All I Need Is Everything
The first single from Knife, with no recurring chorus and Jimmy Cliff in its opening chords.
Aztec Camera, from Knife (1984)
- Written by
- Roddy Frame
- Released
- September 1984
- Length
- 5:44
- Album
- Knife
Frame wrote it in March 1984 while he was in the United States, first the tune and three chords, then the lyrics after a long struggle. He called it an unusual single because, unlike the earlier singles and most pop singles, it has no recurring chorus. Its opening chords are from Jimmy Cliff's Many Rivers to Cross, which he described as a nod of the head, or a tap of the hat, to the writer rather than stealing it on the quiet. In 1999 he said it was where the band stepped up to proper studios and proper arrangements.
Released in September 1984, it reached 34 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on for six weeks. The single version is two minutes shorter than the album version, which has an extended fade-out. The video was in light rotation on MTV in the autumn of 1984, and the B-side, a downbeat acoustic cover of Van Halen's Jump, drew positive attention. A live version was played at Cabaret Metro in Chicago on 28 November 1987, opening a tape of the show held by the Internet Archive.
More songs by Aztec Camera
Oblivious, Walk Out to Winter, Somewhere in My Heart, Good Morning Britain
Sources
- All I Need Is Everything, Wikipedia
- Knife (album), Wikipedia
- Aztec Camera interview, Jamming!, via Killermont Street (1984-10)
- Aztec Camera Live at Cabaret Metro 1987-11-28, Internet Archive (1987-11-28)