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Elvis Costello And The Attractions at the Royal Albert Hall

Len Brown, New Musical Express, 31 January 1987

STEVEN THE computer programmer is in his element. In black and white stripes with red kipper tie, he's sweating, shaking and singing all the words to all the songs (even the brand new ones). When he finally gets his "I Spun The Spectacular Spinning Songbook" T-shirt there's no stopping him. It matters not that he's a goon for onstage, at first glance, there appears to be four prime specimens of the species. And the great thing for Steven and his ilk is that the Attractions – crushed red velvet flares, dodgy glasses, Cope mops, epaulettes - have eternally put goons on the map, endowing even computer programmers with the semblance of humanity.

Total word count of piece: 585

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