Armed Forces by Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1979).

Costello refers to this album as a commentary on contemporary fascism. It is laced with references to racism, brutality, and domination. But it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

This was my first album by Elvis—I bought it in 1980—and I was immediately impressed by the cleverness of his lyrics and his versatility. Costello can use everything from rockabilly to Tin Pan Alley styles to craft very short (often less than two minutes) songs that make a point. Very efficient songs. He is cynical to a fault sometimes about love and trust, but on the whole he depicts a world that is disturbingly familiar.

I love “Oliver’s Army,” even though it’s a very bleak song about mercenaries. It’s so catchy that you can’t help but tap your toes and hum along. “Green Shirt” is also a favorite, in part because it explicitly comments on TV culture. (“There’s a smart young woman on a bright blue screen who comes into my house every night./And she takes all the red, yellow, orange, and green and she turns them into black and white.”) The hits on this album were “Party Girl” and “Accidents Will Happen,” and both are terrific songs. But the entire album is of the same stuff as the hits. The CD I have includes “Sunday’s Best,” which was not on the American LP. It is fitting with the rest of the album, since it’s about racist English tourists.

Thirty years from now pop bands may be covering Elvis Costello tunes the way late 1990s swing bands covered Sinatra, and for the same reasons. The best endures.