Punch the Clock is the eighth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his seventh with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was released on 5 August 1983 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the album was Costello's attempt at making a commercial record following years of dwindling commercial success. It was recorded at London's AIR Studios in early 1983 and features contributions from the TKO Horns and Afrodiziak.
Employing genres such as new wave, pop rock, R&B and soul, commentators have compared the album's sound to Costello's previous records Armed Forces (1979) and Get Happy!! (1980). The songs are filled with catchy choruses and lyrics covering relationships and political themes. The record contains Costello's version of "Shipbuilding", co-written with Langer and featuring a trumpet solo by Chet Baker. The album takes its title from a lyric in "The Greatest Thing" and the cover artwork was designed by Phil Smee.
Extensively promoted through live performances, Punch the Clock yielded Costello's first US Top 40 hit, "Everyday I Write the Book". "Pills and Soap" was released as a single under a pseudonym and through Costello's own IMP label, which reached number 16 in the UK. The album was his best-selling since Get Happy!!, reaching number three in the UK and number 24 in the US, eventually certified gold in both countries. Despite its success, Costello later expressed disdain for the record, finding its sound dated.
The album received mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics on release and in later decades. Many highlighted individual tracks, particularly "Shipbuilding" and "Pills and Soap", but felt it was below the standards set by his previous works. Nevertheless, NME ranked Punch the Clock the best album of 1983 and, thirty years later, number 345 in their list of "the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It has been reissued multiple times with bonus tracks.
Background
Elvis Costello released his seventh studio album Imperial Bedroom in July 1982. Despite receiving critical acclaim, its modest commercial performance forced the artist to reevaluate his musical style. His American label, Columbia Records, remained eager for another success akin to 1979's Armed Forces and showed little interest in his less-commercial works. He had garnered a loyal fanbase—largely through his own merits—but Costello knew his heavily artistic and challenging material was doing him more harm than good, so he decided to change direction with his next record. Having already co-written the song "Shipbuilding" with producer Clive Langer for musician Robert Wyatt, whose original version charted at number 36 in the UK in May 1983, Costello chose Langer and his production partner Alan Winstanley to produce his next album. Langer and Winstanley were one of the most popular production teams in Britain at the time, having recently had several hit singles with groups such as Madness, Dexys Midnight Runners and the Teardrop Explodes.
Costello and his backing band the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation)—toured Britain from mid-September to early-October 1982, road-testing several new songs that would appear on his next album, including his own interpretation of "Shipbuilding" and "Everyday I Write the Book", which was written quickly one night in September and performed the following evening. He continued writing new material for the rest of the year, debuting working versions of "Mouth Almighty", "Everyday I Write the Book", "The Comedians", "Pills and Soap" and "The World and His Wife" during three Christmas concerts in Liverpool and London in late December. These performances featured new arrangements of songs with a horn section.
Recording
Rehearsals for Costello's eighth studio LP began in early 1983. His goal was to tailor the album toward hit singles and less on critical acclaim, stating at the time: "Counting [1981's] Trust, we'd gone three records without any substantial hit apart from 'Good Year for the Roses'. You have to consider if you allow that contact with the mainstream audience to be served for too long, you may lose the freedom to do what you want to do." The sessions commenced on 27 January 1983 at AIR Studios in London, the same studio used for Imperial Bedroom.