Get Happy!!

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Get Happy!!
studio album by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Released	February 1980 (UK & US) April 29, 1994 (UK & US reissue) July 28, 2003 (UK 2CD reissue) September 9, 2003 (US 2CD reissue)
Recorded	October 1979, Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands, and Eden Studios, Acton, London
Producer	Nick Lowe (except New Amsterdam produced by Elvis Costello)
Label	F-Beat (UK 1980) Columbia (US 1980) Demon (UK 1994) Rykodisc (US 1994) Edsel (UK 2003) Rhino (US 2003)
Length	48:21 (original LP) 77:07 (1994 reissue) 48:21 + 79:35 (2003 reissue)

US cover

From the Rykodisc liner notes:
"Several of the songs on "Get Happy" had been played on the mysteriously named "Armed Funk Tour" in the spring of 1979, our last American trip for over two years. However our first trial sessions revealed our "road" arrangements to be trite, brittle, and uncomfortably close to the rapidly dating style which was now called "New Wave". The decision to change was not exactly agonized over. It took a few drinks, a handful of old Stax singles (which I had recently bought in Camden Town) and our copies of "Motown Chartbusters vol. 3" for us to imagine that we could quickly find a new blueprint for the album.

Some songs, such as "Men Called Uncle" and "Riot Act", retained the shape sketched out at the demo sessions, while almost everything else was reworked, often to the extent of trying the patience of more than one member of the band. Of course, just because you listen to somebody's record doesn't mean that you will sound anything like them. Sessions were often far from coherent and anything but analytical: A song or singer would be mentioned and it was sheer luck if we all handsome response to a direction such as: "Play it like a Garnet Mimms tune". In other cases it is hard to imagine who, or what, we were thinking of. Having said that it is fairly obvious that "Temptation" is based on the Booker T. and the MG's hit "Time is Tight", while "Love for Tender" and "High Fidelity" both quote in different ways from Supremes songs. I could also point out that "King Horse" uses the guitar figure from the Four Tops' "Reach Out (I'll Be There)", but after that you are on your own.

Tracks

Side 1
	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Love For Tender	Elvis Costello	1:57
2.	Opportunity	Elvis Costello	3:11
3.	The Imposter	Elvis Costello	1:57
4.	Secondary Modern	Elvis Costello	1:56
5.	King Horse	Elvis Costello	2:59
6.	Possession	Elvis Costello	2:02
7.	Men Called Uncle	Elvis Costello	2:16
8.	Clowntime Is Over	Elvis Costello	2:57
9.	New Amsterdam	Elvis Costello	2:10
10.	High Fidelity	Elvis Costello	2:26

Side 2
	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down	Homer Banks, Alan Jones	2:05
12.	Black And White World	Elvis Costello	1:55
13.	5ive Gears In Reverse	Elvis Costello	2:37
14.	B Movie	Elvis Costello	2:01
15.	Motel Matches	Elvis Costello	2:28
16.	Human Touch	Elvis Costello	2:27
17.	Beaten To The Punch	Elvis Costello	1:47
18.	Temptation	Elvis Costello	2:31
19.	I Stand Accused	Tony Colton, Ray Smith	2:18
20.	Riot Act	Elvis Costello	3:35

Credits

• Produced by: Nick Lowe, except New Amsterdam, produced by Elvis Costello
• Musicians:

Elvis Costello - vocals and guitar, organ on Possession and all instruments on New Amsterdam

Steve Nieve - piano and organ

Bruce Thomas - bass, and harmonica on I Stand Accused

Pete Thomas - drums

Get Happy!! (1994 Rykodisc/Demon edition)

	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Love For Tender	Elvis Costello	1:57
2.	Opportunity	Elvis Costello	3:12
3.	The Imposter	Elvis Costello	1:57
4.	Secondary Modern	Elvis Costello	1:57
5.	King Horse	Elvis Costello	3:00
6.	Possession	Elvis Costello	2:03
7.	Men Called Uncle	Elvis Costello	2:17
8.	Clowntime Is Over	Elvis Costello	2:59
9.	New Amsterdam	Elvis Costello	2:11
10.	High Fidelity	Elvis Costello	2:26
11.	I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down	Homer Banks, Alan Jones	2:05
12.	Black And White World	Elvis Costello	1:55
13.	5ive Gears In Reverse	Elvis Costello	2:38
14.	B Movie	Elvis Costello	2:02
15.	Motel Matches	Elvis Costello	2:29
16.	Human Touch	Elvis Costello	2:28
17.	Beaten To The Punch	Elvis Costello	1:48
18.	Temptation	Elvis Costello	2:32
19.	I Stand Accused	Tony Colton, Ray Smith	2:20
20.	Riot Act	Elvis Costello	3:35
21.	Girls Talk	Elvis Costello	1:55
22.	Clowntime Is Over No. 2	Elvis Costello	3:44
23.	Getting Mighty Crowded	Van McCoy	2:09
24.	So Young	Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin, Tony Faehse	3:23
25.	Just A Memory	Elvis Costello	2:16
26.	Hoover Factory	Elvis Costello	1:43
27.	Ghost Train	Elvis Costello	3:05
28.	Dr. Luther's Assistant	Elvis Costello	3:27
29.	Black And White World (Demo)	Elvis Costello	1:50
30.	Riot Act (Demo)	Elvis Costello	2:48
31.	Love For Tender (Demo, hidden track)	Elvis Costello	1:39

Get Happy!! (2003 Rhino/Edsel edition)

Disc 1: Get Happy!!
	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Love For Tender	Elvis Costello	1:57
2.	Opportunity	Elvis Costello	3:11
3.	The Imposter	Elvis Costello	1:57
4.	Secondary Modern	Elvis Costello	1:56
5.	King Horse	Elvis Costello	2:59
6.	Possession	Elvis Costello	2:02
7.	Men Called Uncle	Elvis Costello	2:16
8.	Clowntime Is Over	Elvis Costello	2:57
9.	New Amsterdam	Elvis Costello	2:10
10.	High Fidelity	Elvis Costello	2:26
11.	I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down	Homer Banks, Alan Jones	2:05
12.	Black And White World	Elvis Costello	1:55
13.	5ive Gears In Reverse	Elvis Costello	2:37
14.	B Movie	Elvis Costello	2:01
15.	Motel Matches	Elvis Costello	2:28
16.	Human Touch	Elvis Costello	2:27
17.	Beaten To The Punch	Elvis Costello	1:47
18.	Temptation	Elvis Costello	2:31
19.	I Stand Accused	Tony Colton, Ray Smith	2:18
20.	Riot Act	Elvis Costello	3:35

Disc 2: Bonus Disc
	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	I Stand Accused (Alternate Version)	Tony Colton, Ray Smith	3:09
2.	So Young	Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin, Tony Faehse	3:26
3.	Girls Talk	Elvis Costello	1:55
4.	Human Touch (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:19
5.	Temptation (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:27
6.	Motel Matches (Alternate Take)	Elvis Costello	2:26
7.	Clowntime Is Over No. 2	Elvis Costello	3:43
8.	B Movie (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:26
9.	Girls Talk (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:03
10.	Getting Mighty Crowded	Van McCoy	2:07
11.	From A Whisper To A Scream (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:29
12.	Watch Your Step (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:01
13.	Dr. Luther's Assistant	Elvis Costello	3:26
14.	Ghost Train	Elvis Costello	3:05
15.	New Lace Sleeves (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	3:45
16.	Hoover Factory	Elvis Costello	1:44
17.	Just A Memory	Elvis Costello	2:15
18.	I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down (Alternate Version)	Homer Banks, Alan Jones	2:43
19.	New Amsterdam (Alternate Version)	Elvis Costello	2:29
20.	Black And White World (Demo)	Elvis Costello	1:49
21.	Riot Act (Demo)	Elvis Costello	2:48
22.	5ive Gears In Reverse (Demo)	Elvis Costello	2:31
23.	Love For Tender (Demo)	Elvis Costello	2:05
24.	Men Called Uncle (Demo)	Elvis Costello	2:04
25.	King Horse (Demo)	Elvis Costello	2:43
26.	Seven O'Clock (Demo)	Elvis Costello	1:58
27.	High Fidelity (Live)	Elvis Costello	3:17
28.	Opportunity (Live)	Elvis Costello	2:33
29.	The Imposter (Live)	Elvis Costello	2:11
30.	Don't Look Back (Live) CBS Radio Commercial (hidden track)	William "Smokey" Robinson, Ronnie White N/A	3:01 1:30

Original discography pages

• Home Page discography page  •  A01  •  A02  •  A03  •  A05  • 
• S01  •  S02  •  S03  •  S04  •  S05  •  S06  •  S07  •  S08  •  S09  •  S10  •  S11  •  S12  •  S13  •  S14

Internal links

• Lyrics  •  Liner Notes

External links

• Allmusic  •  Wikipedia
• Discogs  •  musik-sammler.de
• Elvis Costello Reissues: Get Happy!!