Side one

1. "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...
   
   " (from My Aim Is True
   My 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...
   
   , 1977) – 3:22
2. "Watching the Detectives
   Watching the Detectives (song)
   "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...
   
   " (from single, 1978) – 3:41
3. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" (Nick Lowe
   Nick 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...
   
   ) (from single, 1979) – 3:31
4. "Oliver's Army
   Oliver's Army
   "Oliver's Army" is a song written by Elvis Costello, originally performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions and appearing on the album Armed Forces in 1979. It remains his most successful single, spending four weeks at Nº2 in the UK singles chart....
   
   " (from Armed Forces, 1979) – 2:58
5. "Pump It Up
   Pump It Up (Elvis Costello song)
   "Pump It Up" is a song by Elvis Costello. It originally appeared on Costello's second album This Year's Model which was the first he recorded with The Attractions.- Lyrics :...
   
   " (from 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....
   
   , 1978) – 3:17
6. "Accidents Will Happen
   Accidents Will Happen
   "Accidents Will Happen" is a song by Elvis Costello. It first appeared on the 1979 album Armed Forces, which he recorded with The Attractions. In reference to the song title, the cover of the single was printed inside-out...
   
   " (from Armed Forces, 1979) – 3:00
7. "Radio, Radio" (from single, 1978) – 3:06
8. "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down
   I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
   "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" is a song by Sam & Dave released in 1967, written by Homer Banks and Allen Jones.British musician Elvis Costello covered the song in 1980 for his album Get Happy!!. It was one of 3 singles taken from the album in the UK and peaked at number four. It became one of...
   
   " (Homer Banks
   Homer Banks
   Homer Banks was an African-American songwriter, singer and record producer, best known for his songs for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s...
   
   , Allen Jones
   Allen Jones (record producer)
   Allen Jones was an American record producer.Jones produced several albums for Albert King, and became the producer and manager for The Bar-Kays. He produced all of their records including their last records for Mercury Records. He formed their production company, and produced other acts such as...
   
   ) (from Get Happy!!, 1980) – 2:06

Side two

1. "Almost Blue
   Almost Blue (song)
   "Almost Blue" is a song by Elvis Costello that appears on his 1982 album Imperial Bedroom."Almost Blue" was also performed by Everything but the Girl , Diana Krall , The Reputation , Judy Wexler , Alison Moyet "Almost Blue" is a song by Elvis Costello (Declan Patrick MacManus) that appears on his...
   
   " (from Imperial Bedroom
   Imperial Bedroom
   Imperial Bedroom is a 1982 album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was the second Costello album, along with Almost Blue, not produced by Nick Lowe, the production duties handled by Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick...
   
   , 1982) – 2:47
2. "Beyond Belief" (from Imperial Bedroom, 1982) – 2:32
3. "Clubland" (from Trust, 1981) – 3:41
4. "Watch Your Step" from Trust, 1981) – 2:58
5. "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...
   
   " (from Punch the Clock
   Punch the Clock
   Punch the Clock is an album released in 1983 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was Costello's eighth album, his seventh with the Attractions since 1978. The album featured Costello's first U.S...
   
   , 1983) – 4:49
6. "I Wanna Be Loved" (Farnell Jenkins) (from Goodbye Cruel World
   Goodbye Cruel World (album)
   Goodbye Cruel World was Elvis Costello's ninth album overall and eighth with backing band The Attractions. It was released in 1984 by F-Beat Records in the UK and Columbia in the US....
   
   , 1984) – 3:50
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...
   
   " (from Punch the Clock, 1983) – 3:47
8. "The Only Flame in Town" (from Goodbye Cruel World, 1984) – 3:32

Compact Disc

1. "Alison" – 3:22
2. "Watching the Detectives" – 3:41
3. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" (Lowe) – 3:31
4. "Oliver's Army" – 2:58
5. "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" (from My Aim Is True, 1977) – 2:45
6. "Pump It Up" – 3:17
7. "Accidents Will Happen" – 3:00
8. "Radio, Radio" – 3:06
9. "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" – 2:06
10. "A Good Year for the Roses" (Jerry Chesnut
    Jerry Chesnut
    Jerry Donald Chesnut is an American country music songwriter. His hits include "A Good Year for the Roses" and "T-R-O-U-B-L-E" ....
    
    ) (from Almost Blue
    Almost Blue
    Almost Blue is an album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was recorded May 1981 in Nashville, and released on 23 October 1981. The record's songs consist entirely of country covers, including works originally written by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Gram Parsons...
    
    , 1981) – 3:07
11. "Almost Blue" – 2:47
12. "Beyond Belief" – 2:32
13. "Clubland" – 3:41
14. "Watch Your Step" – 2:58
15. "Man Out of Time" (from Imperial Bedroom, 1982) – 5:28
16. "Shipbuilding" – 4:49
17. "I Wanna Be Loved" – 3:50
18. "Everyday I Write the Book" – 3:47
19. "The Only Flame in Town" – 3:32

Personnel

1. 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, 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...
   
   
2. 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:...
   
    – keyboards
   Keyboard instrument
   A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
   
   
3. 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....
   
    – bass
   Bass guitar
   The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
   
   
4. 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:...
   
    – drums
   Drum kit
   A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
   
   , percussion
   Percussion instrument
   A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
   
   

Additional personnel

1. 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...
   
    – vocals
2. 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...
   
    – vocals
3. Clover
   Clover (band)
   Clover was an American country rock band formed in Mill Valley, California in 1967. They are best known as the backup band for Elvis Costello's 1977 debut album My Aim Is True , and for members later forming or joining more successful acts, including Huey Lewis and the News, The Doobie Brothers,...
   
    – various instruments
4. 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
   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...
   
   
5. Andrew Bodnar – bass
6. 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"...
   
    – drums
7. Darryl Hall
   Darryl Hall
   Darryl Hall is a former Grey Cup champion and all-star Canadian Football League defensive back. He also played 3 years in the National Football League with the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers....
   
    – vocals
8. Green Gartside
   Green Gartside
   Green Gartside , is a British musician, and the frontman of the band Scritti Politti....
   
    – vocals

Charts

Certifications