Side one

1. "Let Them All Talk" – 3:06
2. "Everyday I Write the Book
   Everyday I Write the Book
   "Everyday I Write the Book" is a song written by Elvis Costello, from Punch the Clock, an album released in 1983 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song peaked at 28 on the UK Singles Chart and was their first hit single in the United States, placing in the Billboard Top 40.-Lyrics:The...
   
   " – 3:54
3. "The Greatest Thing" – 3:04
4. "The Element Within Her" – 2:52
5. "Love Went Mad" – 3:13
6. "Shipbuilding
   Shipbuilding (song)
   "Shipbuilding" is a song written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer . Written during the Falklands War of 1982, Costello's lyrics discuss the contradiction of the war bringing back prosperity to traditional shipbuilding areas of Merseyside , North East England and Belfast to build new ships to...
   
   " (Clive Langer
   Clive Langer
   Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...
   
   , Costello) – 4:53

Side two

1. "T.K.O. (Boxing Day)" – 3:28
2. "Charm School" – 3:55
3. "The Invisible Man" – 3:04
4. "Mouth Almighty" – 3:04
5. "King of Thieves" – 3:45
6. "Pills and Soap" – 3:43
7. "The World and His Wife" – 3:32

Bonus tracks (1995 Rykodisc)

1. "Heathen Town" – 3:10
2. "The Flirting Kind" – 3:00
3. "Walking on Thin Ice
   Walking on Thin Ice
   "Walking on Thin Ice" is a New Wave/dance song by Yoko Ono, released in 1981. She and John Lennon concluded the recording of the song on December 8, 1980. It was upon their return from the recording studio to The Dakota that Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman...
   
   " (Yoko Ono
   Yoko Ono
   is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
   
   ) – 3:52
4. "The Town Where Time Stood Still" – 3:52
5. "Shatterproof" – 2:19
6. "The World and his Wife" (Live) – 3:13
7. "Everyday I Write the Book
   Everyday I Write the Book
   "Everyday I Write the Book" is a song written by Elvis Costello, from Punch the Clock, an album released in 1983 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song peaked at 28 on the UK Singles Chart and was their first hit single in the United States, placing in the Billboard Top 40.-Lyrics:The...
   
   " (Live) – 2:21

Bonus disc (2003 Rhino)

1. "Everyday I Write the Book
   Everyday I Write the Book
   "Everyday I Write the Book" is a song written by Elvis Costello, from Punch the Clock, an album released in 1983 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song peaked at 28 on the UK Singles Chart and was their first hit single in the United States, placing in the Billboard Top 40.-Lyrics:The...
   
   " (Alternate version) – 2:22
2. "Baby Pictures" – 1:30
3. "Heathen Town" – 3:10
4. "The Flirting Kind" – 3:00
5. "Walking on Thin Ice
   Walking on Thin Ice
   "Walking on Thin Ice" is a New Wave/dance song by Yoko Ono, released in 1981. She and John Lennon concluded the recording of the song on December 8, 1980. It was upon their return from the recording studio to The Dakota that Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman...
   
   " (Ono) – 3:52
6. "Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down, Margaret" (BBC Session) (Costello, Roger Chalery, Andy Cox
   Andy Cox
   Andy Cox is a British guitarist, who along with Dave Wakeling, founded The Beat in 1978.The Beat achieved eight Top 40 singles and three hit albums in the UK before announcing their break up in 1983...
   
   , Everett Morton
   Everett Morton
   Everett Morton is a drummer and percussionist from Birmingham, England, most notable as the drummer for the early 1980s ska band The Beat. Originally from the West Indies, Morton is known for his distinctive drumming style that includes syncopation and polyrhythm in a rock beat...
   
   , David Steele
   David Steele (musician)
   David "Shuffle" Steele is an English musician who was a member of The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals.-Career:...
   
   , Dave Wakeling
   Dave Wakeling
   Dave Wakeling is an English rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is most famous for singing and writing songs for the 1980s 2-Tone band The Beat and also General Public.-Career:...
   
   ) – 5:17
7. "Danger Zone" (BBC Session) (Curtis Mayfield
   Curtis Mayfield
   Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
   
   )) – 2:18
8. "Seconds of Pleasure" – 3:44
9. "The Town Where Time Stood Still" – 3:33
10. "The World and his Wife" (Solo version) – 2:44
11. "Shatterproof" – 2:15
12. "Heathen Town" (Demo version) – 2:17
13. "The Flirting Kind" (Demo version) – 2:52
14. "Let Them All Talk" (Demo version) – 2:14
15. "King of Thieves" (Demo version) – 3:20
16. "The Invisible Man" (Demo version) – 2:124
17. "The Element Within Her" (Demo version) – 2:13
18. "Love Went Mad" (Demo version) – 3:01
19. "The Greatest Thing" (Demo version) – 2:25
20. "Mouth Almighty" (Demo version) – 3:03
21. "Charm School" (Demo version) – 2:17
22. "Possession" (Live) – 2:29
23. "Secondary Modern" (Live) – 3:02
24. "The Bells" (Live) (Johnny Bristol
    Johnny Bristol
    Johnny Bristol , was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
    
    , Marvin Gaye
    Marvin Gaye
    Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
    
    , Anna Gordy, Elgie Stover
    Elgie Stover
    Elgie Stover is an American songwriter, composer, producer and background singer, most famous for his associations with uncle Harvey Fuqua and legendary Motown star Marvin Gaye, co-writing two of Gaye's songs from the singer's acclaimed 1971 album, What's Going On.Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio,...
    
    ) – 4:14
25. "Watch Your Step" (Live) – 3:22
26. "Backstabbers/King Horse" (Live) (Leon Huff, Gene McFadden
    Gene McFadden
    Gene McFadden was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as one of the key members of the Philadelphia International record label, and was one-half of the successful team of McFadden & Whitehead with John Whitehead.-Biography:McFadden met John Whitehead as a teenager...
    
    , John Whitehead
    John Whitehead
    John Whitehead may refer to:* John Whitehead , 15th century Irish theologian* John Meek Whitehead , Wisconsin politician* John Whitehead , British explorer* J. H. C. Whitehead , British mathematician...
    
    , Costello) – 4:47

Personnel

• 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...
  
   – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  ; Epiphone
  Epiphone
  The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
  
  , Gretsch
  Gretsch
  The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
  
   and Fender guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  s; Synclavier
  Synclavier
  The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
  
   and Casiotone
  Casiotone
  Casiotone refers to a series of home electronic keyboards released by Casio Computer Co. in the early 1980s.These first keyboards used a sound synthesis technique known as Vowel-Consonant synthesis to approximate the sounds of other instruments...
  
  ; all sounds and voices on "Pills and Soap"
• 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:...
  
   – Bösendorfer
  Bösendorfer
  Bösendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. The brand is known for producing pianos with a uniquely rich, singing, and sustaining tone...
  
   piano, Emulator, Fairlight CMI
  Fairlight CMI
  The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
  
  , Vox organ, Hammond organ
  Hammond organ
  The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
  
  , Synclavier
• Bruce Thomas
  Bruce Thomas
  Bruce Thomas is best known as bassist for The Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record....
  
   – Electric Wal bass guitar
• Pete Thomas
  Pete Thomas
  Pete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...
  
   – Gretsch Drums
  Gretsch Drums
  Gretsch Drums is a leading drum manufacturing company, based in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Their motto is "That Great Gretsch Sound!"- History :...
  
  , Sabian cymbals

The TKO Horns

The TKO Horns

The TKO Horns were horn section formed in 1982 when Big Jim Paterson , Paul Speare and Brian Maurice left Dexys Midnight Runners. After a brief spell touring with Paul Young's Q Tips they began performing on a regular basis with Elvis Costello...

• Jim Paterson – trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• Jeff Blythe – alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  , baritone saxophone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  , clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  
• Paul Speare
  Paul Speare
  Paul George Speare is a former member of Dexys Midnight Runners, The TKO Horns and The Expresso Bongo Orchestra.He was born to Reginald and Julia Speare, in Romford, Essex. He attended Dagenham County High School where he started playing drums, piano and viola when he was 15 years of age. At 16...
  
   – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  , flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Dave Plews – trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  

Additional personnel

• Stewart Robson – trumpet & flugelhorn
  Flugelhorn
  The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
  
   on "The World and His Wife"
• Afrodiziak
  Afrodiziak
  Afrodiziak was the collective name used by the British singers Caron Wheeler and Claudia Fontaine in the mid-to-late 1980s. As a duo, they were best known for performing backup vocals on Elvis Costello's 1983 album Punch the Clock, especially its single, the international hit "Everyday I Write the...
  
   (Caron Wheeler
  Caron Wheeler
  Caron Wheeler is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and singing the lead vocals on the two biggest hits for Soul II Soul Caron Wheeler (19 January 1963) is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and...
  
   and Claudia Fontaine
  Claudia Fontaine
  Claudia Fontaine is a backing vocalist from Bethnal Green, London, England. She has sung with Betty Boo, Dusty Springfield, Claudia Brücken, Julia Fordham and the bands Pink Floyd and The Beatmasters...
  
  ) – backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Chet Baker
  Chet Baker
  Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
  
   – trumpet solo on "Shipbuilding"
• David Bedford
  David Bedford
  David Vickerman Bedford , was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music....
  
   – string arrangements
  String instrument
  A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
  
  
• Morris Pert
  Morris Pert
  Morris David Brough Pert was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music...
  
   – percussion

Charts

External links

• "Punch the Clock" - essay by Connor Ratliff