Covered By Lush (Part 2)

That short reunion of Elvis Costello & the Attractions in the mid-'90s was most welcome. My fandom was at a fever pitch during those years. This was around the time all of Costello's back catalog was being reissued for the first time. Then there was the new material. I snapped up 'Brutal Youth,' 'All This Useless Beauty' and all of the corresponding singles. Most importantly, I caught the Attractions on each of the tours and in contrasting venues. On the first tour, I saw them in Japan in the back of a big beautiful modern theater. The audience sat like statues and clapped politely in the appropriate places. Surreal is the word for it. In support of 'All This Useless Beauty,' I saw the band at a proper general-admission stand wherever ballroom in D.C., and I was smashed up at the stage right smack in front of Bruce Thomas. That's more my speed.

As for Lush, the band's fourth and final studio album, 'Lovelife,' came out at nearly the same time as 'All This Useless Beauty.' Even though I was once a huge fan, I sort of lost my way with Lush after 'Spooky,' and I didn't buy the new album until about five months after it came out. I ended up seeing Lush in late summer of '96, just as Costello was about to release the single "You Bowed Down" on CD with four other songs. The most interesting of the bunch was this faithful cover by Lush. Costello told Billboard magazine in October of that year, "They actually recorded quite a pretty version of it, which was a nice surprise to me because they did things with the vocal harmony that I wasn't expecting." He went on in a congratulatory manner, voicing his pleasure at seeing Lush conquer America, and they really did. It all came to end for Lush with the death of drummer Chris Acland before Costello's nice words in Billboard even made it to print. Well, that is until the 2016 reunion.

Elvis Costello & the Attractions - All This Useless Beauty
Lush - All This Useless Beauty