The Attractions
BandWikipedia
19
MENTIONS
10
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 19 mentions across 10 episodes found for "The Attractions".
Oct 12, 2026
Ben EisenHOST
Yes
Joel LavelleGUEST
... from his first album, before The Attractions.
Ben EisenHOST
[laughs]
Joel LavelleGUEST
Um, this was featured on Sesame Street with Elvis Costello singing, um, about the number two.
BrodyHOST
shirts hats maybe i have another design to find besides the skull logo it's a it's a record with uh misplaced punctual on it and it looks more more retro kind of like an 80s thing to it i kind of like it but uh that's not live yet so i will post when it is and i'll probably mention it in the next week's episode So, yeah, that should do it.
BrodyHOST
I'm going to leave you with, of course, my favorite Elvis, Elvis Costello with the attractions from his album, This Year's Model.
BrodyHOST
I think that was 78, I want to say.
BrodyHOST
This is no action.
TonyGUEST
It, whether it sounds the same or not, I'm not sure, but it certainly is a, uh, you've gotta delve into it when you're listening to it, and I, I don't know that I c- got to the center of, of what they're about.
JosephHOST
Let's move on to Elvis Costello and The Attractions release for 1980 called Get Happy!.
JosephHOST
The big hit off of this album, at least in the UK, was a song called I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down.
JosephHOST
We have previously listened to the songs New Amsterdam, King Horse, and Black and White World.
Christopher GreyHOST
They knew how to propel the song along.
Christopher GreyHOST
Yeah, and who's the bass player for the Attractions? That's a good question.
Christopher GreyHOST
One of
Paul HinesHOST
the Thomases.
Paul HinesHOST
There's Pete and Bruce, right? Bruce Thomas.
Paul HinesHOST
Bruce Thomas from The Attractions, another killer bass player, same time period.
Paul HinesHOST
The bass section here has that eighth note kick drum pattern, which I thought was cool because the rest of the band kind of breaks down, but the kick keeps going.
Christopher GreyHOST
And you go back to those bass parts.
BrianHOST
Dude.
BrianHOST
Listen, Mickey had already been in a cover band with Paul Rogers, who will go on to be in Free and Bad Company, with Bruce Thomas, who will be in Elvis Costello and the Attractions.
BrianHOST
He'd been on Island Records.
BrianHOST
He'd done time with several other acts, and eventually he's going to perform alongside a real who's who of rock royalty, Clapton, Paul Weller, a whole bunch of people.
Rob ElbaHOST
But did you also know that it was initially released by Lowe with his band Brinsley Schwartz on their 1974 album The New Favorites of Brinsley Schwartz? The song was released as a single, but was a commercial failure and failed to chart.
Rob ElbaHOST
In 1978, Elvis Costello and the Attractions recorded a cover of the song for the B-side of Nick Lowe's 1978 single American Squirm.
Rob ElbaHOST
This version, produced by Lowe, was added to the U.S. release of Costello's 1979 Armed Forces, and the rest is history.
Rob ElbaHOST
Here's a blistering live version of the song recorded at Pink Pop in 1979.
RobHOST
I don't know if interesting is exactly the right word.
RobHOST
This is the Attractions album, Mad About the Wrong Boy.
RobHOST
Now, we kind of know this band, okay? The Attractions, well, they're the backing band of Elvis Costello from 1977 to 1986 and from 1994 to 1996, right? But in 1980, the attractions waited for Elvis to leave the building, and they went ahead and did their own thing.
RobHOST
Mad About the Wrong Boy is their only album with original songs by all three members.
RobHOST
Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, and I almost said Steve Thomas.
RobHOST
I mentioned that straight jacket is my favorite song on the album.
RobHOST
And I think that it's only okay.
RobHOST
It's, it's bouncy and it's catchy, but this song like the rest, um, kind of feels like the attractions are overcompensating for the lack of their usual front man to me.
speaker_5UNKNOWN
so I think that about
BrodyHOST
do it oh and if you want to support the show that should be linked down below if you want to send us a fan mail aka message us we will respond So I'm going to leave you with one of my favorites, Mr. Elvis Costello and the Attractions with the song that got him kicked off of Saturday Night Live, which is still like of all the people to get kicked off of there, Elvis Costello did it.
BrodyHOST
But yeah, this is his classic Radio Radio.
BrodyHOST
You'll know it as soon as you hear it.
speaker_0HOST
Hit number 14 in the UK, it had a bunch of classics alongside a brand new song at the time called Killed by Death.
speaker_0HOST
In 1986, Elvis Costello and the Attractions released Blood and Chocolate.
speaker_0HOST
This one hit number 16 on the UK albums chart.
speaker_0HOST
It had the songs I Want You and Tokyo Storm Warning.
Brett VargoHOST
Again.
Brett VargoHOST
Well, it is the one and only Steve naive from the attractions whose sense of invention and mastery of a wide palette of keyboards from piano to harpsichord to synth to, of course, organs.
Brett VargoHOST
It's staggering.
Brett VargoHOST
Now, his organ of choice on the early Attractions records was the Vox Continental.
Brett VargoHOST
I mean, I could have gone with Radio Radio or Pump It Up or Chelsea or Love for Tender or whatever.
Brett VargoHOST
You get the picture.
Brett VargoHOST
But I'm going to go with the beat, Elvis Costello, and the attractions.
Brett VargoHOST
And I'm losing my voice with the mighty Steve Naive.