sign everybody himself. I remember mentioning Declan MacManus and Jake going, “Urrrgh! Flip City, fuck
that”.’
Only when Jake heard Declan’s songs on the CharlieGillett show was he finally persuaded of the talents of D.P. Costello. ‘I knew Charlie quite well,’
states Robinson. ‘We asked Charlie, Charlie told Declan and Declan sent in a tape. He wanted to be on Stiff, and I think Charlie Gillett also said to him, “This would be the
label”.’
Whatever the exact details of his signing to Stiff in August 1976, it was not immediately a life-changing event for Declan. His signing-on fee consisted of £150, a cassette recorder and a
Vox battery-powered amplifier, not quite enough to quit his day job. It would be nearly another full year before he could give up work at Elizabeth Arden and turn professional. However it was a
real, bona fide record deal with a vibrant new label who were not likely to try to mess with his artistic sensibilities. It was also a happy place to be. ‘It was a family atmosphere,’
recalls Dave Robinson. ‘It was good fun, there was a vibe. We used to go in the pub whenever things got a bit boring. Not that Declan was a drinker, but you had Wreckless Eric falling in the
door and Nick Lowe always liked a quick sharpener.’
Soon, Declan was making the Stiff office in Alexander Street a regular stopping-off point on his way home from work, hatching plans, helping with slogans. It made him feel he was finally getting
somewhere, but what he really needed was a backing band. Luckily, there was one virtually on the doorstep. Clover consisted of guitarist John McFee, bassist John Ciambotti, drummer Mickey Shine,
keyboardist Sean Hopper and singer and harmonica player Huey Lewis, later to shoot to stardom in Huey Lewis & The News. Hailing from Marin County in California, Clover had been brought over to
the UK in the wake of one of Dave Robinson’s ‘fact-finding’ trips to California, their similarity to the laid-back, consumately accomplished style of Eggs Over Easy convincing him
they were worth investigating.
He and Jake signed Clover to their Advancedale roster and set them up in a dilapidated old country house in Headley Grange, a village not far from Guildford and within easy distance of London.
Although they had a record deal with Polygram and toured constantly, the mood of the times meant that it wasn’t really happening for themin the UK. They were left at a
loose end, simply hanging around much of the time, until eventually they became a kind of house band for Stiff.
Clover were by no means unknown or unloved by Declan: both Rusty and Flip City had played their songs, so when the time came for him to enter the studio to make his first recordings, Nick
Lowe’s suggestion that he use Clover seeemed inspired. And the band were more than amenable to the idea.
‘The closest thing Jake could compare him to was a Van Morrison type,’ says John McFee, who had played with Morrison on his
Saint Dominic’s Preview
album. ‘I got
a little demo of Declan and his guitar, and I was blown away. It was pretty scary to hear somebody with so much conviction and such a sense of how to use the language. Great voice. He just had a
lot going for him.’
After an initial break-the-ice meeting at Advancedale’s London offices, a rehearsal was set up with Clover at Headley Grange to run through two or three songs. This time, it was John
Ciambotti’s turn to be bowled over. ‘He dragged out this green Fender Jaguar electric guitar, played it without plugging it in and just started singing these songs. And each new song
was better than the last. It was kinda mindblowing, actually.’
Clover were a favoured band of his from the early ’70s, and Nick Lowe something close to a hero, but Declan was taking it all in his stride. ‘I don’t think being intimidated is
in his nature!’ laughs Ciambotti. ‘Intimidation, maybe, although I don’t think consciously he ever tried to
that”.’
Only when Jake heard Declan’s songs on the CharlieGillett show was he finally persuaded of the talents of D.P. Costello. ‘I knew Charlie quite well,’
states Robinson. ‘We asked Charlie, Charlie told Declan and Declan sent in a tape. He wanted to be on Stiff, and I think Charlie Gillett also said to him, “This would be the
label”.’
Whatever the exact details of his signing to Stiff in August 1976, it was not immediately a life-changing event for Declan. His signing-on fee consisted of £150, a cassette recorder and a
Vox battery-powered amplifier, not quite enough to quit his day job. It would be nearly another full year before he could give up work at Elizabeth Arden and turn professional. However it was a
real, bona fide record deal with a vibrant new label who were not likely to try to mess with his artistic sensibilities. It was also a happy place to be. ‘It was a family atmosphere,’
recalls Dave Robinson. ‘It was good fun, there was a vibe. We used to go in the pub whenever things got a bit boring. Not that Declan was a drinker, but you had Wreckless Eric falling in the
door and Nick Lowe always liked a quick sharpener.’
Soon, Declan was making the Stiff office in Alexander Street a regular stopping-off point on his way home from work, hatching plans, helping with slogans. It made him feel he was finally getting
somewhere, but what he really needed was a backing band. Luckily, there was one virtually on the doorstep. Clover consisted of guitarist John McFee, bassist John Ciambotti, drummer Mickey Shine,
keyboardist Sean Hopper and singer and harmonica player Huey Lewis, later to shoot to stardom in Huey Lewis & The News. Hailing from Marin County in California, Clover had been brought over to
the UK in the wake of one of Dave Robinson’s ‘fact-finding’ trips to California, their similarity to the laid-back, consumately accomplished style of Eggs Over Easy convincing him
they were worth investigating.
He and Jake signed Clover to their Advancedale roster and set them up in a dilapidated old country house in Headley Grange, a village not far from Guildford and within easy distance of London.
Although they had a record deal with Polygram and toured constantly, the mood of the times meant that it wasn’t really happening for themin the UK. They were left at a
loose end, simply hanging around much of the time, until eventually they became a kind of house band for Stiff.
Clover were by no means unknown or unloved by Declan: both Rusty and Flip City had played their songs, so when the time came for him to enter the studio to make his first recordings, Nick
Lowe’s suggestion that he use Clover seeemed inspired. And the band were more than amenable to the idea.
‘The closest thing Jake could compare him to was a Van Morrison type,’ says John McFee, who had played with Morrison on his
Saint Dominic’s Preview
album. ‘I got
a little demo of Declan and his guitar, and I was blown away. It was pretty scary to hear somebody with so much conviction and such a sense of how to use the language. Great voice. He just had a
lot going for him.’
After an initial break-the-ice meeting at Advancedale’s London offices, a rehearsal was set up with Clover at Headley Grange to run through two or three songs. This time, it was John
Ciambotti’s turn to be bowled over. ‘He dragged out this green Fender Jaguar electric guitar, played it without plugging it in and just started singing these songs. And each new song
was better than the last. It was kinda mindblowing, actually.’
Clover were a favoured band of his from the early ’70s, and Nick Lowe something close to a hero, but Declan was taking it all in his stride. ‘I don’t think being intimidated is
in his nature!’ laughs Ciambotti. ‘Intimidation, maybe, although I don’t think consciously he ever tried to
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