RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesElvis Costello 's debut LP My Aim Is True will turn 50 next year, but it's such a landmark event that he's not waiting to celebrate. He's instead dropping a massive, five-disc box set of music from this era on Oct. 2 that features 104 tracks in total, 52 of them previously unreleased. The package is called My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition) , and he's shared four early renditions of "Watching the Detectives" today to give fans a little taste of what's to come when the packages hit record stores shelves.
"When first proposed, I thought the whole idea of celebrating a 50th Anniversary of My Aim Is True was preposterous," Costello writes in the liner notes. "It made my teeth itch. It couldn't just be set up like a venerable object in a glass case."
The first disc is a remastered version of the original album that fuses together the track listings from the U.K. and U.S. releases. "Last night I listened to this wonderfully wonky record in its entirety for the first time in about 45 years," My Aim Is True producer Nick Lowe writes in the notes. "[It was a] priceless opportunity to observe at close range the extraordinary work of one of the foremost composers of popular song of this or any other era."
The set continues with a collection of 17 recordings from 1975 and 1976 that pre-date the My Aim Is True sessions. He calls this one The Blue Print . They include homemade bedroom tapes, 13 recordings from a 1976 session at the Hope & Anchor studio, and a newly discovered reel of songs that Costello recorded that year, including an early rendition of "Radio Radio" known as "Radio Soul."
Disc three is titled The Stranger in the House. It spotlights all of the surviving demos and outtakes from My Aim Is True . The four disc, Becoming the Attractions, consists of live material from his earliest gigs with the Attractions. And the set wraps up with Covered in Clover , an unreleased reunion show that Costello staged in 2007 with the band Clover, who backed him in the studio on My Aim Is True , before some of them went on to form Huey Lewis and the News. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
"Making my first record seemed like the beginning of something that I'd imagined for a long time, before I had any sense of a potential audience, let alone the expectation and the assumptions of others about songs written and performed in mere minutes," Costello writes in the notes. "Nevertheless, I raise a chaste glass to My Aim Is True and all who sail in her."
Costello and the Imposters kick off the next leg of their ongoing tour Sept. 10 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It wraps up Sept, 24 in Victoria, Canada.
My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition) Box Set Track List
1. "Welcome to the Working Week" – 2026 Remaster 2. "Miracle Man" – 2026 Remaster 3. "No Dancing" – 2026 Remaster 4." Blame It on Cain" – 2026 Remaster 5. "Alison" – 2026 Remaster 6. "Sneaky Feelings" – 2026 Remaster 7. "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" – 2026 Remaster 8. "Less Than Zero" – 2026 Remaster 9. "Mystery Dance" – 2026 Remaster 10. "Pay It Back" – 2026 Remaster 11. "I'm Not Angry" – 2026 Remaster 12. "Waiting for the End of the World" – 2026 Remaster 13. "Watching the Detectives" – Single Version
CD2: The Blue Print 1. "I Turn Around" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 2. "Losing You" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 3. "Leverman" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 4. "Citizen Junction" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 5. I Hear a Melody" – Pathway Studios 6. "Poison Moon" – Bedroom Recording 7. "Wave a White Flag" – Bedroom Recording 8. "Mercury Wings" – Ms. Dore's Tape** 9. "Jump Up" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 10. "No Star" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 11. "Walk On" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 12. "Radio Soul" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 13. "Clean Money" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 14. "Don't Put a Levy on My Love" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 15. "Play It Safe" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 16. "Imagination (Is a Powerful Deceiver)" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 17. "I Can't Turn It Off" – Hope & Anchor Studio Related Content See Mavis Staples, Hozier, Elvis Costello, Warren Haynes Sing ‘The Weight’ Susanna Hoffs, Elvis Costello Cover the Stones' 'Connection' for Keith Richards' Birthday Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams to Recreate 'Blood on the Tracks' at 50th Anniversary Show Elvis Costello to Play Early Classics on 2025 'Radio Soul!' Tour
1. "Radio Sweetheart" – My Aim Is True Outtake 2. "Cheap Reward" – Bedroom Recording 3. "Mystery Dance" – Bedroom Recording 4. "Stranger in the House" – My Aim Is True Outtake 5. "Running Out of Angels" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 6. "Just Like a Jukebox" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 7. "I Don't Want to Go Home" – Pathway Studios 8. "Blame It on Cain" – Bedroom Recording 9. "Blue Minute" – Ms. Dore's Tape** 10. "Pay It Back" – Bedroom Recording ** 11. "Exiles Road" – Flip City – Hope & Anchor Studio** 12. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" – Flip City – Hope & Anchor Studio** 13. "Sweet Revival" – Flip City – Hope & Anchor Studio** 14. "Pay It Back" – Flip City – Hope & Anchor Studio** 15. "Imagination (Is a Powerful Deceiver)" – Flip City – Hope & Anchor Studio** 16. "Living in Paradise" – Hope & Anchor Studio** 17. "Welcome to the Working Week" – Pathway Studios 18. "Miracle Man" – Bedroom Recording** 19. "Miracle Man" – Pathway Studios 20. "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" – Ms. Dore's Tape** 21. "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" – Pathway Studios 22. "Waiting for the End of the World" – Pathway Studios 23. "Living in Paradise" – My Aim Is True Outtake 24. "Call on Me" – Pathway Studios 25. "Watching the Detectives" – Pathway Studios Trio Version** 26. "No Action" – Pathway Studios Trio Version 27. "Poison Moon" – Ms. Dore's Tape** 28. "Stranger in the House" – Ms. Dore's Tape**
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