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Fact #156108

When:

Short story:

The UK's No1 Indie single is Shipbuilding by Robert Wyatt, written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer.

Full article:

Clive Langer : I wrote it when we (Langer and his production partner Alan Winstanley) were doing the Dexy’s album Too-Rye-Ay and I knew I wanted Robert Wyatt to sing it. I did the song and the backing track in one weekend. I just recorded it all and sang la-las over the top, gave the cassette to Elvis and he really liked it. I said, write it for Robert Wyatt so, knowing that Robert Wyatt is a bit political, Elvis put that in the writing of the words.

He wrote the words in Australia, calling me in New York so I knew what the words were. Then he demoed it. He sang on it. We sent him singing it to Robert Wyatt, who agreed to do it. Then we had to schedule it with him.

When he’d done the lead vocal with Elvis, we did all the backing vocals and a couple of overdubs. Then we did a quick four hour mix.

When it was finished, I was just amazed that it turned out the way it did. It kind of produced itself.

It got placed about 20 or 22 in the NME-writers’ all-time chart, which was rather pleasing. I mean, to put it above something like Dock Of the Bay is a load of bollocks, but it’s nice that those writers liked it.
(Source : not known)