Elvis Costello was backed on his debut album My Aim Is True (1977) by the California-based country rock act Clover,[6] whose laid-back approach he felt did not fit the sound of the times. Wanting a harder and sharper sound, he decided to assemble a permanent backing band.[7] The first musician hired was Pete Thomas, former drummer of Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers; the second hired was Bruce Thomas, a bassist whose previous involvements included several folk rock albums earlier in the decade;[c] and last Steve Nieve, who had no prior band experience and had trained at the Royal College of Music.[8][9][10] With Costello on guitar, he and the band, now named the Attractions, made their live debut on 14 July 1977.[6][11] Shortly after the release of My Aim Is True eight days later,[12] the group performed an unauthorised show outside a Columbia Records convention, which led to Costello's arrest. The stunt attracted the attention of record executive Greg Geller, who months later became integral in signing Costello to Columbia in the United States.[6][7][11] Costello and the band were on tour for most of the rest of 1977. The dates included the Greatest Stiffs Live Tour with other Stiff Records artists and their first tour of America.[7][13] During this time, Stiff co-founder Jake Riviera departed Stiff due to disputes with label co-founder Dave Robinson. Per Costello's management contract, Costello followed Riviera and left Stiff for Radar Records but retained his American deal with Columbia.[d] His final release for Stiff was that October's "Watching the Detectives", his first single to reach the UK top 20. In the meantime, Costello had written a large amount of new material which would appear on This Year's Model.[6][7][13] According to author Graeme Thomson, Costello's reputation in the US grew faster than in the UK. He was acclaimed in publications such as Time and Newsweek and approached to appear on NBC's Saturda
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