49 not out

Forty-nine is a funny number. You can see why, can't you? Well, it's odd for a start; all odd numbers are funny. And it's not quite 50. It'd like to be 50, a half century, a bullseye. It just didn't quite make it. I'll be interested to see how many 49s we get in November's Photo Challenge.

I mention it because this year marks the 49th anniversary of the release of Elvis Costello's debut album My Aim is True. And because the artist formerly known a s Declan MacManus isn't keen on significant birthdays he's strongarmed his record company into going early and unleashing on the record buying public an all singing all dancing edition of this rather splendid platter, complete with countless versions, outtakes and demos (many previously unheard), and enough reading matter and associated photographs to keep you going till Christmas. In fact, why don't I let the man himself tell you all about it...

Back in 2022, not long after Covid, when I resurrected Vinyl Night - listening to albums in full - we put Costello's tour de force through its paces and it got a terrific reaction; igniting all sorts of memories. The fact that we cranked it up to 11 didn't do any harm either. I've thought recently about bringing Vinyl Night back and, if I do, this is definitely coming back out to play.