Watching the Detectives (song)
Encyclopedia
"Watching the Detectives" is a 1977
single
by English
singer-songwriter
Elvis Costello
. It was his first single that credited his backing band, the Attractions, and gave him his first UK hit single. The song featured on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #354.
beat, was described by Rolling Stone
as "a clever but furious burst of cynicism", and they also described the song as "indisputably classic". Allmusics Mark Deming described the song: "a skeletal minor-key melody that slowly but effectively wound itself into a solid knot of fierce emotional tension, pushing the bitter lyrical atmosphere further into the darkness". Costello described how he wrote the song:
Costello considers "Watching the Detectives" his favourite song from the first five years of his career. He later performed the song with a big band
arrangement, which he admitted was "a desecration to people who love the tenseness of the original recording", but explained that "the story that's going on, and the musical allusions in the original arrangements, relate very much to the realization of this song as an orchestral piece using the film music feeling and the swing rhythms of '50s detective shows."
The song has also been featured as the theme song in the PBS show, History Detectives
.
, was the first to be credited to 'Elvis Costello & the Attractions', reflecting the new backing band that he was using, previous releases being credited solely to the singer. The lead track was, in fact, recorded in May 1977, before the Attractions existed - the backing band on the song were Steve Goulding
on drums and Andrew Bodnar on bass guitar, both from Graham Parker
's band, The Rumour
. Keyboard overdubs were added later by Steve Nason (later better-known as Steve Nieve
). It was also the first top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart
for Costello, reaching #15 and spending a total of eleven weeks in the chart.
The UK and US singles (released in October and November 1977 respectively) featured different B-sides, with the UK version backed by two live tracks from the 7 August performance at the Nashville Club and the US version backed by "Alison
", the lead track from Costello's second single. The song was reissued on a four-track 12-inch EP
in 1985.
, where it reached #35, and Canada
(#60). In the United States it reached #108 on the Hot 100.
, which preceded it, or This Year's Model
, which followed in March 1978. It was, however, added to the US release of My Aim Is True (March 1978). Two live versions of "Watching the Detectives" from 1978 were released, one from March 6 on the Canadian promotional album Live at the El Mocambo
, and another from June 4 on the Live at Hollywood High
EP, which came with initial copies of the Armed Forces album (January 1979). A later live version was included in the Costello & Nieve
box-set in 1996. A live medley of "Watching the Detectives" and "My Funny Valentine
" recorded in Tokyo
was included on the Cruel Smile
album by Elvis Costello & the Impostors in 2002. The studio version was also included on several 'best of' compilations of Costello's work, including Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers
(1980, Stiff), The Best of Elvis Costello - The Man (1985, Telstar), Girls Girls Girls (1989, Demon), The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1994, Demon), and The Very Best of Elvis Costello
(1999, Universal TV).
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
by English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
. It was his first single that credited his backing band, the Attractions, and gave him his first UK hit single. The song featured on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #354.
The song
The song, with a lyric about a lover who would rather watch TV, sung over a simple reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
beat, was described by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
as "a clever but furious burst of cynicism", and they also described the song as "indisputably classic". Allmusics Mark Deming described the song: "a skeletal minor-key melody that slowly but effectively wound itself into a solid knot of fierce emotional tension, pushing the bitter lyrical atmosphere further into the darkness". Costello described how he wrote the song:
"I was in my flat in the suburbs of London before I was a professional musician, and I'd been up for thirty-six hours. I was actually listening to another inductee's record, the ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
's first album. When I first put it on, I thought it was just terrible. Then I played it again and I liked it better. By the end, I stayed up all night listening to it on headphones, and I thought it was great. Then I wrote "Watching the Detectives"."
Costello considers "Watching the Detectives" his favourite song from the first five years of his career. He later performed the song with a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
arrangement, which he admitted was "a desecration to people who love the tenseness of the original recording", but explained that "the story that's going on, and the musical allusions in the original arrangements, relate very much to the realization of this song as an orchestral piece using the film music feeling and the swing rhythms of '50s detective shows."
The song has also been featured as the theme song in the PBS show, History Detectives
History Detectives
History Detectives is a documentary television series on PBS. A group of researchers help people to seek answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure...
.
Original single releases
The single, produced by Nick LoweNick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, was the first to be credited to 'Elvis Costello & the Attractions', reflecting the new backing band that he was using, previous releases being credited solely to the singer. The lead track was, in fact, recorded in May 1977, before the Attractions existed - the backing band on the song were Steve Goulding
Steve Goulding
Steve Goulding is an English drummer, best known for his memberships with Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Associates, Poi Dog Pondering and The Mekons. With the Associates he had a UK #9 hit single with "Party Fears Two"...
on drums and Andrew Bodnar on bass guitar, both from Graham Parker
Graham Parker
Graham Parker is a British rock singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the popular British band Graham Parker & the Rumour.-Early career :...
's band, The Rumour
The Rumour
The Rumour were a British rock band in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known as the backup band for Graham Parker, whose early records were credited to Graham Parker & The Rumour...
. Keyboard overdubs were added later by Steve Nason (later better-known as Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve is an English keyboardist, best known for his work with Elvis Costello and the Attractions and Elvis Costello and the Imposters.-Musical career:...
). It was also the first top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for Costello, reaching #15 and spending a total of eleven weeks in the chart.
The UK and US singles (released in October and November 1977 respectively) featured different B-sides, with the UK version backed by two live tracks from the 7 August performance at the Nashville Club and the US version backed by "Alison
Alison (song)
"Alison" is the fifth track on Elvis Costello's first album, My Aim Is True, released in 1977. Because "Alison" was recorded before Elvis Costello and the Attractions formed, his backing band was Clover...
", the lead track from Costello's second single. The song was reissued on a four-track 12-inch EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1985.
UK Stiff Records release
- Release date: October 1977
- Format: 7"
- Catalogue No.: BUY20
- "Watching the Detectives"
- "Blame it on Cain (live)"
- "Mystery Dance (live)"
US Columbia Records release
- Release date: November 1977
- Format: 7"
- Catalogue No.: 3-10705
- "Watching the Detectives"
- "AlisonAlison (song)"Alison" is the fifth track on Elvis Costello's first album, My Aim Is True, released in 1977. Because "Alison" was recorded before Elvis Costello and the Attractions formed, his backing band was Clover...
"
Chart placings
The single reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart. It also charted in several other countries including AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where it reached #35, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(#60). In the United States it reached #108 on the Hot 100.
Inclusion on albums
The song was not included on the original U.K. releases of either My Aim Is TrueMy Aim Is True
My Aim Is True is the debut album by Elvis Costello.The album was recorded at Pathway Studios in Holloway, London Borough of Islington, over the course of 1976 during late-night studio sessions, in a total of twenty-four hours...
, which preceded it, or This Year's Model
This Year's Model
This Year's Model is Elvis Costello's second album and his first with The Attractions, released in 1978 . It was recorded mainly at Eden Studios in West London....
, which followed in March 1978. It was, however, added to the US release of My Aim Is True (March 1978). Two live versions of "Watching the Detectives" from 1978 were released, one from March 6 on the Canadian promotional album Live at the El Mocambo
Live at the El Mocambo (Elvis Costello album)
Live at the El Mocambo is a 1993 live album by Elvis Costello and The Attractions. Recorded in March 1978 and released only as a Canadian promotional album in the same year, it was heavily bootlegged...
, and another from June 4 on the Live at Hollywood High
Live at Hollywood High
Live at Hollywood High is a recording by Elvis Costello and the Attractions from a 1978 concert at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, California. Three songs from the concert were originally included as a bonus 7" vinyl EP that sold with initial pressings of the Armed Forces album in 1979...
EP, which came with initial copies of the Armed Forces album (January 1979). A later live version was included in the Costello & Nieve
Costello & Nieve
Costello & Nieve is a limited edition five-disc 1996 live album by Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve recorded in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and New York City, which was released in the USA only.- Disc 1 :# "Temptation" - 3:50...
box-set in 1996. A live medley of "Watching the Detectives" and "My Funny Valentine
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
" recorded in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
was included on the Cruel Smile
Cruel Smile
Cruel Smile is a 2002 album by Elvis Costello and the Imposters. It consists of B-sides and leftover material from the When I Was Cruel sessions. Many critics panned it. [See AllMusic review]-Tracks:All tracks by Elvis Costello except were noted...
album by Elvis Costello & the Impostors in 2002. The studio version was also included on several 'best of' compilations of Costello's work, including Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers
Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers
Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers is an Elvis Costello and the Attractions album comprising tracks not previously released on albums. It is mostly made up of b-sides, however it does feature two previously unreleased recordings...
(1980, Stiff), The Best of Elvis Costello - The Man (1985, Telstar), Girls Girls Girls (1989, Demon), The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1994, Demon), and The Very Best of Elvis Costello
The Very Best of Elvis Costello
The Very Best of Elvis Costello is a compilation album on two compact discs by Elvis Costello, sampling his recorded work from the years 1977 through 1998. First issued on Polygram Records on September 21, 1999, it was re-released less than two years later on Rhino Records...
(1999, Universal TV).
Cover versions
- The song was covered by Duran DuranDuran DuranDuran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
on their 1995 Thank YouThank You (Duran Duran album)Thank You is a covers album by Duran Duran released in April 1995, their follow-up to 1993's Duran Duran . It did well on the charts , but was received very negatively by critics...
album. It was also covered by jazz singer Jenna MamminaJenna MamminaJenna Mammina is a jazz/pop singer originally from St. Joseph, Michigan but based in the San Francisco bay area since 1986.-Biography:Mammina was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, and began singing as a child, singing in church from the age of five, and appearing in school musicals. In her teens she...
on her debut album Under the Influence in 1999. - In 2002, TotoToto (band)Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...
recorded a version of the song for their Through the Looking GlassThrough the Looking Glass (Toto album)Through the Looking Glass is the 11th studio album by the American band Toto. It was released in 2002, three years after their last studio release, "Mindfields." The album consists of covers of songs that have inspired the band.-Reception:...
covers album.