Favorite New Wave Albums #3 - My Aim is True

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Another day, another Rock and Roll Hall of Famer as I count down my favorite new wave albums. We are at #3: My Aim is True by Elvis Costello. Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick McManus) is a British new wave pioneer, a Grammy Award winner, record producer, author, and actor. His first three albums appear on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and Costello himself ranks at #80 on that magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (only 80???) Oh, and he's married to Diana Krall! Produced by Nick Lowe, Costello's 1977 platinum debut album, My Aim is True, is a thing of wonder. Although Elvis Costello is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his long-time backup band, The Attractions, (other than keyboardist Steve Nieve's appearance on "Watching the Detectives,") The Attractions did not play on My Aim is True, rather, members of Mill Valley, California country rock band Clover performed on the record. A data entry clerk, Costello wrote the songs late at night as his (first) wife and son slept, as well as during the commute to his job. The record was recorded, for 1000 British Pounds, during six four-hour sessions, for which Costello called in sick from his job. And it's definitely an album worth calling in sick for! The reggae-fied "Watching the Detectives" was not included on the original UK pressing, but was made available as the final track on the US release. The lovely "Alison" (beautifully covered by Linda Ronstadt) might have failed to chart as a single, but is widely considered one of Costello's finest songs, and "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" is, frankly, one of the greatest new wave tunes ever recorded. (Fun Fact: Elvis Costello once appeared on Sesame Street, performing "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," with the popular Muppet, Elmo, as "The Monster went and Ate My Red 2!") Yesterday, I gave Blondie's Parallel Lines album a sincere Dilly Dilly. Which means that My Aim is True deserves a Dilly Dilly Dilly! At least! (Info verified by Wikipedia)