Elvis Costello & the Attractions
July 21, 1977
Rafters Club
Manchester, UK

source: audience
taper: Paul Morley
lineage: 2nd Gen Cassette > WAV via Cool Edit Pro > Flac

First posted on Dime in July 2007 by wilky_way, it stayed on the tracker through April 2008, and snatched 216 times. These are the original flac files, except I've added flac tags. Wilky_way's original comments are below the setlist.

To my knowledge, this remains the earliest recording of EC & the Attractions, and is their third appearance overall, following gigs in Penzance (July 14) and Plymouth (July 15).

"Radio Sweetheart" has two one-second glitches (1:21 and 2:11) where approximately 5 seconds is missing at each point. I left the file as is, but I've also included a second version where I patched in five seconds from another source for the first gap, and simply snipped the second gap, since it began and ended conveniently in the middle of the word "more", as in "play one MO[RE for my radio sweetheart, play one MO]RE for my radio sweetheart..." The patch may not be much better than the glitch version, but there is continuity of lyrics. There's a few level changes during the first two songs, and thereafter the levels are reasonably steady and overall the sound is much better from track 3 onward. MP3 samples attached in the comments. Huge thanks to wilky_way for the original torrent.

01. Pay It Back
02. Radio Sweetheart
03. No Dancing
04. Lipstick Vogue
05. Watching The Detectives
06. Miracle Man
07. Alison
08. Blame It On Cain
09. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
10. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
11. Sneaky Feelings
12. The Beat
13. Waiting For The End Of The World
14. Night Rally
15. Mystery Dance
16. Less Than Zero
17. I'm Not Angry
18. Lip Service
19. No Action
20. Crawling To The USA
-----------
21. pre-gig interview by Paul Morley

Duration : 75:43

Notes -
- The first song played, "Welcome To The Working Week", was not recorded.
- "Radio Sweetheart" has two split-second gaps (at 1:21 and 2:11), where approx. five seconds is missing at each.
- a patched version of "Radio Sweetheart" is included; it's not much better, but it does have continuity of lyrics.
- rare performances of:
--- "Crawling To The USA" (one of three known performances).
--- "Sneaky Feelings" (one of eight known).
--- "Pay It Back" (one of eight known).
- two sets of artwork included in torrent.

Torrent history -
- first posted on Dime in July 2007 by wilky_way.
- flacs tags added, reposted in Aug 2009 by john234.

Comments by wilky_way from the 2007 torrent:
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"This recording comes from the cassette of NME journalist of the time Paul Morley. He interviewed Elvis at the club before the gig (also included here - approx 15 mins long), and then recorded the gig itself. Unfortunately, he was not in position in time to catch the first song which was 'Welcome To The Working Week'. There is also some adjustment made to the position of the mic at the start of the recording during the beginning of "Pay It Back" and two very short breaks during "Radio Sweetheart".

"Due to the proximity of the mic to the sound system and the limitations of the recording equipment there is some top end
distortion but not so much as to impinge on what is really a very listenable rarity. Let's face it, you can't polish a turd! But, it's better rough around the edges than not to exist at all.

"Overall quality is similar to the Hope & Anchor show recorded a few days after this gig and reposted recently by John234, which is what inspired me to get my arse in gear to up this. I hope you all enjoy this and if you are sitting on anything else
like this feel inspired to share it.