on the B-side of "New Amsterdam" and later included on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys.

GHOST TRAIN (3:05) RYKO RHINO
Coming from the same session as "Dr. Luther's Assistant," "Ghost Train" features Elvis playing all the instruments, which he identifies as Spanish guitar, marimba, and fretless bass. Although Elvis finished writing it in the late '70s, "Ghost Train" is based on a much older song, "Maureen and Dan," which Elvis had co-written with Allan Mayes when the duo performed together under the name Rusty in 1972 and 1973. (Mayes released his own reworking of the original song, retitled "Maureen And Sam," on his 1986 album Stumbling in the Aisle.) "Ghost Train" was first issued on the "New Amsterdam" EP and later served as the closing track on both Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys.

NEW LACE SLEEVES (Alternate Version) (3:45) RHINO
Recorded in March 1980 at Am-Pro Studios (along with "Dr. Luther's Assistant," "Ghost Train," and "Hoover Factory"), this very different arrangement has Elvis backed by Pete Thomas and Paul "Bassman" Riley.

HOOVER FACTORY (1:44) RYKO RHINO
Another March 1980 solo recording from Am-Pro Studios, "Hoover Factory" had been written in 1976 and performed on radio and television in 1977. It was first issued on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys in November 1980 and included on the B-side of "Clubland" a month later.

JUST A MEMORY (2:15) RYKO RHINO
Recorded with Steve Nieve in early 1980 at T.W. Studios, where Costello had recently produced The Specials' debut album, "Just A Memory" was written with Dusty Springfield in mind, and she ended up recording it two years later on her album White Heat. Elvis' version was first issued on the "New Amsterdam" EP and later included on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys.

I CAN'T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN (Alternate Version) (2:43) RHINO
It is hard to imagine why Elvis and the Attractions would be revisiting this song during the Imperial Bedroom sessions, two years after recording Get Happy!!, but that is exactly what they do on this November 16, 1981 recording from AIR Studios which is far more faithful to Sam & Dave's original slow rendition. Despite being out of place chronologically, it fits the overall mood of the Get Happy!! bonus disc.

NEW AMSTERDAM (Alternate Version) (2:29) RHINO
Elvis has said that he included his demo version of "New Amsterdam" on Get Happy!! after band attempts proved unsatisfactory. This alternate is a bit of a mystery, as it is credited as a 1980 recording from Olympic Studios. Elvis is otherwise unknown to have recorded at Olympic prior to the 1986 sessions for Blood & Chocolate, and all other songs intended for Get Happy!! were recorded in 1979. If the recording information is accurate, this must have been attempted after the album was completed. My entirely speculative explanation is that Elvis attempted to re-record the song for its June 1980 release as a single but once again ultimately went with the demo.

BLACK & WHITE WORLD (Demo) (1:49) RYKO RHINO
RIOT ACT (Demo) (2:48) RYKO RHINO
5IVE GEARS IN REVERSE (Demo) (2:31) RHINO
LOVE FOR TENDER (Demo) (2:05) RYKO RHINO
MEN CALLED UNCLE (Demo) (2:04) RHINO
KING HORSE (Demo) (2:43) RHINO
These demos were recorded in 1979 at Archipelago Studios along with the album version of "New Amsterdam." "Black & White World" was first issued on Taking Liberties and Ten Bloody Marys (the first official release of a demo for a Costello song which had previously been released as a "finished" recording), and the rest had circulated among collectors for years prior to being released on the Ryko and Rhino CDs. The Ryko CD presented "Love for Tender" as an unlisted bonus track that perversely and abruptly cut off about 25 seconds before its intended conclusion. It is complete on the Rhino CD. Richard Groothuizen and Kees den Heyer's book Going Through the Motions (Elvis Costello 1982/1985) identifies these demos as coming from September 1979, although that date may just be an approximation based on the album sessions beginning in October.

SEVEN O'CLOCK (Demo) (1:58) RHINO
The recording date and location for this demo are unknown, but it is unlikely to have been recorded any later than August 1979, the concert debut of "Secondary Modern," which included some lyrics which originally appeared in this song. Most of the other lyrics turned up in "Luxembourg" on Trust. "Seven O'Clock" was originally written for Dr. Feelgood.

HIGH FIDELITY (Live: Geleen, June 4, 1979) (3:17) RHINO
OPPORTUNITY (Live: North Hollywood, Feb. 16, 1979) (2:33) RHINO
These early live performances of Get Happy!! songs present them in their original arrangements. "High Fidelity" would reappear on 2020's The Complete Armed Forces.

THE IMPOSTER (Live: London, Dec. 29, 1979) (2:11) RHINO
Elvis' track from the various artists album Concerts for the People of Kampuchea makes its CD debut.

DON'T LOOK BACK (Live: Canvey Island, Apr. 2, 1980) (3:01) RHINO
We may never know if The Temptations' original version of "Don't Look Back" was among the stack of old R&B records that inspired the sound of Get Happy!!. Elvis was presumably also aware of Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger's 1978 cover version.

CBS RADIO COMMERCIAL (1:30) RHINO
The bonus disc closes with an unlisted radio commercial promoting Get Happy!!.

NOT ON THE REISSUES (BUT OFFICIALLY RELEASED)

HIGH FIDELITY (BBC Version) (2:33)
[Kats Karavan: The History of John Peel on the Radio CD by various artists]
Elvis has not shown much interest in releasing his BBC recordings. This track from Elvis and the Attractions' fourth John Peel session (recorded February 25, 1980) appeared on a various artists compilation in 2009, six years after Rhino's Get Happy!! was released.

UNRELEASED & UNRECORDED

HUMAN TOUCH (Demo)
This is the one song from the bootlegged collection of Get Happy!! demos that is not included on this release. It may have been excluded in favor of the studio alternate which does appear.

IDLE HANDS
Elvis performed "Idle Hands" in concert several times in March and April of 1979, but by the time he got around to recording it in October, it had been substantially reworked and retitled "Temptation."

MOTEL MATCHES (Live: North Hollywood, Feb. 16, 1979)
HIGH FIDELITY (Live: Bethlehem, Apr. 12, 1979)
An early track listing for the Get Happy!! bonus disc included these performances, but ultimately "High Fidelity" was replaced with a different live version of the same song, and "Motel Matches" was replaced with a different song ("Opportunity") from the same show. Both performances have long been available on bootlegs.

MIGHTY MAN (Home Demo)
TRUE LOVE (Home Demo)
Krista Reese's 1981 biography of Elvis told the story of his brief association with American singer Jo Marshall, for whom he wrote these two songs. Bootlegs include what purport to be Marshall's demos for these songs, recorded in May 1979 with Elvis, Nick Lowe, Steve Nieve, and Pete Thomas as her backing musicians. In Reese's book, Marshall describes Elvis playing her the tape of his own demo versions, recorded in his kitchen with an acoustic guitar. Whether that tape still exists is unknown.

BEATEN TO THE PUNCH (BBC Version) (1:51)
POSSESSION (BBC Version) (2:10)
B MOVIE (BBC Version) (2:45)
The remaining songs from Elvis and the Attractions' fourth John Peel session are available on bootlegs.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Two songs long rumored to have been recorded during the Get Happy!! sessions are "Slow Down" and "First I Look at the Purse." In the case of "Slow Down," the only known recording by Elvis actually dates from the Trust sessions, and it can be found on that bonus disc. "First I Look at the Purse" (a song originally recorded by The Contours and also covered by J. Geils Band), however, failed to turn up during Rhino's search for Get Happy!! outtakes and may never have been recorded.

Elvis Costello Reissues

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