Getting To Know: Elvis Costello
By Brighid Mooney

Who He Is:

Elvis Costello started his professional career in 1977 at the height of the punk explosion with My Aim Is True, sometimes referred to as one of the greatest debut albums of all time. A musical adventurist, Costello has gone on to experiment with a variety of genres, including country, folk, classical, jazz and Burt Bacharach. He continues to improve as a guitarist, no longer called the "little hands of concrete," but has always been known more for his eloquent and profuse lyrics. The Attractions, made up of keyboardist Steve Nieve, bass player Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas, backed Costello off and on through 1994. Costello's songs have been credited to the Emotional Toothpaste, Napoleon Dynamite, The Costello Show, Eamonn Singer, the Coward Brothers, and his given name, Declan MacManus.


How To Spot Him:

Elvis Costello started out as the skinny, geeky guy in horn rim glasses, thrift store suit and skinny tie. Now he's the not quite as skinny guy in horn rim glasses, and much nicer suits. He was once described as looking like a "psychotic bank clerk." Costello has a propensity for drenching the microphone (and parts of the audience) with his spittle-inflected vocal delivery, and is probably best known for his punderful use of wordplay and biting, yet unfailingly eloquent, lyrics about lust, rejection and infidelity.


Vital Fact:

During their first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1977, Elvis Costello and the Attractions began "Less Than Zero" as expected, but after the first few bars, abruptly stopped and launched into a scathing rendition of "Radio, Radio." They were promptly banned from SNL and did not appear on the program again until 1989.


Not So Vital Fact:

Once famously claimed that all his songs were motivated by revenge and guilt, and that those were the only two emotions he truly understood. From listening to his first few albums, not a completely unbelievable claim.


Where To Start:



My Aim Is True (1977) - "Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay, it only took my little finger to blow you away."



The beginning is generally a good place to start, and Costello's debut album was an instant critical success and contains his most classic ballad, "Alison." Melding a punk attitude with a myriad of musical influences, My Aim Is True manages to be tender and vulnerable, while also quite merciless, starting a trend that has carried Costello through most of his career. Key cuts: "Less Than Zero," "Red Shoes," and "Watching the Detectives."



This Year's Model (1978) - "Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being."





Rarely does an artist's sophomore album exceed a well-received debut, but EC's second album is relentlessly perfect, adding backing band The Attractions to the mix. Especially noteworthy is the fierce drumming of Pete Thomas, accentuated by his partner-in-rhythm, bass player Bruce Thomas. This Year's Model is even more acerbic, brutal and aggressive than his first. Key Cuts: "The Beat," "(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea," and "Lipstick Vogue."



Get Happy!! (1980) - "When I said that I was lying, I might have been lying."





Costello's fourth album was an overt tribute to his R&B influences. Twenty songs clocking in at just under an hour, Get Happy!! is like a Volt/Stax album on speed, literally. It also features his most heavy-handed use of puns, and such an astounding amount of wordplay that he caught flak from critics for being too clever. Key cuts: "Possession," "High Fidelity," and "Riot Act."



Imperial Bedroom (1982) - "He's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge."





Widely regarded at the time to be Costello's masterpiece, exacerbated by an ad campaign consisting of the ambiguous slogan "masterpiece?," Imperial Bedroom is filled with references to domestic and romantic strife and also features some of Costello's most Beatlesque melodies. Key cuts: "Beyond Belief," "Man Out of Time," and "Almost Blue."



Blood and Chocolate (1986) - "There won't even have to be a murder just a slow dissolving kiss."




A "comeback" album, Blood and Chocolate was Costello at his most rock and roll since 1978's This Year's Model. But Costello's bile and bitterness had reached full maturity in those eight years, and as a result, is more emotionally devastating, an album filled out by contempt, bravado and pure pain. Key cuts: "I Hope You're Happy Now," "I Want You," and "Battered Old Bird."


Where To Go From There:

Armed Forces (1979) - Costello's third album was originally going to be called Emotional Fascism, and deftly combines fascist imagery with songs about betrayal and unrequited longing. One of his most commercially successful, Armed Forces contains one of Costello's biggest "hits" in "Oliver's Army."

Trust (1981) - One of his most underrated efforts, Trust features a very untrustworthy-looking Costello on the cover, "trying to look Italian through the musical valium," and is complemented with more of Costello's trademark wordplay, as well as more musical experimentation than in previous releases. Trust also contains what is possibly Costello's most non-sensical song: "Luxembourg."

King of America (1986) - Costello's attempt at American folk music, King of America was released within mere months of Blood and Chocolate, and is a startling contrast in style. Largely acoustic and lyrically toned down, King of America is a fan favorite and contains some of Costello's most moving ballads, such as "Indoor Fireworks."

Brutal Youth (1994) - Another "comeback" album, Brutal Youth reunited Costello with the Attractions for the first time in eight years, as well as with longtime producer Nick Lowe. A mix of vicious rockers and subtle ballads, Brutal Youth contains some of EC's most pointed and cutting lyrics, as well as two separate lyrical uses of the word "knickers."


What To Avoid:

Goodbye Cruel World (1984) - The liner notes have Costello proclaiming "Congratulations, you've just purchased our worst album!" Goodbye Cruel World was recorded during an emotionally turbulent time in Costello's life and suffers from bad 80s production, but many of the songs are as good as any Costello has written. The Rhino reissue provides a bonus disc with demo versions of the songs the way they should have sounded, and is worth getting eventually, but is probably not a good place to start.

Kojak Variety (1995) - A covers album, where Costello tackles some of his favorite songs by musicians like Bob Dylan, Mose Allison and Little Richard. If you like EC's voice and songs by Bob Dylan, Mose Allison and Little Richard, and think combining the two sounds like an okay thing, Kojak Variety is an enjoyable, eclectic album.

For the Stars (2001) - I hesitate to tell anyone not to buy an Elvis Costello album, but For the Stars is an exception in that it is a collaboration with opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter. If you like her voice, enough to listen to her sing "Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" and "For No One," this might be worth getting. But if you like Elvis Costello, you might not like this album.


Everything Else You Need To Know:

http://www.elviscostello.com - Everyone needs a website, I suppose. This official site is nice looking and sometimes moderately informative, but has a tendency to go long periods without updating. On the plus side there are lots of audio samples from his newer material, plus audio clips of interviews, downloadable wallpaper, and a few video clips.

http://www.elviscostello.info - This site is truly a bottomless reservoir of EC information, always up to date, and has pretty much anything you could ever possibly want, including lyrics to every album, chords to most songs, a thorough gigography, discography and a bibliography worth combing through if you feel compelled to read what seems like every newspaper, magazine and online article written about EC since time began.

Elvis Costello: A Biography by Tony Clayton-Lea - Generally, biographies of Elvis Costello are woefully inadequate and won’t be of much use to you if you've already taken the time to catch up on all the reading material available on the website listed above. However, this one has some good pictures and will give you a quick, general overview of EC's career. You won't learn much about his actual life though.

Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello by Graeme Thompson - Now available in the UK, and scheduled to be released in the US in the spring of 2005, this is supposed to be "the definitive biography" and early reports have been wholly positive, even by those who already have every article ever written about EC practically memorized. I live on the non-enlightened side of the pond, so I haven't read it yet. You'll just have to trust my second-hand knowledge.

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