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"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" is a song written by new wave musician
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
and recorded by Costello with his backing band
the Attractions The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards and ukulele), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Tho ...
. The song appeared on Costello's 1978 second album, ''
This Year's Model ''This Year's Model'' is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17March 1978 through Radar Records. After being backed by Clover for his debut album '' My Aim Is True'' (1977), Costello formed t ...
''. Written by Costello while working as a computer programmer, the song was lyrically inspired by films Costello had been watching as well as childhood trips to
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. Musically the song featured influence from bands such as
the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
and
the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
and is notable for
Bruce Thomas Bruce Thomas (born 14 August 1948 in Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English rock bass guitarist, best known as bassist for the Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record. In addition to his work ...
's prominent bassline. "Chelsea" was released as the debut single from ''This Year's Model'', reaching number 16 in the UK and charting in other countries. The release was accompanied by a music video. The song has since received positive reception from critics and remains a staple of Costello's live set.


Background and lyrics

"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" was written by Costello in the mid-1970s while working as a computer programmer. Costello recalled the night he wrote the song: Lyrically, the song was influenced partially by "a late run of '60s films set in London on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
" that Costello had been watching at the time. Costello was also inspired by trips he had taken with his father to
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in his youth; Costello explained, "I'd gone with my Dad to a few of the more enduring clothing haunts of Chelsea on a rare outing together. ... Now Chelsea seemed even more of an unattainable neighborhood. It stood for both the groovy past and was reported in the papers as the hot-bed of the new punk ferment". The song was recorded quickly; bassist
Bruce Thomas Bruce Thomas (born 14 August 1948 in Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English rock bass guitarist, best known as bassist for the Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record. In addition to his work ...
recalled, "We literally did the best tracks on [''
This Year's Model ''This Year's Model'' is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17March 1978 through Radar Records. After being backed by Clover for his debut album '' My Aim Is True'' (1977), Costello formed t ...
'']—" Pump It Up", "Chelsea"—in one afternoon. It was like Motown. We'd just go in, play them, and that was it". Bruce Thomas credited John Entwistle's bassline on "
My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...
" as an inspiration for his performance.


Music

"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" was based on what Costello described as a "stop-start chord sequence borrowed from
the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
" combined with a "clickerty-clackerty guitar figure off an old
Rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...
record by the Pioneers". In his album notes for '' Girls Girls Girls'', Costello wrote that the song " ght have been just a poor relation to ' All Day and All of the Night', ' I Can't Explain' or even '
Clash City Rockers "Clash City Rockers" is a song by English rock band the Clash. It was first released in February 1978 as a single with the B-side " Jail Guitar Doors", the latter a re-worked version of a song from Joe Strummer's pub rock days. "Clash City Rocke ...
' had it not been for Bruce Thomas' great bassline. Meanwhile I was trying to fit in this lick from an old Pioneers record, though which one I can't recall." Costello later commented on the song's combination of influences, " thas effectively three hooks ostello's guitar, Bruce Thomas's bass, and Thomas's drumsand you would have struggled to pinpoint where the ideas had originated". Pete Thomas said of his drum part on the song, "The precedent of some fancy drumming had been set. ' Watching the Detectives' had that drum intro. 'Chelsea' is me saying, 'If Elvis Costello is going to have fancy drum intros, I'm doing one'. It was one of the first few takes. If you really listen to it, I'm trying out stuff all the way through". Costello later claimed that Thomas had lifted the drum intro from
Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...
's performance on the
Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
's song "
Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
". Organist
Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...
uses a deliberately out of tune
Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...
organ on the song; Costello described the keyboard sound as "thin" and "evil". Costello cited the song as an example of ''This Year's Models "spiky and sour" sound, which was created through "a solitary box of tricks to delay and detune" the instruments.


Release and reception

"(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" was released as the debut single from Costello's second album ''
This Year's Model ''This Year's Model'' is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17March 1978 through Radar Records. After being backed by Clover for his debut album '' My Aim Is True'' (1977), Costello formed t ...
'' on 3 March 1978. The B-side was "You Belong to Me", another song from ''This Year's Model''. The single was Costello's second chart hit in the UK, peaking at number 16 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
over a chart stay of ten weeks. The single reached number 12 in Ireland and number 93 in Australia. The song received glowing critical attention at the time, with the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' concluding, "The single's so good, the very act of releasing it amounts to bragging on a colossal scale". The song was released on ''This Year's Model'' on 17 March 1978, though it was omitted on US versions of the album for being too British. Since its release, "Chelsea" has been praised by music critics.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
praised the song for being "underscored with sexual menace", while the same site's Tom Maginnis called it a "brilliant ska-inflected rocker". Kit Rachlis of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' praised Costello for the "precision" with which he described Chelsea, while Morgan Troper of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' said, "It's almost not worth listening to ''Model'' unless it's a version that contains 'Chelsea', as the song's presence is essential to ''This Year's Models overall impact". Dave Lifton of ''
Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...
'' named the song as the 7th best Elvis Costello song, proclaiming it the "standout" from ''This Year's Model'' and calling it "a perfect example of the mixture of chaos and skill he Attractionsbrought". Martin Chilton of ''
the Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' named the song Costello's 15th best. Costello has since performed the song frequently, including at his set for
Woodstock '99 Woodstock '99 (also called Woodstock 1999) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 1969 Woodstock fe ...
. A live version of the song, described as "excellent" by Maginnis, appeared on the album '' Live at the El Mocambo''.


Video

The video features the band performing in an unfurnished, light-drenched, wholly white set, and uses a simple shrinking square zoom effect. It was directed by Paul Flattery for Jon Roseman Productions. After a photo-montage effect with still photographs of Costello, the video opens with him playing the opening guitar riff in close-up. The video then alternates between the band playing together and shots of Costello singing in an increasingly contorted pose. The video for " Pump It Up" was shot the same day in London, and all the musicians can be seen wearing the same clothes, although drummer Pete Thomas sports a distinctive
Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
tracksuit top. Bassist Bruce Thomas had cut his right hand on a bottle a few weeks previously and had needed eight stitches. His bandage can be seen clearly in both of the videos.


Personnel

*
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
– electric guitar, vocals *
Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...
– piano, Vox Continental organ *
Bruce Thomas Bruce Thomas (born 14 August 1948 in Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English rock bass guitarist, best known as bassist for the Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record. In addition to his work ...
– bass guitar * Pete Thomas – drums


Charts


References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea Elvis Costello songs Songs written by Elvis Costello Song recordings produced by Nick Lowe Songs about London 1978 singles Radar Records singles 1978 songs