Elvis Costello released My Aim Is True, his debut album

My Aim Is True Elvis Costello

Released: July 22, 1977 Peak: 32 US, 14 UK, 24 CN, 25 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.06 UK, 1.06 world (includes US + UK) Genre: new wave

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Welcome to the Working Week Miracle Man No Dancing Blame It on Cain Alison Sneaky Feelings The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes Less Than Zero Mystery Dance Pay It Back I’m Not Angry Waiting for the End of the World Watching the Detectives * only on U.S. version Other Songs from This Era: Radio Sweetheart

Rating: 4.460 out of 5.00 (average of 29 ratings) Quotable: “A phenomenal debut, capturing a songwriter and musician whose words were as rich and clever as his music.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “For the first time since Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello proved that skinny, pale guys with glasses could rock just as hard as any leather-clad macho man.” RV The “geeky, awkward 22-year-old” BL from Liverpool worked as a computer operator for Elizabeth Arden, a cosmetics firm, MM supporting his wife (he married in 1974) and child (also born in 1974). The album cover, designed by Barney Bubbles, featured “a photograph of a pigeon-toed, bespectacled Costello, looking more like the computer programmer…than the rock star Costello was to become.” TB Regardless of how he looked, My Aim Is True “established Costello as one of the enduring talents of the era.” TB Pub Rock He had “stored up a century’s worth of resentment.” BL He “wrote songs in a small notebook and performed them in the mid-1970s at pub-rock venues at night.” MM “Tearing a page from Britain’s skiffle movement of the 1950s, which embraced traditional jazz and folk and the acoustic guitar, pub rockers tended to dress down, eschewing flash or gimmickry. Instead, their music was inspired by the high-strung rockabilly energy of Jerry Lee Lewis and geek-country innocence of Buddy Holly.” MM These acts “typically performed in pubs and clubs, developing a loyal and enthusiastic following. While the U.K.’s pub rockers retained punk’s driving attack, their songs tended to be more poetic and romantic, with a retro feel.” MM Nick Lowe, Clover, and the Recording of the Album In 1977, Costello signed to Stiff Records, a British independent label. He was paired with producer Nick Lowe, whom Costello had followed round the country when Lowe was frontman with Brinsley Schwarz.” RD Lowe “added just enough studio fairy dust to make this a ‘proper’ record rather than another set of demos.” RD Costello jettisoned his country-rock backing group TB in favor of “Clover, a bland American band.” BL The San Francisco-based rock quintet – known here as Shamrock TB – would become better known as the backing band for Huey Lewis. Costello said, we went to “Headley Grange, about an hour and a half southwest of London, to rehearse…Headley Grange was a former poorhouse that became a rock ‘n’ roll safe house where record companies lodged their bands and had them work on material before recording. It was cost-effective for them.” MM The album was recorded on sick days Costello took off from work TC “in six four-hour sessions in an eight-track demo studio in North London Costello now likens to a telephone booth.” RD Crossing Genre Barriers “But the amazing material cuts through the dim performances: bitter country songs hopped up on bitter coffee and arranged as sneering rock.” BL “My Aim Is True could function as a Cliff's Notes of rock history. Mystery Dance sounds like a song from Elvis Presley’s golden age; I’m Not Angry channels David Bowie’s distinct ethereal quality; and Bob Dylan’s method of free association abounds in Waiting for the End of the World.” RV Costello “sounds as comfortable with a ‘50s knockoff like No Dancing as he does on the reggae-inflected Less Than Zero. Costello went on to more ambitious territory fairly quickly, but My Aim Is True is a phenomenal debut, capturing a songwriter and musician whose words were as rich and clever as his music.” AM Is It Punk or Something Else? Costello burst on the scene “as a punk-compatible ‘extraordinarily bitter person’ – but way too sophisticated for safety pins.” MJ My Aim Is True is “a heady combination of punk and quality songcraft.” RD “Costello’s lyric gift and his sound, which was both angry and melodic, gave a weight to what would otherwise have been not much more than a fashion statement.” TC Ultimately “My Aim Is True is not a punk album. While Costello’s vitriolic lyrics and sneering vocal drew comparisons with punk acts, his music demonstrate an awareness and acceptance of rock history.” TB The music is “steeped in soul, R&B and beat groups” MJ but Costello’s “sensibility is borrowed from the pile-driving rock & roll and folksy introspection of pub-rockers like Brinsley Schwarz, adding touches of cult singer/songwriters like Randy Newman and David Ackles.” AM “That blend of classicist sensibilities and cleverness make this collection of shiny roots rock a punk record – it informs his nervy performances and his prickly songs. Of all classic punk debuts, this remains perhaps the most idiosyncratic because it’s not cathartic in sound, only in spirit.” AM He was “the quintessential new-wave misfit.” EW’12 “Still, there’s no mistaking this for anything other than a punk record, and it’s a terrific one at that, since even if he buries his singer/songwriter inclinations, they shine through as brightly as his cheerfully mean humor and immense musical skill.” AM Costello’s Bitterness and Cynicism The album’s “almost unprofessional production values merely add to the raw intensity of his tales of heartache.” RV “Few wore their bitterness like a badge” EW’12 the way Costello did. There’s an “infusion of pure nastiness and cynical humor, which is pure Costello.” AM “This debut is rich in sour, sullied treasures, including Miracle Man, Sneaky Feelings, I’m Not Angry and The Angels Wanna Wear My Read Shoes (‘Oh I said, I’m so happy, I could die/ She said, ‘Drop dead’).” MJ BP Fallon, who was in the office at Stiff Records when Costello approached them with his songs, wrote, “I came to know him as brittle, tense, nervous, agitated. Paranoid would not have been too strong a word.” TC Costello said, “I’m an extraordinarily bitter person. I don’t like to sound as if I’m too obsessed and can’t feel any other way, but it just happens that those songs evince that kind of feeling and, therefore, the album is like that…Just like everyone else I have good days and bad days. The things that mean the most to you or affect you most, you write songs about.” TC Notes Rykodisc/Demon’s 1993 reissue added nine bonus tracks, some of which were demos of Costello’s first group, Flip City. Additional songs: “Radio Sweetheart,” “Stranger in the House,” Imagination Is a Powerful Deceiver,” “Cheap Reward,” “Jump Up,” “Wave a White Flag,” “Poison Moon,” and demo versions of “Mystery Dance” and “Blame It on Cain.” These cuts were also part of Rhino’s 2001 2-CD reissue, alongside four other songs – live versions of “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself” and “Less Than Zero” along with early versions of “Living in Paradise,” and “No Action” (both songs from 1978’s This Year’s Model). The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Welcome to the Working Week Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: 5/21/1977 (B-side of “Alison”), My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: 26 CO, 22 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 9.79 streaming

Miracle Man Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: 35 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.62 streaming

No Dancing Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.80 streaming About the Song: “’No Dancing’ was a second song to equate dancing and sex.” RD

Blame It on Cain Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: 35 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.56 streaming About the Song: “The overriding emotion of My Aim Is True was a lack of satisfaction, openly expressed by ‘Blame It on Cain’ and ‘Mystery Dance.’” RD

Alison Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello (see lyrics here) Released: 5/21/1977 (single), My Aim Is True (1977), Best of (compilation, 1985), Girls Girls Girls (compilation, 1989), Very Best (compilation, 1994), Best of the First 10 Years (compilation, 2007) B-side: “Welcome to the Working Week” First Charted: March 11, 1978 Peak: 61 CB, 3 CL, 2 CO, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 6.65 video, 53.32 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Of course, the most memorable gem from My Aim Is True is the “cruelly honest” BL Alison. It was released as the second single from My Aim Is True after “Less Than Zero” in March 1977. While it didn’t chart initially, it has become one of his best-known songs and has been celebrated “as evidence that Costello was a real songwriter, and not just another mangy punk.” AMG Indeed, it offers “a hint of the folksy singer songwriter;” TB in one of “the best romantic songs ever written.” RV While he sings in the opening line, “I’m not gonna get too sentimental like those other sticky valentines,” “he immediately violates that pledge with a series of arguments that amount to a declaration that only his love can save Alison, a notion as sentimental as any in the history of love poetry, even if the terms of its expression are far more touching and biting than most.” DM It is “a perfectly apt switch to balladry because it sees distance and a degree of empathy dilute bilious self-obsession.” MJ “Every nuance of this muted arrangement is designed to bring forward the singer’s emotions.” DM The beauty of the music, however, could mask the message; indeed “Alison” proved “it could play to a broader audience” AM as evidenced by Linda Ronstadt’s cover of “the standout ballad.” AM She covered the song on her 1978 album Living in the USA and it was released as a single, reaching #30 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. Her version recast the song as “a woman talking to her best friend” AMG instead of “a man’s message to a former lover.” AMG The song is about “a man betrayed by the woman he loves…still hopelessly in love…as he watches her throw away her affection on a man he knows will let her down.” AMG The Telegraph called it “a wonderful song about unrequited love,” WK although the sexually-frustrated protanginist’s “barely suppressed fury” AMG and statement that “my aim is true” suggests he wants to kill her. SF Costello has said little about the origin of the song. He claims it is about disappointing somebody. WK In his 2015 autobiography Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, he said he wrote it “after seeing a beautiful checkout girl at the local supermarket…She was punching in the prices on cans of beans at a cash register and looking as if all the hopes and dreams of her youth were draining away.” WK

Sneaky Feelings Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: 36 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.91 streaming

The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: 7/29/1977 (single), My Aim Is True (1977), Best of (compilation, 1985), Best of the First 10 Years (compilation, 2007) B-side: “Mystery Dance” Peak: 14 CL, 16 CO, 22 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.05 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Costello would take the train from London to Liverpool to visit his mother. During one of the three-hour treks, he wrote the idea for “Red Shoes.” He said, it “came to me fully formed, with the song’s summarizing chorus line – ‘The angels wanna wear my red shoes’ – appearing first. So in the minutes that followed, I worked backward from the chorus line on the rest of the lyrics…The verses were a pretty routine tale for me of romantic letdown. What surprised me was the visitation by angels with rusted wings offering a deal for my shoes. I couldn’t figure out if they were gatekeepers to immortality or fame, which seemed so far off at that point in my career.” MM He also said, “I worried I’d forget the melody before it was fixed in my head. I couldn’t write music, and had no way of recording the song on the fly like you can today.” MM “As I walked through the Liverpool Lime Street station to find a cab, I must have looked deranged. I was muttering and singing the song to myself over and over, trying to block out noise and distractions.” MM “When I arrived at my mother’s house, I shouted a brief hello and rushed upstairs to my old room. I pulled out my old Spanish guitar…I…didn’t have a tape recorder to capture what I was playing. By playing it over and over, I had it down.” MM He went on to say, “I had only one pair of shoes, but I didn’t think of them as red. The song’s only connection to my past was the woman in the song who tells me to drop dead and leaves with another guy.” MM

Less Than Zero Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: 3/11/1977 (single), My Aim Is True (1977), Girls Girls Girls (compilation, 1989) B-sides: “Radio Sweetheart” Peak: 27 CL, 16 CO, 16 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 5.25 streaming About the Song: “Less Than Zero,” the first single from My Aim Is True, was “inspired by British fascist leader Oswald Mosley.” RD

Mystery Dance Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: 7/29/1977 (B-side of “The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes”), My Aim Is True (1977), Girls Girls Girls (compilation, 1989) Peak: 27 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.02 streaming About the Song: “The overriding emotion of My Aim Is True was a lack of satisfaction, openly expressed by ‘Blame It on Cain’ and ‘Mystery Dance.’” RD “There was no doubting songs like ‘Mystery Dance,’ with its Jerry Lee Lewis vibe, would add a new dimension live when attacked by the Attractions,” RD the band who would tour with Costello and record with him on his next album.

Pay It Back Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.30 streaming

I’m Not Angry Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: 26 CO, 36 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.41 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “’I’m Not Angry’ lets fly at the unfaithful lover while having a swipe at the cosmetics industry on the way.” TC It “is strong in its groove and in Costello’s delivery. It has none of the gimmicks of other tracks on the album, but has a veracity and immediacy that has rarely been matched in rock. ‘I’m Not Angry’ seethes with rage, distrust, disgust, repulsion, and black humor. This is the sound of adolescent misanthropy at is very best.” TC

Waiting for the End of the World Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: My Aim Is True (1977) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.98 streaming

Watching the Detectives Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: 10/14/1977 (single), My Aim Is True (U.S. reissue only, 1977), Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers? (archives, 1980), Best of (compilation, 1985), Girls Girls Girls (compilation, 1989), Very Best (compilation, 1994), Best of the First 10 Years (compilation, 2007) B-sides: UK: “Blame It on Cain (live),” “Mystery Dance” (live); US: “Alison” (Nov. 1977) Peak: 15 UK, 61 CB, 79 HR, 4 CL, 3 CO, 4 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 35.16 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Watching the Detectives” sounds like “a 1950s B-movie cop show set to a sultry reggae-ish beat, all itchy fingers and lake-dragging angst.” DT It was recorded with the Rumour. While it wasn’t on My Aim Is True, it finally garnered attention for My Aim Is True and was added to the U.S. reissue of the album.

Radio Sweetheart Elvis Costello

Writer(s): Elvis Costello Released: 3/11/1977 (B-side of “Less Than Zero”), Taking Liberties (archives, 1980), Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers? (archives, 1980) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.21 streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AMG AllMusic.com review of “Alison” by Mark Deming BL Blender magazine (March 2005). By Douglas Wolk. Pages 156-8. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 553-4. RD Robert Dimery (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Quintet Publishing Limited: New York, NY. Page 390. EW’12 Entertainment Weekly (9/27/2012). “Top 100 Albums” DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 482-3. MJ Mojo. (January 2006). By Phil Sutcliffe. Pages 170-1. MM Marc Myers (2016). Anatomy of a Song. Grove Press: New York, NY. Pages 259-63. RV The Review (Oct./Nov. 2001). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher SF Songfacts page for “Alison” DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 184. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 186. WK Wikipediapage for “Alison” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/14/2010; last updated 4/24/2026.