In the 80's Elvis Costello's songwriting was so prolific that as well as releasing albums under his own name and with The Attractions, he also issued a number of singles under pseudonyms like The Imposter, The Emotional Toothpaste, and The Coward Brothers with T-Bone Burnette. 'Pills And Soap' was one of his better songs, and it did appear on the 'Punch The Clock' album, so I've used the extended b-side for this post, and that was followed by another excellent 7" in 'Peace In Our Time'. Costello teamed up with his producer T-Bone Burnette to form The Coward Brothers for 'The People's Limosine' single in 1985, and a couple of years later The McManus Gang recorded 'A Town Called Big Nothing', featuring Costello's dad Ross McManus on trumpet, and included here is an exclusive mix of both sides of the single. Sometimes Costello used his alter egos for b-sides to singles from his main band, and so songs by Elvis Costello And His Confederates, Napoeleon Dynamite & The Royal Guard and The Emotional Toothpaste appeared on the flips of Elvis Costello & The Attractions singles. After a gap of 30 years The Imposter made a come-back in 2017, with a cover of Paul Simon's 'American Tune', followed by a song used in the 1998 film 'Soft Sand, Blue Sea', which was pressed in a run of 500 copies and sold on the 'Imperial Bedroom And Other Chambers' tour. This is now an extremely hard-to-find rarity and cannot be located anywhere on the net, so I've extracted the music from the film itself just so we can hear a brief idea of the song. One of the highlights of this collection is being able to hear the title track to the 'Imperial Bedroom' album, which never appeared on the original release, and so enjoy these mysterious Costello recordings, some of which have remained hidden away for some time, and with the resurrection of the name for Elvis Costello And The Imposters new album 'The Boy Named If' then it's time they were brought out again and enjoyed.
Track listing
01 The Stamping Ground (b-side by The Emotional Toothpaste of 'You Little Fool' 1982)
02 Imperial Bedroom (out-take by Napoleon Dynamite & The Royal Guard 1982)
03 Pills And Soap (extended b-side by The Imposter 1983)
04 Peace In Our Time (single by The Imposter 1984)
05 Withered And Died (b-side of 'Peace In Our Time')
06 The People's Limousine (single by The Coward Brothers 1985)
07 They'll Never Take Her Love From Me (b-side of 'The People's Limosine')
08 Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo (b-side by The Costello Show of 'Don't Let Me Be
Misunderstood' 1986)
09 A Town Called Big Nothing (The Big Return) (single by The McManus Gang 1987)
10 Shoes Without Heels (b-side by Elvis Costello And The Confederates of 'Blue Chair' 1987)
11 True Love Ways (b-side by Elvis Costello And His Confederates of 'Brilliant Mistake' 2005)
12 I Can't Turn It Off (by D. P. Costello from 'Unfaithfull Music & Soundtrack Album' 2015)
13 American Tune (single by The Imposter 2017)
14 Lucky Dog (b-side by Sgt. Larry Singer of 'American Tune')
15 Bright Blue Times (10" single by The Imposter 2017)
09 A Town Called Big Nothing (The Big Return) (single by The McManus Gang 1987)
10 Shoes Without Heels (b-side by Elvis Costello And The Confederates of 'Blue Chair' 1987)
11 True Love Ways (b-side by Elvis Costello And His Confederates of 'Brilliant Mistake' 2005)
12 I Can't Turn It Off (by D. P. Costello from 'Unfaithfull Music & Soundtrack Album' 2015)
13 American Tune (single by The Imposter 2017)
14 Lucky Dog (b-side by Sgt. Larry Singer of 'American Tune')
15 Bright Blue Times (10" single by The Imposter 2017)
