Musician, June 1988: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Pete Thomas, Attraction </h3></center> | <center><h3> Pete Thomas, Attraction </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Josef Woodard </center> | <center> Josef Woodard </center> | ||
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''' Direct hits from an unsung groover | |||
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In his own parlance, Pete Thomas, the anchor of Elvis Costello's Attractions for a solid decade, is a bit of a "murgler": i.e. one who creeps mischievously about in hallways. The same goes for his approach behind a drum kit. You don't hear him bashing and flailing much in the rhythm bed beneath his boss. Instead, he's a sly dog of a drummer, driving home basic feels while injecting fire, slink and truth into Costello's witty songfest. Clearly this is one of rock's great unsung groovers. | In his own parlance, Pete Thomas, the anchor of Elvis Costello's Attractions for a solid decade, is a bit of a "murgler": i.e. one who creeps mischievously about in hallways. The same goes for his approach behind a drum kit. You don't hear him bashing and flailing much in the rhythm bed beneath his boss. Instead, he's a sly dog of a drummer, driving home basic feels while injecting fire, slink and truth into Costello's witty songfest. Clearly this is one of rock's great unsung groovers. | ||
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''Blood & Chocolate'', Costello's 1986 record with the Attractions, has a stripped-down rawness that illuminates the band in their spontaneous glory. "That whole album is live," Thomas says. "What you hear is exactly what happened." The agenda is stated from the opening cut, the deceptively and dogmatically simple "Uncomplicated" — Thomas pounding out quarter-notes. "''Boink, boink, boink'', three equal strokes of exactly the same timbre. That's all there is to it. It's an early clue to the new direction, the Attractions' barbecue voodoo deal. While we were doing it, we made a big thing about how simple it would be." | ''Blood & Chocolate'', Costello's 1986 record with the Attractions, has a stripped-down rawness that illuminates the band in their spontaneous glory. "That whole album is live," Thomas says. "What you hear is exactly what happened." The agenda is stated from the opening cut, the deceptively and dogmatically simple "Uncomplicated" — Thomas pounding out quarter-notes. "''Boink, boink, boink'', three equal strokes of exactly the same timbre. That's all there is to it. It's an early clue to the new direction, the Attractions' barbecue voodoo deal. While we were doing it, we made a big thing about how simple it would be." | ||
''Out of | ''Out of Our Idiot'', a new British compilation of Costello's songs and outtakes, reveals the degrees of change which Costello's songs can go through between demo and album, as witness the brisk Motownish version of "Blue Chair" played by Mickey Curry versus Thomas' more relaxed lope on ''Blood & Chocolate''. And there are constant quirks and detours in the songs; for instance, on "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?" he plays the beat inside out, with the snare on one and three. You can't do that. | ||
"I ''can''. Some call it divine inspiration. Some call it genius. Some call it one of Nick [Lowe's] ideas," he laughs. "He's great about that, because he doesn't know anything about drums. He says, 'How about if it went ka-koom, ka-koom, ka-koom, across the beat?' That take is actually really shabby, but Nick went for it because it's got the charm. He's got this thing about the natural atmosphere of a track." | "I ''can''. Some call it divine inspiration. Some call it genius. Some call it one of Nick [Lowe's] ideas," he laughs. "He's great about that, because he doesn't know anything about drums. He says, 'How about if it went ka-koom, ka-koom, ka-koom, across the beat?' That take is actually really shabby, but Nick went for it because it's got the charm. He's got this thing about the natural atmosphere of a track." | ||
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Rightfully, Thomas has no false modesty about his band's contribution to the annals of rock, if not twentieth-century culture. Thomas would like to see the music world make use of the Attractions as a valuable resource. "We haven't made the comfy crossover into the groovy world of session guys. We're still this ''band'', still like the Velvet Underground or the Lovin' Spoonful or something. It doesn't matter how fantastic you are." | Rightfully, Thomas has no false modesty about his band's contribution to the annals of rock, if not twentieth-century culture. Thomas would like to see the music world make use of the Attractions as a valuable resource. "We haven't made the comfy crossover into the groovy world of session guys. We're still this ''band'', still like the Velvet Underground or the Lovin' Spoonful or something. It doesn't matter how fantastic you are." | ||
By now, Thomas has his hubris mojo working. "The Attractions have driven America crazy for the last 10 years. Mission: Impossible, forget it. The Attractions can take care of the problem. If you want a cancer removed by musical force, we can do it. We are the bad-assed heartbeat of Elvis. With the Attractions, there are no prisoners taken. The Attractions can kill at 10 feet. It's not like the Sex Pistols. We've been doing it for 10 years. It's not a drill." | By now, Thomas has his hubris mojo working. "The Attractions have driven America crazy for the last 10 years. ''Mission: Impossible'', forget it. The Attractions can take care of the problem. If you want a cancer removed by musical force, we can do it. We are the bad-assed heartbeat of Elvis. With the Attractions, there are no prisoners taken. The Attractions can kill at 10 feet. It's not like the Sex Pistols. We've been doing it for 10 years. It's not a drill." | ||
He's on a roll now. "Pete, it's so great to finally talk to a drummer who's really stupid. Everybody thinks drummers are stupid, and I'm here to tell them that... they are. That's what they're supposed to be. Intelligent drummers worry me. It's like a contradiction in terms, like dancing about architecture." | He's on a roll now. "Pete, it's so great to finally talk to a drummer who's really stupid. Everybody thinks drummers are stupid, and I'm here to tell them that... they are. That's what they're supposed to be. Intelligent drummers worry me. It's like a contradiction in terms, like dancing about architecture." | ||
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{{tags}}[[Pete Thomas]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[Steve Nieve]] {{-}} [[Bruce Thomas]] {{-}} [[The Beatles]] {{-}} [[Merseybeat]] {{-}} [[Do You Want To Know A Secret|Billy J. Kramer]] {{-}} [[The Rolling Stones]] {{-}} [[Blood & Chocolate]] {{-}} [[Ringo Starr]] {{-}} [[Jimi Hendrix]] {{-}} [[John Stewart]] {{-}} [[Lowell George]] {{-}} [[Jake Riviera]] {{-}} [[Stiff Records]] {{-}} [[Shabby Doll]] {{-}} [[Temptation]] {{-}} [[Beyond Belief]] {{-}} [[Trust]] {{-}} [[Imperial Bedroom]] {{-}} [[Levon Helm]] {{-}} [[Goodbye Cruel World]] {{-}} [[:Category:1984 France Tour|1984 France Tour]] {{-}} [[Uncomplicated]] {{-}} [[Out Of Our Idiot]] {{-}} [[Motown]] {{-}} [[Blue Chair]] {{-}} [[Mickey Curry]] {{-}} [[Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?]] {{-}} [[Nick Lowe]] {{-}} [[The Velvet Underground]] {{-}} [[The Lovin' Spoonful]] {{-}} [[The Sex Pistols]] {{-}} [[Dancing about architecture]] | |||
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<small>Cover and contents page.</small><br> | <small>Cover and contents page.</small><br> | ||
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[[image:1988-06-00 Musician | [[image:1988-06-00 Musician page 05.jpg|x120px|border]] | ||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} |
Latest revision as of 19:32, 15 April 2023
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