by "Dr. Luther's Assistant", the same month. Aided by rising expectations and coverage on soul stations, Get Happy!! reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and number 11 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. However, it sold less copies than its predecessor Armed Forces and was thus viewed as a commercial disappointment. Béchirian recalled: "Jake [Riviera] actually laughed about having a Get Happy!! house in his garden made with all the unsold records." Thomson opines that the incident with Stills most likely played a role in its lesser performance in America, but also states that the label were unsure how to market the album there and radio stations disliked the change in musical direction and less pop-friendly tunes compared to Armed Forces. Costello also chose not to tour in America due to the incident, which further affected promotion. F-Beat Records was also struggling financially at the time. The promotional campaign included over 100,000 free posters, over 500 record store window displays, magazine adverts and radio and television ads, which proved fraught for the label. Lauder later admitted: "We had overpressed on the album based on the sales of Armed Forces, which was a platinum album. We had a situation where we were shipping out lots of records and they were all coming back. Having paid for all the advertising and all the publicity, financially it was a tough one to make." Critical reception While not receiving the acclaim of its three predecessors, Get Happy!! received generally positive reviews from music critics on release. Many commented on the amount of tracks present on the LP, finding they varied in quality. Ira Robbins of Trouser Press, in particular, found the 20 tracks range from "ace to awful" and with a condensed track listing, Get Happy!! would have been "incredible": "As it is, bad items detract from good ones. The album also suffers from a stupefying maze of verses, choruses and refrains." Continuing his mixed review, Robbins found the album lacked a coherent or pervasive theme, felt rushed and noted the stepped-down production from Armed Forces, concluding, "don't bother to get happy; I'm sure Costello wouldn't." The Washington Post Eve Zibart was also critical towards the production, stating: "Where Phil Spector painstakingly built a wall of sound, producer Nick Lowe has constructed a chain-link fence. It works to the advantage of several numbers, but Lowe overdoes it." Chris Brazier