Punch the Clock

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Punch the Clock
Studio album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Released	August 5, 1983
Recorded	1983
Genre	Rock
Length	45:19
Label	F-Beat Records (UK) Columbia Records (US) Rykodisc (February 28, 1995 Reissue) Rhino Records (September 9, 2003 Reissue)
Producer	Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley, assisted by Gavin Greenaway & Colin Fairley
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B+) link Rolling Stone link Stylus Magazine (not rated) link
Elvis Costello and the Attractions chronology
Imperial Bedroom (1982) Punch the Clock (1983) Goodbye Cruel World (1984)

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. Top 40 hit, "Everyday I Write the Book."

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side one 1.2 Side two 1.3 Bonus tracks (1995 Rykodisc) 1.4 Bonus disc (2003 Rhino) 2 Personnel 2.1 The TKO Horns 2.2 Additional personnel 3 Charts 4 External links

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello unless otherwise indicated.

[edit] Side one

1. "Let Them All Talk" – 3:06
2. "Everyday I Write the Book" – 3:54
3. "The Greatest Thing" – 3:04
4. "The Element Within Her" – 2:52
5. "Love Went Mad" – 3:13
6. "Shipbuilding" (Clive Langer, Costello) – 4:53

[edit] 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

[edit] Bonus tracks (1995 Rykodisc)

1. "Heathen Town" – 3:10
2. "The Flirting Kind" – 3:00
3. "Walking on Thin Ice" (Yoko Ono) – 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" (Live) – 2:21

[edit] Bonus disc (2003 Rhino)

1. "Everyday I Write the Book" (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" (Ono) – 3:52
6. "Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down, Margaret" (BBC Session) (Costello, Roger Chalery, Andy Cox, Everett Morton, David Steele, Dave Wakeling) – 5:17
7. "Danger Zone" (BBC Session) (Curtis Mayfield)) – 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, Marvin Gaye, Anna Gordy, Elgie Stover) – 4:14
25. "Watch Your Step" (Live) – 3:22
26. "Backstabbers/King Horse" (Live) (Leon Huff, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, Costello) – 4:47

Note: The Rykodisc version has the original tracks and bonus tracks on one CD. The Rhino version has two CDs with the original tracks on the first CD.

[edit] Personnel

• Elvis Costello – vocals; Epiphone, Gretsch and Fender guitars; Synclavier and Casiotone; all sounds and voices on "Pills and Soap"
• Steve Nieve – Bösendorfer piano, Emulator, Fairlight CMI, Vox organ, Hammond organ, Synclavier
• Bruce Thomas – Electric Wal bass guitar
• Pete Thomas – Gretsch drums, Sabian cymbals

[edit] The TKO Horns

• Jim Paterson – trombone
• Jeff Blythe – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet
• Paul Speare – tenor saxophone, flute
• Dave Plews – trumpet

[edit] Additional personnel

• Stewart Robson – trumpet & flugelhorn on "The World and His Wife"
• Afrodiziak (Caron Wheeler and Claudia Fontaine) – backing vocals
• Chet Baker – trumpet solo on "Shipbuilding"
• David Bedford – string arrangements
• Morris Pert – percussion

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1983	Billboard Pop Albums	24

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	"Everyday I Write the Book"	Mainstream Rock	33
1983	"Everyday I Write the Book"	Pop Singles	36

[edit] External links

• "Punch the Clock" - essay by Connor Ratliff

v • d • e Elvis Costello discography Albums My Aim Is True · King of America · Spike · Mighty Like a Rose · Brutal Youth · Kojak Variety · North · Il Sogno Elvis Costello and The Attractions This Year's Model · Armed Forces · Get Happy!! · Trust · Almost Blue · Imperial Bedroom · Punch the Clock · Goodbye Cruel World · Blood and Chocolate · All This Useless Beauty Elvis Costello and The Imposters When I Was Cruel · Cruel Smile · The Delivery Man · Momofuku Collaborations The Juliet Letters with The Brodsky Quartet · Terror & Magnificence with John Harle · Painted from Memory with Burt Bacharach · The Sweetest Punch with Bill Frisell · For the Stars with Anne Sofie von Otter · My Flame Burns Blue with The Metropole Orkest · Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland · The River in Reverse with Allen Toussaint Live albums Live at the El Mocambo · Deep Dead Blue · Costello & Nieve Soundtracks G.B.H. · Jake's Progress Compilations Taking Liberties · Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers · The Best of Elvis Costello & The Attractions · Out of Our Idiot · Girls Girls Girls · 2 ½ Years · The Very Best of Elvis Costello and The Attractions 1977-86 · Extreme Honey · The Very Best of Elvis Costello · Singles, Vol. 1 · Singles, Vol. 2 · Singles, Vol. 3