Watching the Detectives (song)

The song

The song, with a lyric about a lover who would rather watch TV, sung over a simple reggae beat, was described by Rolling Stone as "a clever but furious burst of cynicism", and they also described the song as "indisputably classic". Allmusic's Mark Deming described the song: "a skeletal minor-key melody that slowly but effectively wound itself into a solid knot of fierce emotional tension, pushing the bitter lyrical atmosphere further into the darkness". Costello described how he wrote the song:

I was in my flat in the suburbs of London before I was a professional musician, and I'd been up for thirty-six hours. I was actually listening to another inductee's record, the Clash's first album. When I first put it on, I thought it was just terrible. Then I played it again and I liked it better. By the end, I stayed up all night listening to it on headphones, and I thought it was great. Then I wrote "Watching the Detectives".

Costello considers "Watching the Detectives" his favourite song from the first five years of his career. He later performed the song with a big band arrangement, which he admitted was "a desecration to people who love the tenseness of the original recording", but explained that "the story that's going on, and the musical allusions in the original arrangements, relate very much to the realization of this song as an orchestral piece using the film music feeling and the swing rhythms of '50s detective shows."

Original single releases

The single, produced by Nick Lowe, was the first to be credited to 'Elvis Costello & the Attractions', reflecting the new backing band that he was using, previous releases being credited solely to the singer. The lead track was, in fact, recorded in May 1977, before the Attractions existed – the backing band on the song were Steve Goulding on drums and Andrew Bodnar on bass guitar, both from Graham Parker's band, The Rumour. Keyboard overdubs were added later by Steve Nason (later better-known as Steve Nieve). It was also the first top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart for Costello, reaching No. 15 and spending a total of eleven weeks in the chart.

The UK and US singles (released in October and November 1977 respectively) featured different B-sides, with the UK version backed by two live tracks from 7 August performance at the Nashville Club and the US version backed by "Alison", the lead track from Costello's second single.

UK Stiff Records release

1. "Watching the Detectives"
2. "Blame it on Cain (live)"
3. "Mystery Dance (live)"

US Columbia Records release

1. "Watching the Detectives"
2. "Alison"

Chart placings

The single reached No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart. It also charted in several other countries including Australia, where it reached No. 35, and Canada (#60). In the United States it reached No. 108 on the Hot 100.

Inclusion on albums

The song was not included on the original UK releases of either My Aim Is True, which preceded it, or This Year's Model, which followed in March 1978. It was, however, added to the US release of My Aim Is True (March 1978). Two live versions of "Watching the Detectives" from 1978 were released, one from 6 March on the Canadian promotional album Live at the El Mocambo, and another from 4 June on the Live at Hollywood High EP, which came with initial copies of the Armed Forces album (January 1979). A later live version was included in the Costello & Nieve box-set in 1996. A live medley of "Watching the Detectives" and "My Funny Valentine" recorded in Tokyo was included on the Cruel Smile album by Elvis Costello & the Impostors in 2002. The studio version was also included on several 'best of' compilations of Costello's work, including Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers (1980, Stiff), The Best of Elvis Costello – The Man (1985, Telstar), Girls Girls Girls (1989, Demon), The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1994, Demon), and The Very Best of Elvis Costello (1999, Universal TV).

Cover versions