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 a 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. Unlike the more relaxed approach of Imperial Bedroom producer Geoff Emerick, Langer and Winstanley inserted themselves into the creative process, structuring the songs intently and left little room for improvisation; the former wanted the band to play their parts the same way over and over again. Langer commented: "We don't have any morals when it comes to studio craft. We always mix in sections, then stick it together afterwards." Discussing