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Clubland (song)

"Clubland"
Clubland - Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1980 single from the Trust album).jpg
Single by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
from the album Trust
B-side "Clean Money"
"Hoover Factory"
Released 12 December 1980
Format 7" single
Recorded October–November 1980
Genre New wave
Length 3:42
Label F-Beat (UK)
Songwriter(s) Elvis Costello
Producer(s) Nick Lowe
Elvis Costello and the Attractions singles chronology
"New Amsterdam"
(1980)
"Clubland"
(1980)
"From a Whisper to a Scream"
(1981)
"New Amsterdam"
(1980)
"Clubland"
(1980)
"From a Whisper to a Scream"
(1981)

"Clubland" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and performed by Costello and the Attractions on their 1981 album, Trust. Written in 1980, the song was performed live in festivals before the album's release. The lyrics, inspired by the band's most recent tour, describe life in night clubs, while the music includes inspiration from the Police.

The song was released as the first single from Trust in 1980, backed by two unreleased songs from the Armed Forces sessions. It under-performed as a single compared to the band's previous releases, reaching number 60, but has been praised by critics.

"Clubland" had been written in the summer of 1980, before the recording of the Trust album. A demo of the song was created during this same time. Early versions of the song and other songs from Trust, including "From a Whisper to a Scream", "You'll Never Be a Man", and "Lover's Walk", were debuted at the band's festival appearances in 1980, such as the band's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

In his memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello writes that the lyrical inspiration for the song, as well as other songs on Trust such as "Pretty Words" and "White Knuckles", comes from the Get Happy!! tour. The song's lyrics detail the nightlife and club scene, containing multiple double entendres and puns. Musically, Costello claims that his guitar work on the song was inspired by new wave band the Police. The song also contains "quasi-latin" piano work by Steve Nieve and drumming by Pete Thomas that is, according to Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter, "all over the place propelling the song in different directions without ever getting in the way of the tune". Costello claimed in the liner notes for Trust that the studio version of the song was lacking in comparison to later renditions.

"Clubland" was released as a single in Britain in December 1980, prior to the release of Trust. The single featured "Clean Money" and "Hoover Factory" on the B-side. "Clean Money", which was rejected from Armed Forces in favor of "Accidents Will Happen", was inspired by Cheap Trick's In Color and was dismissed by Costello as "an overly powdered-up rocker". "Hoover Factory", recorded in 1979, was written before Costello signed his first contract and was originally intended to be the B-side to the "Oliver's Army" single. "Clubland" was not released as a single in the United States, where "Watch Your Step" was released instead.


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