Very little was known about Elvis Costello before August '76 when he walked into the offices of Stiff Records and was signed up without hesitation. The following year three singles and his first album did relatively well in the charts.
In June of that year selected musicians — Bruce Thomas (bass), Steve Naive (keyboards) and Peter Thomas (drums) — were drawn together to form the Attractions.
Costello and his band spent the next few months on a nationwide tour before joining Ian Dury and Nick Lowe on a nationwide promotion tour for their record company.
Things really started happening after that with the release of another single "Watching the Detectives" which gave them their first Chart entry and an appearance on Top of the Pops which firmly established them on the rock scene.
Now a third album has been released by Elvis Costello and the Attractions entitled Armed Forces and this week sees the band back in the top ten with a track from the album called "Oliver's Army."
If their album is anything to go by they'll be on top for quite some time.