_Stilzitten staat voorlopig niet in het woordenboek van Declan Patrick MacManus. Midden in zijn succesvolle Europese solo-tournee kondigt hij al een nieuw avontuur aan. Na 25 jaar zal 'The Spectacular Spinning Songbook' opnieuw in Europa te zien zijn.

Op 30 mei 2012 landt "The revolver tour – The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!" van Elvis Costello & The Imposters in de Ancienne Belgique en zal het publiek van de ene verrassing in de andere vallen.

Het concept is eenvoudig: tijdens de show mag het publiek op het podium aan een rad met titels van hits, b-kantjes en covers draaien en zo de setlist van de avond bepalen. Het lot kan hits ('Oliver's Army', 'Everyday I Write The Book' of 'Watching The Detectives') aanduiden, maar net zo goed op een thematische 'Jackpot' vallen, waarna er songs rond één thema (bijvoorbeeld 'Time' of 'Girl') gespeeld worden.

Naast vele bekende parels uit zijn eigen oeuvre ('Shipbuilding' of 'God Give Me Strength') is er op het rad ook plaats voor obscure albumtracks ('Town Cryer') en verrassende covers van onder andere The Rolling Stones en Johnny Cash. Ook het thematisch verantwoorde Dylan-nummer 'This Wheel's On Fire' ontbreekt niet.

Costello presenteert de avond als een volleerde MC en wanneer hij samen met The Imposters (Steve Nieve op toetsen, Pete Thomas op drums en Davey Faraghar op bas) alle duivels ontbindt, mogen de raddraaiers plaatsnemen op het podium in de 'Society Lounge' of karakterdansen in de 'Hostage-To-Fortune Go-Go Cage'.

Afgelopen zomer was "The Revolver Tour" in Amerika te zien en waren de reacties unaniem lovend. Op 30 mei 2012 beleven we met zijn allen in de Ancienne Belgique 'de terugkeer van het ronddraaiend liedboek' en met een beetje geluk mag ook jij aan het rad draaien.

Tickets voor dit uniek -en uren durend- spektakel zijn vanaf 30 november 2011 te koop. Zie onderaan

_Declan Patrick MacManus began having the time of his life on Wednesday, the 25th of August, 1954. He was the son and only child of trumpeter, vocalist and erstwhile bandleader Ronald (“Ross”) MacManus (born in Birkenhead, October 20, 1927) and record store manager Lillian MacManus.
The MacManus family’s original association with music occurred quite literally by accident. Elvis' grandfather Patrick was an orphan – his father (Elvis' great-grandfather) John MacManus (who was an Irishman from County Tyrone who'd moved to England) was killed in an accident on the dockside in Birkenhead and Patrick's mother (Elizabeth Costello) didn't survive much longer herself. Patrick and his brothers got shipped off to an orphanage in Southall where they all learned to play musical instruments. Patrick later ended up in the British Army in Ireland and was shot in 1917 (I assume he didn't heed the warning he was given by his Irish mates – as retold by Elvis in his song "Any King's Shilling") but later recovered and played jazz on the luxury trans-Atlantic cruise ships "Georgic" and "Majestic" up until 1933.

Declan was born at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, England. The family first lived in Olympia in Kensington (inner West London), and then moved to Twickenham, Middlesex, on the outskirts of West London, when Declan was seven. Declan later attended Hounslow Secondary Modern (high school) in the same area. Ross and Lillian then separated, and when Declan was sixteen, Lillian and Declan moved to Liverpool and he finished high school there, completing his “A Levels” (or University Entrance Exams) in English. Declan has four half-brothers courtesy of his father’s second marriage.
At the time of Declan’s early childhood Ross was a featured vocalist with the Joe Loss Orchestra (Britain’s premier big band) and he used to bring home acetate recordings to practice the latest pop tunes. Declan loved to listen to these and other records, his favourite (even as a toddler) being Frank Sinatra’s version of Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. At the age of nine, Declan bought his first record, the Beatles’ “Please Please Me”. Coming from a musical family (aside from his parents’ professional connections with the music world, MacManus’ grandfather, Patrick, was also a musician, as are Declan’s four half-brothers, Ronan, Liam, Kieran and Ruari who formed a band called “Manus”, later renamed “Riverway”, in the late 1990s) it was almost inevitable that Declan would have some interest in music.
Declan first performed his own compositions in public in 1970 in a London folk club and in January 1972 formed a duo called "Rusty" with Allan Mayes. A few months later Declan appeared in a television commercial for R Whites Lemonade. His father Ross also made an appearance in another commercial for the same product in 1973, as the singing voice of the "Secret Lemonade Drinker", now regarded as one of the greatest television commercials ever made in the UK. Ross also had some success as a pop star: in 1964 he wrote and recorded a ska styled song called “Patsy Girl” (HMV, POP 1279, credited to Ross McManus) which flopped initially on its release in the UK, but later entered the Top 20 in Germany in July 1966.
    
In 1974 Declan left home and moved into a shared house in Stag Lane, Roehamptom with some aspiring musicians, Mich Kent and Malcolm Dennis, who shared many of his musical interests of the time, which included such artists as The Band, Little Feat, The Byrds, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Randy Newman, Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell and Brinsley Schwartz. Declan had met Nick Lowe, the bass player from Brinsley Schwartz, in a Liverpool pub in 1973 and the band that Declan founded with his friends was transparently modeled on the Brinsley Schwartz template. After flirting with unpromising names such as "The Mothertruckers" and “The Bizario Brothers”, it was eventually decided to name the outfit "Flip City" (from an off-hand remark made by Cheech Marin on Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark" album). Declan married his first wife, Mary Burgoyne, in November 1974 and early in the following year their only child, Matthew MacManus, was born. Declan and Mary had already moved out of the shared house in Roehampton and into a flat in Twickenham. Declan’s father Ross had recently remarried and was living with his new wife Sarah in the same block of flats.
"Flip City" meanwhile were experiencing little in the way of success (not surprising as their idols Brinsley Schwartz also failed to achieve anything more than a cult following themselves), occasionally supporting some of the more well known "pub rock" acts of the era, such as Dr Feelgood, as well as achieving a couple of residencies; a brief one at The Kensington Tavern, and another at the Red Cow. Toward the end of 1975 the band was folded by mutual agreement and Declan went back to playing solo gigs, this time billed as "DP Costello" (Costello being the maiden name of his paternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Costello). Declan needed to provide a home for his young family and he wound up, almost by accident after an unpromising series of jobs, as a computer operator for the Elizabeth Arden factory in Wales Farm Road, Acton. As he was the only operator on his shift and he worked in a back room, Declan had plenty of spare time to pen new songs and plan his real career. Declan recorded a home demo tape, featuring vocal and acoustic guitar, of some of his songs and sent the tape to various record companies with little success. At one point, Declan even visited the record companies personally and played his songs live in their offices in an attempt to attract attention. Declan was eventually offered a very unsatisfactory deal with Island Records, which he wisely rejected. Declan also forwarded his tape to Charlie Gillett, who featured recordings of up and coming artists on his radio show (he also featured other struggling artists such as Dire Straits and Graham Parker). Gillett thought highly of Declan’s songs and contemplated producing a “DP Costello” album himself, if he could obtain some funding. Songs from that demo tape are now included as bonus tracks on the album “My Aim Is True”.
Elvis Is In The Building
Late in 1976, new independent label Stiff Records placed an ad in the English music press asking for demo tapes. Declan promptly dropped off his tape at the Stiff office, and as soon as Nick Lowe heard the tape, Declan was as good as signed. Stiff Records was the brainchild of Dave Robinson (manager of Graham Parker and the Rumour) and Jake Riveria (real name, Andrew Jakeman, ex-manager of Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) and had already signed up Ian Dury and Blockheads as well as Nick Lowe (born in Walton-On-Thames, 24 March 1949, who was on board as an artist, producer and all-round svengali). Jake Riveria agreed to manage Declan, and decided to merge Declan's stage name "DP Costello" with that of rock'n'roll's original icon "Elvis Presley".
And so, a star was torn. Later MacManus was to officially change his name to "Elvis Costello" to complete the transformation.
     
Riveria deduced a certain "American" influence in his new charge's songs and decided to pair Elvis Costello with his latest signing, Californian band "Clover" (now better known to the world as "Huey Lewis and the News", but originally known as "The Tiny Hearing Aid Company") who at the time included pedal steel guitarist John McFee (later of the Doobie Brothers) in their number (Huey Lewis skipped the "My Aim Is True" sessions as his vocal and harmonica talents were not required). The result, recorded in 24 hours of studio time at London's Pathway Studios and produced by Nick Lowe, became Elvis Costello's first album "My Aim Is True". However, before the album was released, Stiff issued a single "Less Than Zero/Radio Sweetheart" in March 1977. The single stiffed, and for a while there seemed to be some doubt as to whether there would ever be an Elvis Costello album at all. Two further singles were released: "Alison" and "Red Shoes". The latter in particular generated some rave reviews but little in the way of actual sales. Uncertain of his status as a professional musician, Elvis only quit his job as computer operator at the "vanity factory" when Jake Riveria and Dave Robinson agreed to match Elvis’ relatively meagre wages. Now assured of some kind of living, Elvis, Mary and Matthew moved into a house in Whitton, Middlesex.
"Elvis Costello" performed his first live gig supporting The Rumour (sans Graham Parker) at London's Nashville on May 27, 1977. Reaction to the performance was very positive, and encouraged by this Stiff placed an ad in the June 3 edition of Melody Maker calling for musicians to form a "rocking combo" to back Elvis Costello. Pete Thomas (born in Sheffield, 9 August 1954, ex-Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) had already been pencilled in as drummer, and a 17 year old keyboard player named Steve Nason (born 19 February 1960, later renamed "Steve Naive" and then "Steve Nieve") who was attending the Royal Academy of Music distinguished himself at the auditions not only by being the best player, but also by falling asleep while the other keyboard players vainly attempted to impress Costello, Lowe and Riveria. Bruce Thomas, (born in Stockton-on-Tees, 14 August 1948, ex-Sutherland Brothers and Quiver) was keen to join up but was initially rebuffed after phoning Stiff Records and announcing his influences as "Graham Parker" and "Steely Dan". Undeterred, Bruce quickly learned the bass parts to the Costello records that had already been released and arrived better prepared than the other contenders. It soon became apparent that Bruce's intensely melodic style would provide a very interesting contrast to Pete's all-out drum attack, and might even distract listeners from noticing that Elvis couldn't convincingly improvise lead guitar parts, even though he was a more than adequate rhythm guitarist.

The newly formed Elvis Costello and the Attractions played their first gigs shortly before the release of "My Aim Is True" in July 1977. The album garnered rave reviews from the UK rock press and soon entered the UK Top 20 chart. Shortly afterwards a non-album track recorded after the "My Aim Is True" sessions, "Watching the Detectives", became Elvis' first hit single in the UK, reaching #15. The track (again produced by Nick Lowe) featured musical backing by Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums) from The Rumour (Andrew and Steve had also assisted at the Attractions’ auditions) with organ overdubs added later by Steve Nieve. Also in July Riveria persuaded Costello, as a publicity stunt, to busk outside of CBS Records in London during a visit by CBS US executives. Costello was arrested for obstruction, but the stunt paid off and Costello was signed to CBS' Columbia Records in the US within days.
Riveria, Lowe and Costello left Stiff Records in October 1977 and formed a new label, "Radar Records" with Andrew Lauder (formerly of Warner Bros, who were bankrolling the new label in return for exclusive distribution rights in the UK and most other territories). Work was quickly begun on a second album "This Years Model", with Costello and the Attractions heading for the airport to commence their first US tour while the studio still literally echoed with last chord of "Pump it Up". A fortuitous cancellation by the Sex Pistols gave Elvis the opportunity to appear on "Saturday Night Live" in December 1977. Elvis decided to interpret the lyric of his new song "Radio Radio" (recently debuted on tour) a little too literally and "bit the hand that fed him" by cutting the Attractions off during the first few bars of "Less Than Zero" and announcing to the audience that the song was "not relevant" and that they were going to perform "Radio Radio" instead. Elvis was subsequently banned from performing on the show again, and was not invited back until 1989. However, the incident won Costello the notoriety that Riveria undoubtedly craved. Subsequently a policy of not giving interviews was adopted (the only interview Costello gave in 1978 was with the UK's New Musical Express), and more than one incident of reporters being roughed up by Riveria and his minders was alleged to have occurred. Elvis and the Attractions returned to Eden Studios in London to apply the finishing touches to "This Years Model" (including guitar overdubs by Mick Jones of The Clash, most of which were not used in the final mix) while "My Aim Is True" finally entered the US Top 40.
     
"This Years Model" (earlier working titles included "Little Hitler", "Girls! Girls! Girls!" and "The King of Belgium") was released in March 1978 in the UK and the US and amply confirmed Costello's reputation as the most talented and articulate of the "new wave" of performers. The album went on to reach the UK Top 5 and spawned two UK hit singles, "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" (#16) and "Pump it Up" (#24). The album also generated considerable sales outside of the UK, entering the Top 30 in the US, while a Top 10 chart position for "Pump it Up" was one of the highlights of Costello's new found popularity in Australia. Elvis and the Attractions toured the United States and Canada during the spring/summer of 1978, sharing some bills with Rockpile. One of the shows, at the El Mocambo club in Toronto, Canada, was recorded and later released as a promotional album that quickly found its way onto bootleg vinyl.

On his return to the UK, Costello generated further headlines when he was seen in public with model Bebe Buell (born in Portsmouth, Virginia, 14 July 1953). It soon became apparent that he had left his wife, Mary. Toward the end of 1978, Costello and the Attractions returned to the studio to record Costello's third album, provisionally titled "Emotional Fascism" and then headed off to the Far East and Australia for yet another tour. Meanwhile, a new single was released in the UK: "Radio Radio", a left over from the "This Years Model" sessions that was included only on the US version of that album. The single, which stalled just short of the UK Top 20, was backed by a new song: "Tiny Steps" from the sessions just completed at Eden Studios but ruled out of consideration for inclusion on the forthcoming album (presumably because it sounded like it belonged on "This Years Model").
     
The third album, now retitled "Armed Forces" was released in January 1979 and became Costello's first, and only, Top 10 album in the US. The album also spawned a #2 hit single in the UK, "Olivers Army" (Costello's highest charting single at the time of writing), as well as a second Top 30 UK hit single, "Accidents Will Happen". The album itself also reached #2 in the UK charts. "Armed Forces" also was popular in other territories, topping the charts in Australia and resulting in two top 10 Australian singles - "Olivers Army" and "Senior Service". Perplexingly, after adding "What's So Funny ('Bout Peace Love and Understanding)" to the US version of "Armed Forces", Columbia Records decided to release "Accidents Will Happen" as a single in the US instead. It subsequently stalled at #101. Despite the massive sales for "Olivers Army" in other markets, Columbia were wary of releasing that song as a single in the US due to the phrase "white nigger" in the second verse. Costello refused to allow an edited version of the song to be released by Columbia.

Costello and the Attractions toured the UK and Europe early in 1979 and then returned to the US for a third time to undertake their most ambitious tour yet. However, the pressures of life on the road, in addition to the turmoil of Costello's personal relationships, large amounts of alcohol, plus the hostility of Costello and his manager Jake Riviera to the press, all contributed to an unfortunate incident in Columbus, Ohio in March 1979. A drunken slanging match in a Holiday Inn bar between Costello (and the Attractions) and members of Steven Stills' entourage (including Bonnie Bramlett) led to both sides making ill-considered remarks about British and American musicians. However, only Costello's derogatory comments about certain African-American musicians were reported to the press. The subsequent press furore was reminiscent of the outrage generated in the US by the out-of-context rehashing of John Lennon's "We're more popular than Jesus" remark in 1966. Despite his performances at

 "Rock Against Racism" shows in the UK, and his anti-fascism songs "Less Than Zero" and "Night Rally", Costello was forced to hastily convene a US press conference and apologise for his statements. Ray Charles, who bore the brunt of Costello's reported remarks, certainly holds Costello no ill will, and commented that "drunken talk isn't meant to be printed in the paper." The tour was quickly wrapped up, despite "Armed Forces" riding high in the charts, and Costello did not return to the US again until 1981, this defusing any commercial momentum he had generated. It is likely that Columbia’s ultimate decision not to release either "What's So Funny ('Bout Peace Love and Understanding)" or "Olivers Army" as singles in the US may well have been made in the wake of the "Columbus Incident". Columbia certainly made no further attempt to promote "Armed Forces" despite its Top Ten chart placing, a decision which saw the album fall out of the Top Ten as quickly as it had arrived there. It is rumoured that Columbia executives even considered cancelling Costello’s contract at this time. For once, Columbia may have been grateful for Costello’s and Riveria’s "No Interview" policy, as the lack of Costello’s face on the cover of any major magazines probably helped the controversy to blow over more quickly. Subsequent events would demonstrate that Elvis Costello was certainly no racist, beginning with Costello’s work as the producer of The Specials, a multi-racial band, during 1979. Their self-titled album went on to top the charts in the UK.

Costello reunited with his wife and son, did some low-key touring of the UK and Europe, and then returned to Eden Studios in London with the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe in September 1979 to record a fourth album, "Get Happy!!". After recording 10 songs, it became evident that the arrangements (a continuation of the style pioneered on "This Years Model" and polished on "Armed Forces") were not working, at least not to Costello's satisfaction, except for a slow version of "High Fidelity" modelled on David Bowie's "Station to Station". Costello decided to remodel all the arrangements for the album based on various 1960's R'n'B stylings, no doubt hoping that this would confirm his love of "black" American musicians in the wake of the "Columbus" incident. This inspiration led Costello to quickly pen several new songs whilst he, the Attractions and Nick Lowe relocated to studios in Holland where they rerecorded the 10 songs previously attempted and added 10 more. The result was twenty songs somehow jammed onto one mighty crowded album.
Due to the failure of Radar Records to achieve success with any artists other than Nick Lowe and Costello, Warner Bros. decided to exercise their option and they withdrew funding for the label. Riveria believed that this made Costello and Lowe free agents, but Warner Bros. had other ideas and the release of the "Get Happy!!" album was tied up by legal injunctions for several weeks. Eventually a new company called F-Beat Records was formed with "Riveria Global Productions" maintaining creative control and Warner Bros receiving exclusive distribution rights outside of the USA until 1983. The album, finally released in March 1980 sold well but failed to improve on "Armed Forces" chart placings (Get Happy reached #4 in the UK and #11 in the US). Costello's UK distributors, anticipating that the album would outsell "Armed Forces", were left with at least 50,000 copies of "Get Happy" literally collecting dust in a warehouse. The album produced one Top 10 single in the UK ("I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down"), and two other minor hits ("High Fidelity" and "New Amsterdam"), but Costello's previous seeming infallibility now looked shaky and the US Top 100 singles chart once again proved impenetrable, although Dave Edmunds and Linda Ronstadt had both already had major chart successes with versions of "Girls Talk" and "Alison" respectively. Costello and the Attractions made an appearance at Paul McCartney’s "Concert for the People of Kampuchea" in December 1979 in London.
Before Costello and the Attractions could reconvene in 1980 to tour the UK and Europe to promote "Get Happy!!", Attractions keyboardist Steve Nieve was injured in a serious car accident in the US which left one of the other passengers dead. Rather than replacing Steve with another keyboardist (for example, Bob Andrews from "The Rumour") Costello decided to opt for a twin guitar attack, drafting in rhythm guitarist Martin Belmont from "The Rumour", resulting in a thicker, heavier on-stage sound than hithertofore. Although no reasons have ever been offered for this experimental change to the Attractions line-up, Costello has commented since that on certain songs during this period he was attempting to emulate the sound that David Bowie achieved with his band in the mid to late 70s. Costello eventually realised that Bowie's "sound" was partly due to the layering of multiple guitar parts. Needless to say, any resemblance between Elvis Costello and David Bowie is safely locked away in Costello’s mind.
In the (Northern) summer of 1980, a rejuvenated Steve Nieve rejoined the Attractions. The "guitar experiment" was abandoned (although Martin Belmont was keen to continue as the "Fifth Attraction", he only ever performed this role once again: on one track on Elvis' next album). Elvis and the Attractions continued to tour, now adding new songs that would appear on the next album "Trust" and briefly headed over to Canada in August to play their only North American show in 1980 at the "Heatwave" festival.
Also during the summer of 1980, the Attractions released their solo album "Mad About the Wrong Boy", featuring songs written and sung by the Attractions themselves. The album garnered tepid reviews and sold poorly. Suprisingly, not only were the Attractions unremarkable singers and songwriters, but the songs themselves were not particularly well arranged, giving weight to Elvis' later claims that he was largely responsible for the "Attractions Sound". In the US, Columbia decided to round up all of the unreleased or rare Elvis tracks (including songs removed from the US versions of "This Years Model" and "Armed Forces") and issued a new US only album "Taking Liberties" which managed an impressive Top 30 chart placing. A UK equivalent of this album "Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers" was also later released.

Elvis had been toying with retiring at this early stage in his career and it was only with some effort, particularly by members of the Attractions, that he was persuaded to continue. Elvis, the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe reconvened at Eden Studios to record Elvis' fifth studio album "Trust" (earlier working titles were "Cats and Dogs" and "More Songs About Fucking and Fighting"). Elvis and Nick Lowe continued the move away from the so-called "new wave" style of "This Years Model" and "Armed Forces", although on "Trust" the overriding production ethic seems to have been merely "turn the drums and bass up, keep it simple, and no synthesizers". "Fifth Attraction" Martin Belmont made a brief return to the fold playing guitar on "From A Whisper to A Scream" while
     
Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook duetted with Elvis on the same song. The album included some departures for Costello, including his first piano composition, "Shot With His Own Gun", a country styled number "Different Finger", and a solo Costello performance "Big Sisters Clothes". Some of the tracks, including "New Lace Sleeves" and "Big Sisters Clothes" were old songs written in the days of "DP Costello". The first single from the album, "Clubland" reached only #60 in the UK chart, and the second single "From A Whisper to a Scream" failed to chart at all, Elvis' first outright chart failure in the UK since the Stiff era. The album itself peaked at #6 in the UK chart and #27 in the US charts, hardly a failure but certainly disappointing. Significantly, Costello's refusal to follow up the chart success of "Armed Forces", by repeating its formula, was already starting to cause resentment at Columbia Records.
Costello and the Attractions toured the US to promote the "Trust" album in early 1981 supported by English band Squeeze in what was known as the "English Mugs Tour". Surprisingly, Elvis' career took a very dramatic turn in May 1981 when, by now dissatisfied with his own songs, he took the Attractions to Nashville to record a country covers album with producer Billy Sherrill. The result, "Almost Blue" was released at the latter end of 1981. The album charted well for the most part, especially in some countries that had previously been resistant to Elvis' charms. The first single from the album, "Good Year For the Roses", achieved Top 10 placings in both the UK and Australia. However, the album was less successful in the US, reaching only #49. No doubt the relatively poor US sales were a result of the traditional country audience being uninterested in an album by someone they no doubt judged to be a "skinny, nerdy, British punk". Similarly, many of Costello's US following were unenthused by his latest musical direction. The overall result of the album for many music critics, especially in the US, was to call into question Elvis' sanity and musical judgement. Elvis then took a break to co-produce Squeeze's "East Side Story" album with Roger Bechirian, after earlier sessions with Dave Edmunds had been scrapped. The move proved to be an astute one for the band and resulted in their first US Top 40 single, "Tempted", and their highest US album placing at that time (#44). The album also included Squeeze’s third and last Top 10 UK hit single "Labelled With Love".

At the end of 1981, Elvis and the Attractions retired to a cottage in Cornwall to rehearse 20 new songs for Elvis' next album, (working titles "Revolution of the Mind", "Music To Stop Clocks" and "PS I Love You"). Former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick was drafted in for co-production duties and the team assembled at London's Air Studios to work on what would become Elvis' most ambitious project to date: "Imperial Bedroom". Spending an unprecedented (for him) two months in the studio, Costello used the time to reshape and remodel his songs, most notably on the album’s standout track "Beyond Belief". The album also contains hints as to many of his later musical interests, especially the elaborate orchestral settings for "…And In Every Home" and "Town Cryer" and the pseudo-Bacharachian stylings of "The Long Honeymoon", which eerily presages "Toledo" from Costello and Bacharach’s 1998 album "Painted From Memory" (albeit from the wife’s point of view rather than the husband’s). The album was also released in a special promotional double album format ("A Conversation With Elvis Costello") with extensive commentary by Elvis on each song. Despite the many departures from Costello’s previous work, and the many flattering comparisons by music journalists to George Gershwin, Cole Porter and the Beatles, the album failed to sell significantly better than "Trust" reaching #6 in the UK and #31 in the US (although once again charting well in Australia). More worryingly, the two singles from the album, "You Little Fool" and "Man Out of Time" failed to set the charts on fire in the UK, reaching only #42 and #58 respectively, despite their relative
      
The albums striking cover art, titled "Snakecharmer and Reclining Octopus" and credited to "Sal Forlenza", dated 1942, was actually the work of the brilliant Barney Bubbles, who had designed all of Costello’s record covers, and had also directed the "Clubland" video. Regrettably Barney died a few months later, before he could finish the artwork for Costello’s next album. Prior to "Imperial Bedroom’s" release Costello performed two concerts in London with the Attractions and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing songs from "Almost Blue" and "Imperial Bedroom" as well as past favourites. The concerts were filmed and recorded for a possible television special and live album release, but nothing was ever issued other than one single in March 1982, a live version of "I’m Your Toy" (written by the late Gram Parsons with Chris Ethridge). More touring of the UK, the US and the Far East and Australia followed. Elvis also appeared on the cover of the "Rolling Stone" and was interviewed by Griel Marcus in the same issue. Elvis later grumbled about the words on the cover: "Elvis Costello Repents", but the interview signalled to the world Elvis’ new attitude to the press and heralded a warmer, more fuller rounded persona that astute fans had already detected.
Following the release of "Imperial Bedroom" in July 1982, and the subsequent disappointing sales, Costello decided a change of tack was required – a retreat from the elaborate and somewhat torturous emotional landscape of that album. With this aim in mind, Costello and the Attractions recorded four covers under the aegis of producer Colin Fairley: "From Head to Toe" (written by Smokey Robinson and covered by the "Merseybeat" band The Escorts), "The World of Broken Hearts" (originally a #26 UK hit in 1967 for Amen Corner – a soul flavoured Welsh based outfit). "Night Time" (also recorded by The Escorts as the b-side to their final unsuccessful Paul McCartney produced "From Head to Toe" single) and "Really Mystified" (the b-side of The Merseybeats’ third #13 UK hit single "Don’t Turn Around" - this was the second of their songs that Costello had covered, the first being "I Stand Accused" on "Get Happy!!"). Although the plan was originally to release a four track "Merseybeat EP", the final result was a single release of only the first two tracks. The single release was distinguished by an apparent attempt by Costello’s UK distributors to rig the charts by giving away a free copy of the "Get Happy!!" album with each single of "Head To Toe" but only in stores that figured in the calculation of the UK charts! Needless to say the record buying public of Britain decided that they already owned sufficient copies of "Get Happy!!" and were not persuaded to push "From Head To Toe" higher than #43 in the charts.
     
Costello and the Attractions continued their more or less non-stop touring schedule, pausing only to record one new song which was to be featured as the title song of the English comedy film "Party Party". This song also failed to set the charts alight, stalling at #48 in the UK charts and later being dismissed by Costello as the worst song he ever wrote. Fans looking for the song on CD will be disappointed as Costello has ensured that the song will never appear on any of his albums, although I believe that the soundtrack album is available on CD in Europe. Costello also submitted three songs to Phil Collins who was slated to produce Frida’s (of Abba) first solo album. The songs evidently failed to slip under Collins’ radar as they were never seriously considered for inclusion. More notably, Costello also co-produced (with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley) a song for Robert Wyatt, "Shipbuilding" (co-written by Costello and Langer), a breathtakingly beautiful and elegiac rumination on the tragedy of war inspired by the Falklands conflict. The song was later reworked for Costello’s next album.

Costello decided that he would now write less lyrically complex and emotional tangled songs and inject more of a pure pop flavour and the results of this showed on his 1983 album "Punch the Clock". Perversely though, a month prior to the release of that album, Costello rush-released a single; "Pills and Soap" (co-produced by Costello and Colin Fairley) that seemed to be a reaction to the forthcoming British elections. As Costello and Riveria were in the process of negotiating a new record distribution deal in the UK (with RCA), he was forced to release the single under the pseudonym "The Imposter". Just so everyone would know who it really was, Costello took the unusual step of personally visiting the offices of every major music publication in the UK and personally presenting them with copies of the single. Elvis’ hands-on approach worked. The single, another Costello piano composition, garnered rave reviews and charted as high as #16.
At the end of June the album "Punch the Clock" appeared (no working titles known). The album was (apart from "Pills and Soap") co-produced by Clive Langer, :Alan Winstanley and Costello, but was miles away from their previous stately co-production of Robert Wyatt’s version of "Shipbuilding". The album overall was reminiscent of Langer and Winstanley’s poppier output, most notably Madness’ "Rise And Fall" album. Costello decided to employ a horn section for the first time. The horn section, (who had previously worked with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, another Langer and Winstanley project) was rechristened "The TKO Horns" by Costello. Backing vocalists Caron Wheeler (now perhaps better known as a member of Soul II Soul) and Claudia Fontaine were dubbed "Afrodiziak" by the pun happy Costello, and added to the radio friendly brew. Although Costello had written some more reflective and downbeat songs, including "Heathen Town" and "The Flirting Kind", Langer and Winstanley persuaded him to relegate those songs to b-sides in favour of more uptempo material, such as "Love Went Mad". Other tracks, such as "The World and His Wife" started out life as ballads and ended up as knees-ups. The first single, "Everyday I Write the Book" was a moderate hit in the UK , reaching #28, but more significantly became Costello’s first Top 40 single in the US, reaching #36. The second single, "Let Them All Talk", although a great opening track on the album, failed to garner much interest and stalled at a rather unimpressive #59 in the UK, probably hindered more than helped by the song’s rather unflattering video. "Punch the Clock" ultimately reached #1 in the UK charts and #24 in the US but had mixed reviews. Some critics reacted positively to the album’s overall positive vibe while others accused Costello of selling out. Rolling Stone magazine memorably dubbed Costello "halfway to hackdom". Costello venomously replied that Rolling Stone should know, as their writers were already all the way to hackdom.
Costello also demonstrated his right-on political and racial stance in 1983 by producing the Special AKA’s hit single "Nelson Mandela" the proceeds of which went to help free political prisoners (such as Nelson Mandela). In much the same vein Costello also commented archly that his video for "Everyday I Write the Book" featured 50% of the black artists featured on MTV at that time (the Afrodiziak singers) . Presumably the other two were Michael Jackson and Prince. A far cry from the "Columbus Incident" indeed. MTV predictably ignored Costello’s suggestion that they should "get blackenized".
 
The remainder of 1983 saw Costello playing to packed houses across the UK, Europe and the US. In the meantime, Costello had quietly resumed his relationship with Bebe Buell, neatly contradicting the pro-marital sentiments of "The Greatest Thing" (from "Punch the Clock") in the process. Little wonder that Costello reminded more than one interviewer that his songs were not "The Sermon from the Mount". Matters came to a head in 1984 when Costello’s wife, Mary, sued for divorce. Costello had begun work on a new album "Goodbye Cruel World" and as an experiment he decided to write the songs in an office over the space of two weeks, as if he were writing as a "9 to 5" kind of job. The results were, for the most part, as lacklustre as most 9 to 5 jobs can be. Nonetheless Costello was convinced at the time that these were "the greatest songs he had ever written" and arranged for recording sessions with the Attractions.
Prior to the recording sessions Costello released a second "Imposter" single entitled "Peace in Our Time". Widely perceived as a "follow-up" to the social commentary of "Shipbuilding" and "Pills and Soap", the song failed to find its mark and Costello belatedly realised that the strength of the previous two songs had been in depth of their emotional reaction, rather than the cleverness of their political analysis. The single, backed by a solo cover of Richard Thompson’s "Withered and Died", once again stalled before reaching the UK Top 40. Costello later remarked that the chorus of "Peace in Our Time" was "lifted" from another song, but refused to elaborate. Without blowing Costello’s cover, I will merely say that the other song also has a similar lyric (about bells) at the critical point in the song. Nudge nudge, wink wink, Mr MacManus.
Not quite knowing who to call on to produce his latest opus, and not quite having the chutzpah to do the job alone, Elvis brought in Langer and Winstanley again. This proved to be something of a tactical blunder, in that Costello didn’t want another "Madness meets Dexy’s" effort this time, but rather something more sombre and affecting. Costello briefly toyed with drafting in Richard Thompson to play guitar on the album, but their schedules were not complementary. Langer and Winstanley attempted to put a pop sheen on the proceedings which Elvis half-heartedly agreed to, but the overall effect was aimless. Steve Nieve (operating under the temporary pseudonym "Maurice Worm") was forced to overplay on a number of ill-considered synthesizer parts that sounded dated six months after the album was released, due to the lack of any real guitar or other lead instrumentation, other than a few bursts of electric (and acoustic) saxophone by Gary Barnacle. Meanwhile Bruce and Pete Thomas sounded restrained and constricted in the sterile recording environment. The brittle production tended to highlight rather than hide the flaws in the songs, particularly the unmitigated disaster that is "The Comedians". Elvis later rewrote the lyrics of this song so that they made sense, restored the song to 6/8 time (instead of the herky jerky 5/4 on "Goodbye Cruel World") , and gave the highly improved result to Roy Orbison, who took the song at face value (rather than the affectionate parody that it clearly aims to be). Another track, "The Deportees Club", was also later remodelled and given to Irish folk singer Christy Moore. The album sold significantly less well than "Punch the Clock", reaching only #35 in the US, and failing to reach the Top 40 in Australia. However, "I Wanna Be Loved" reached #18 in the UK, while
      
The Only Flame In Town "The Only Flame In Town" became Elvis’ second Top 100 single in the US, reaching #56, probably by repeating much of the formula first used on "Everyday I Write the Book". Reviews again were mixed, and Costello later admitted that he was "forced" to release the album, even though he knew it was flawed, in order to avoid bankruptcy due to his pending divorce settlement. Intriguingly, the first "Best Of" Elvis Costello compilation appeared in this year accompanied by a compilation of his videos. In retrospect, Costello’s motivation in allowing these items to be released is obvious. The album, which also included some "should have been singles" such as "Beyond Belief" and "Green Shirt", reached the Top 10 in the UK, but failed to make much initial headway in the US, although it eventually achieved "Gold" status (500,000 copies sold) there.
Despite the turmoil, Costello found himself intrigued by new Irish punk-folk band "Pogue Mahone", (Gaelic for "Kiss my arse") hastily renamed "The Pogues". Costello and the Attractions, continued touring throughout 1984, starting in Japan and moving through Australia and New Zealand before doing the more familiar rounds of the UK and Ireland (where they were supported by The Pogues), Europe and the US. The last few shows at the end of 1984 almost seemed like a swansong for Elvis and the Attractions as he determined that a hiatus was in order while he pondered future plans. Costello then said goodbye to the Attractions and undertook a solo tour of the US and Europe, supported by eclectic songwriter T-Bone Burnett.
The first few months of 1985 saw little public activity on Elvis’ part, although he did drag the Attractions and Nick Lowe into the studio to record one new song "I Hope You’re Happy Now" for a one-off single release. The single release never occurred, and the song was temporarily shelved. The lyrics are almost the ultimate kiss-off, but whether the song was meant to have personal relevance (despite the evident venom in the lyrics) to either of the women who had just left Costello’s life (Mary Costello and Bebe Buell) is less than clear, although the timing of the song makes this interpretation intriguing. Mary Costello later became a DJ for Radio London. Bebe Buell, who has described Elvis as "the love of her life", eventually married musician Coyote Shivers in 1992, although they divorced in 1999.
Meanwhile, Costello’s musical love affair with The Pogues was continuing and he became part of their less-than-royal retinue, also finding the time to produce their second (and best) album "Rum, Sodomy and The Lash" (named after Winston Churchill’s retort to the British Lords of the Admiralty when they protested that he was destroying the "great traditions" of the Royal Navy) and also accompanying them on tour. The Pogues nicknamed Elvis "Uncle Brian", a tribute to his avuncular nature rather than to any particular age difference (Shane MacGowan was born in December 1957, Jem Finer was born in July 1955).

The "Elvis solo" tour concept was then revived with Elvis touring the Far East and Australia in May 1985, previewing many of the songs for his next two albums, finishing off the shows by duetting with his new found alter ego T-Bone Burnett (born St Louis, Missouri, 14 January 1948) in the guise of "The Coward Brothers". Shortly afterwards The Coward Brothers released their first and only single, a Costello/Burnett composition called "The People’s Limousine", a tawdry tale of love, death and Italian Communism.
Live Aid's "old northern folk song"
July 1985 saw Elvis in a more unfamiliar role, participating in Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. The crowd were probably surprised to see "Elvis Costello" striding onto stage replete with beard and announcing that he was about to sing an "Old Northern folk song" – The Beatles’ "All You Need Is Love" (Lennon and McCartney’s publishing company was called "Northern Songs"). Elvis later explained the absence of the Attractions on stage by telling interviewers that it was easier for the concert organisers to deal with a solo artist than yet another band, given the tight schedules the event required.
Elvis immediately retired to the studio in Los Angeles with T-Bone Burnett to begin work on the first album since 1977 that would not exclusively feature the Attractions as Elvis’ band. The first task was to record solo versions of the songs as a kind of reference point. The plan was to then record approximately half the songs with the Attractions and half the songs with line ups drawn from a kind of "dream team" of American musicians; including such luminaries as Jim Keltner, T-Bone Wolk, and members of the other Elvis’ TCB (Taking Care of Business) stage band including the legendary guitar guru James Burton. As the sessions progressed and the different lineups tackled the various songs assigned to them it became increasingly apparent that the Attractions were not performing up to their usual standard. For one thing, the Attractions were hurt that they had not been asked to play all the songs, as per usual. However, T-Bone Burnett had convinced Elvis that although the Attractions were brilliant musicians, better results could be obtained by picking players who were already familiar with the styles required, rather than having to learn and adapt as the Attractions would have done. The other, less obvious point, is that the Attractions were English and therefore would approach the songs differently than American musicians. The common music industry prejudice is that English musicians "start" songs better (ie, more dramatically and excitingly) but American musicians "finish" songs better (they lock into a groove and build on it). In the end, the Attractions only played on one song ("Suit of Lights") out of the sixteen tracks on the finished album. Clearly, something had soured in the professional relationship between Costello and the Attractions, and it would be easy to believe that they were now effectively shooting themselves in their collective feet with their lacklustre studio efforts for this album. The rest of the album featured various lineups, and not always those originally envisaged by co-producers Costello and Burnett, who ended up playing a role not dissimilar to Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan, who had realised that they could create any "band" or combination of players they wanted to fit each of their songs. However, Costello and Burnett managed to make the process sound a little more organic than it might have by not relying on overdubs and insisting on maintaining a live "in the studio" feel. The result is Costello’s warmest and most open sounding album. The relatively laid back feel of the arrangements and the American musicians’ tendency to subtly underplay gave Costello room to move and he delivered some of his most affecting vocals ever.
Only two things remained to be determined, a name for the album, and a name for the artist. Costello at this time was starting to doubt the wisdom of having chosen the name "Elvis Costello" and recognised that it saddled him with an image that, although useful in 1977, was simply a burden in 1986. He seriously considered releasing the album under the name "Declan MacManus", or even something like "The MacManus Gang". However, Columbia Records were fairly certain that "Elvis Costello" was the name on their contract (due to expire in 1987) and eventually "The Costello Show" was offered up as a compromise. However to make his point clear, Elvis was credited on the album as "Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus" having recently officially changed his name back and adding the "Aloysius" as a tribute to the late great Tony Hancock, one of Costello’s favourite comedians. One other change was also occuring: Costello’s time spent with The Pogues had led him to develop a relationship with their bass player, Caitlin O’Riordan (born in Nigeria, January 4, 1965). Eventually, Costello found the title he was looking for in the opening track (and signature tune) for the album "Brilliant Mistake", in the very first line "He thought he was the King of America". Costello’s son Matthew has a credit on the album sleeve as "design consultant".

"King of America" was released in February 1986, and like its two predecessors received mixed reviews, with some critics welcoming the "kinder, gentler" Costello/MacManus, and others wondering out loud as to whether Costello had lost his focus as well as his backing band. The album only just reached the US Top 40, stalling at #39, although the surprise choice as single: a cover of "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood" did reach the Top 30 in both the UK and Australia. Meanwhile, Costello wondered out loud whether Columbia Records were not interested in promoting the album in the US. Presumably Columbia regarded the album as a slap in the face; after years of denying Columbia "Armed Forces 2", Costello now refused to even put his name on the cover of an album, while the cover art depicted him with a crown, a beard and sans his distinctive horn rims, and therefore almost unrecognizable. To further add to Columbia’s ire, the one track that they actually liked from the sessions: "Blue Chair" (which had been tipped by as a possible Top 10 US single) was perversely left off the album by Costello, who decided that the particular version recorded "lacked heart". Columbia now wrote off Costello as a liability and decided not to renew his contract, particularly inconvenient as Costello, who knew nothing of Columbia’s plans, was intent on releasing another album in 1986, hard on the heels of "King of America".
Meanwhile Elvis and Caitlin O'Riordan exchanged vows on May 17, 1986 in an informal ceremony. Their relationship endured until 2002. "We’re the Sonny and Cher of the Eighties", Elvis announced to the press, "and I’m Cher."
     
Costello assumed that by recording a loud "angry" sounding album in the vein of "This Years Model", he could make some kind of uneasy peace with the Attractions and win back the support of his US record company, thinking that this was the album that Columbia wanted him to make. Elvis and the Attractions raced through the songs in three days (with Nick Lowe producing and adding occasional acoustic guitar), caring little for the usual niceties of album production, and probably realising that none of them would live through another protracted recording session. The result, "Blood and Chocolate", was a startlingly raw and aggressive album that came closer to capturing the Attractions’ live sound than any of their other records , and included some of Elvis’ strongest songs, including remakes of "Blue Chair" and "I Hope You’re Happy Now" plus the quietly incendiary "I Want You", the most startling evocation of the dark side of passionate obsession ever set down in song. Columbia Records responded predictably by burying the album (did Jake send them a truckload of shovels?) which ascended to the giddy heights of #84 in the US, despite rave reviews from most critics. Regrettably, due to unfortunate timing Costello found himself without a record distributor for the UK and most of the rest of the world, and the album failed to register on the charts at all in most territories, and barely scraped into the Top 20 in the UK.
Costello’s inexplicable but typical perversity failed to help matters when he opted to release the lengthy rant "Tokyo Storm Warning" as the first single from the album, rather than the more obvious "Blue Chair" or even "I Hope You’re Happy Now". The second single was the outstanding but once again less than commercial "I Want You". Neither single troubled the Top 40. Costello’s unusual approach to album packaging was evident in the cover painting (a crude representation of Costello’s alter-ego "Napoleon Dynamite" painted by Costello himself), and the album credits (which were written in Esperanto). Thankfully, the lyric sheet itself was in English.
Costello and the Attractions toured the UK and the US again on what was at the time assumed to be the Attractions’ final live fling with Costello. Some shows also featured sets with some of the musicians who appeared on "King of America", billed as "The Confederates", including drummer Jim Keltner, guitar wizard James Burton, and bassist Jerry Scheff.
Although Costello did not release in album in 1987, he did tour again with the Confederates, passing through the UK, Europe, the US, Japan and Australia, previewing some of the songs that would later appear on "Spike", including "Veronica", "Gods Comic" and "Let Him Dangle". A compilation album of rarities and unreleased tracks, "Out of Our Idiot" was issued by Costello’s UK label Demon during this year as well. Finally "Blue Chair" was released as a single, but it was a remix/remodel of the rejected "King of America" take rather than the more familiar version from "Blood and Chocolate". Toward the end of the year Costello teamed up with Paul McCartney (who had decided he needed a songwriting collaborator) and together they wrote at least 14 songs for a planned Costello-McCartney album. The album was never recorded and in the end most of the songs ended up on various Costello and McCartney albums.
    
Costello also failed to release an album in 1988, although he did compose much of the soundtrack for the Irish film "The Courier" which just happened to include his new wife Cait O’Riordan in the cast. Toward the end of 1988 Elvis called on T-Bone Burnett again as he prepared to make an album could have been called "More Important Work", "Pantomime Evil" or "The Beloved Entertainer" but ultimately was titled "Spike". Costello later remarked that he had ideas for five albums in his head at the time. Rather than just make five separate albums, Costello opted to shoehorn all five concepts into the one record. The result was sprawling, diverse and slightly unsatisfying. Costello had just signed a new five album worldwide deal with Warner Bros, but it seems unlikely that his new record company expected all five albums to be delivered in the first release. The recording sessions for the album proved to be the most complex that Costello ever attempted, with recording starting in Dublin, continuing in New Orleans and finishing in Los Angeles. Rather than recording complete arrangements of each song at every studio, Costello opted to record parts of the arrangements at one studio, and then add the finishing touches elsewhere. This approach meant that in some cases the songs were assembled in unusual ways with the drums and bass often being added last, rather than being laid down first as is usually the case.
The resulting album, although strange and desperately uncommercial, contained a song called "Veronica" (a song that Costello brought along to his sessions with Paul McCartney in an attempt to finish it off – McCartney re-wrote the music for the middle eight, and made a couple of other small but telling alterations) that became Costello’s biggest hit in the US to date, reaching #19, and also achieved good sales and significant airplay in a number of other countries. The resulting exposure was sufficient to keep "Spike" in the US Top 100 for several months (despite peaking at #32) and the album soon achieved Gold status (500,000 sales) in the US. The album which received generally positive reviews, also reached #8 in Australia, Costello’s best chart placing there since "Almost Blue", and #5 in the UK.
To promote "Spike" Costello toured, both solo and with various members of The Confederates, and gave numerous interviews. Warner Bros. also issued a promotional audio cassette of "Spike" similar in format to the double album promo of "Imperial Bedroom", but featuring the dubious bonus of the "Bastard Mix" of the album’s opening track "…This Town…" where the word "bastard" is replaced by the sound of doubletracked Costellos intoning "sweetheart", but done in such a way as to leave no doubt that another word was intended. A promo video was made for ":…This Town…" featuring Costello as the satanic host of a TV Game Show "Babes, Bikes and Beelzebub". The video is easily the best Costello ever made, but is rarely (if ever) screened.
     
1990 proved to be another fairly low key year for Costello, but he made up for it in 1991 by recording two albums: "Mighty Like A Rose" and "Kojak Variety", although the tapes for the latter were put away for a rainy day (and didn’t see the light of that rainy day until 1995). Both albums featured approximately the same lineups: including recent stalwarts James Burton, Jerry Scheff, Marc Ribot and Jim Keltner along with old hands such as the Attractions’ Pete Thomas and a brief (but noisy) burst of bass from Nick Lowe on "Mighty Like A Rose". "Kojak Variety" (recorded in Jamaica, the album is named for a store near the recording studios) is comprised of covers, for the most part obscure, and is regarded by most fans as a lesser work (the fact that it was widely bootlegged before its release probably didn’t help much either). "Mighty Like A Rose" is considerably more interesting, although Costello fans seem divided on its merits: some can’t stand it and others find it challenging and rewarding. Moving away from the layered and disjointed style of "Spike", most of "Mighty Like A Rose" was cut live in the studio, although numerous overdubs ensued on some tracks, such as "Invasion Hit Parade". The album certainly contains some of Costello’s finest songs, including the astonishing "Couldn’t Call It Unexpected #4", rendered here in a eccentric circus-style melange a million miles from the stark piano and voice version used to end most Costello shows later in the decade. Costello had a shock in store for the music lovers of the world: the video for the first single, "The Other Side Of Summer" showed Costello sporting long unruly hair and a full beard. Enough music lovers recovered from the shock and propelled the song all the way up to the rarefied heights of #43 on the UK chart. The album itself reached #5 in the UK and a somewhat disappointing #55 in the US.
Costello then spent much of the rest of the year touring around the world with a combo dubbed "The Rude Five", even though only four of them (Marc Ribot, Jerry Scheff, Larry Knechtel and Pete Thomas) usually played live with Costello (the fifth member was Steven Soles). Marc Ribot was unable to make the dates for the Japanese and Australian shows at the end of the tour in September, and The Rude Five became The Rude Four, with Costello handling all the lead and rhythm guitar duties. The night I saw them in Sydney, Costello played lead with uncharacteristic flair, although "The Little Hands Of Concrete" (nickname courtesy of Nick Lowe) broke as many guitar strings as ever. Benmont Tench (from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) was supposed to substitute for Larry Knechtel on the Far Eastern leg of the tour but was indisposed for the Australian shows and was replaced by Austin de Lone, the keyboard player from the original "pub rock" outfit "Eggs Over Easy" (Costello had previously played with Austin de Lone in LA during 1989 at a gig at Sweetwaters that also figured such unlikely luminaries as Commander Cody and Sammy Hagar). His eccentric on-stage demeanour during the show I saw suggested that his acquaintance with "pub rock" might not have been solely confined to the "rock" part of the movement. However, most of the audience was probably distracted by the sight of Costello himself, hair and beard wilder than ever, filling his dark suits with his ever-increasing frame.

1992 saw another one of Costello’s breathtaking stylistic changes. Costello had become interested in classical music around the time of "Spike" and, bored with most rock acts, he began attending classical concerts instead. One of the ensembles he most enjoyed was the Brodsky Quartet, and he began attending their recitals regularly. Little did Costello know, but the "Brodskies" were Costello fans and soon became aware that their idol was also one of their fans. Curious to know more, the Brodskies (at the time Michael Thomas and his sister Jacqueline Thomas, Ian Belton and Paul Cassidy) invited Costello backstage to compare notes.      
Brodskies were classically trained musicians accustomed to working from sheet music. Costello could neither read nor write musical notation, having always relied on his "musical ear", memory, tape recorders, and an idiosyncratic form of written "shorthand" that only he could understand. Incredibly, in the space of a few months, Costello mastered musical notation to the point where he could write four part arrangements. He was now ready to work with a string quartet. Fortunately he had now dispensed with the long hair and beard, presumably so that the string quartet would be willing to be seen in public with him Costello had read a newspaper article about a Veronese professor who took it upon himself to answer letters written to Shakespeare’s Juliet, and so "The Juliet Letters" - a song-cycle about love, life, death and correspondence, was born. Costello asked the members of the Quartet to suggest different kinds of letters and lyrical ideas associated with the letters. The result was a mixture of original compositions by Costello and collaborations featuring different combinations of the Brodskies with Costello. The album was well received by the record buying public, reaching #18 in the UK, although critics were divided. Generally speaking most of the rock critics (with the exception of "Rolling Stone") thought that the album was nothing less than a tour de force, while many of the Classical critics were predictably less enthusiastic: some of them sneered at Costello’s idiosyncratic vocals and obsessed over the obvious influences in the arrangements: Shostakovich, Bartok, Debussy, Gershwin et al, whilst they overlooked the inherent melodic invention and totally avoided the lyrical beauty of the songs. In spite of the initial disdain in some quarters, "The Juliet Letters" is now attaining the reputation as a "standard" work and has been performed by a number of other string quartets around the world.
      
 In the liner notes for "The Juliet Letters", Costello mentioned that he was working on two new projects, an album called "Idiophone" and a musical. The musical (set in a nightclub on New Years Day 1978) is yet to be publicly performed, and "Idiophone" mutated into Costello’s 1994 album "Brutal Youth". Meanwhile, Costello took on another unlikely project. Wendy James had been the lead singer of 80s trash pop outfit "Transvision Vamp", but now the band had broken up and she was looking for songs for her first solo album. One of the writers she approached, in November 1992, was Costello (I don’t think that they met, probably more a case of "her people" calling "his people"). Costello was never one for doing things by half, and inspired by his imaginings of Wendy James’ situation, he sat down with Cait O’Riordan and wrote ten songs over a weekend or so, presumably recycling one or two unused songs in the process. Elvis then spent a day in the studio with Pete Thomas, pounding out raw punky versions of the songs, and forwarded the result to James’ "people". Astoundingly, Wendy James was delighted with the tape: "Instant Album, just add talent", she probably thought. Unfortunately, although Pete Thomas also played on the album ("Now Ain’t The Time For Your Tears"), the "added talent" didn’t add up to much and the resulting disc compares poorly to Costello’s original demo tape (some of the demo tape versions were released as bonus single tracks a year or so later). The album barely cracked the UK Top 50, and did nothing in other countries. Most of the reviews commented on the yawning gap between the material and the singer’s interpretation. The CD buying public just yawned. During this year, Costello (who by now had dispensed with the services of Jake Riveria) licensed the rights to his first 12 albums to Rykodisc, who re-released the albums with numerous bonus tracks over the course of the next two years.
     
Meanwhile Costello began work on his "Idiophone" project. Costello invited Pete Thomas back to Pathway Studios (where "My Aim Is True" had been recorded) and they laid down a number of tracks, with Costello overdubbing bass and keyboards on top of his guitar. Costello decided that this approach only suited two of the tracks, "Kinder Murder" and "20% Amnesia" and realised that it was time to bring Steve Nieve back into the fold. Soon, producer Mitchell Froom and sound guru Tchad Blake were drafted in , and Nick Lowe was succoured to bring forth great pumping basslines. When Nick drew the line at playing on the more complex songs, Mitchell Froom observed that he had been working with a great bass player on Suzanne Vega’s 99F album: Bruce Thomas. Elvis Costello and the Attractions were reborn, at least for half an album, and a subsequent tour. The resulting album, "Brutal Youth" caught the public imagination somewhat, reaching #2 in the UK and #34 in the US, and one of the singles, "Sulky Girl" became Costello’s first Top 30 UK chart entry in some time, reaching #22. The second single, "13 Steps Lead Down" had a very brief flirtation with the UK charts, stalling at #59. In an unusual move, a third single "London’s Brilliant Parade" was released in the UK in a variety of different versions featuring different bonus tracks. The single charted as high as #48.
1995 was another quiet year for Costello, and it was at this time that he decided it would be a good moment to release the "Kojak Variety" album, recorded four years earlier. Unfortunately, Costello agreed that the album could be issued with minimal promotion, and the result was a dismal chart showing: #21 in the UK, and #102 in the US. The reaction to the album by most fans and critics was tepid at best. Later in the year a live collaboration between Costello and jazz guitar icon Bill Frisell "Deep Dead Blue" was released to minimal fanfare.

Toward the end of the year Costello started featuring a significant amount of new material in his shows with the Attractions. It seemed that a new album was imminent and late in 1995, Costello summoned the Attractions back to the recording studio in Dublin. Geoff Emerick, who had previously co-produced "Imperial Bedroom", returned to co-produce the new album. Costello went into the studio with over 40 songs, and at one point thought of making the album a double album. Unfortunately, changes in personnel at Warner Bros had resulted in a change of attitude toward Costello. Now, as had happened at Columbia in the previous decade, he was viewed as a liability who produced too many unprofitable albums at too rapid a rate. Eventually the album "All This Useless Beauty" (working title "A Case For Song") ended up being dominated by ballads, and once recording had finished, Costello mentioned to one too many interviewers that most of the songs on the album had originally been intended for other artists. Some critics seized upon Costello’s comments as a sign that he had some kind of writers’ block and had been forced to recycle old material. Nothing could have been further from the truth, as Costello’s original plan to record a double album demonstrates. Once again, sales of the album were disappointing, and reviews were mixed, with some critics praising the album while others were overtly hostile; particularly a reviewer in Spin magazine who accused Costello of hating men – not bad for an artist who was once branded a misogynist! Although the album peaked at #53 in the US, the highest chart placing in the UK was a very disappointing #28, the worst performance for a new Costello album at that time.
Costello played a few US dates accompanied only by Steve Nieve, and then the rest of the Attractions returned to play further dates across the US and Europe. However, indications that something was wrong in the Attractions camp began to surface. Speculation grew amongst fans that past tensions between Costello and bass player Bruce Thomas had resurfaced, and when Costello performed his latest single "You Bowed Down" on the Tonight Show and changed the lyrics to state that he should have "never walked over the bridge …[he]… burned" it became clear that the Attractions’ days were (once again) numbered. Costello announced that the Attractions would not perform again after this tour, and they played their final date in Japan on September 15, 1996. A video release called "A Case For Song" documents one of their televised performances from June of 1996 and is the only officially released live video of Costello and the Attractions. A promo box of CD singles featuring selections from Costello and Nieve’s shows was later released.

Costello’s contract with Warner Bros was almost at an end, and all that remained was for them to issue a greatest hits package. Fortunately, Costello was able to retain creative control and selected the tracks himself (apparently the record company’s only requirement was that the US Top 20 single "Veronica" be included) adding a new song "The Bridge I Burned", recorded with his son Matthew on bass and Danny Goffey from Supergrass on drums (the song borrows the chord sequence of Prince’s "Pop Life" – Costello wanted to cover "Pop Life" but Prince - formerly known as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" but now known once again as "Prince" - refused permission). Also included was the track "My Dark Life" which had been recorded with Brian Eno for "Songs in the Key of X", an album "inspired" by the X-Files, a television show that was a favourite of Costello in the mid-90s. The album "Extreme Honey" was released in 1997, while Costello planned his next move; a collaboration with another of pop music’s finest. Costello claimed that Warner Bros’ marketing budget for "Extreme Honey" was "about $1000" or the minimum that Warners were legally obliged to spend. Costello described this as the music industry equivalent of waking up and finding a horse’s head in one’s bed.
One of the highlights of Costello’s shows with the Attractions was his interesting choice of covers. As early as 1977, Costello had confounded expectations by covering songs that were far removed from the contemporary rage and fury of the punk scene. One song he memorably covered regularly was Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s "I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself". Costello had first met Bacharach in 1989 while recording "Spike", playing him "Satellite" and thinking that he would be flattered by the "Bacharach-pastiche" arrangement. Instead, Bacharach was non-plussed by the song, which Costello at the time had attributed to the subject matter of the lyrics (which neatly anticipated much of the sleazy goings-on associated with the Internet). Only later would it dawn on Costello that Bacharach’s arrangements were quite different to how he had imagined them. Nevertheless, Bacharach must have come away from their meeting with some sort of positive impression, because when the producers of the film "Grace of My Heart" approached Bacharach to write a song for the film he reacted favourably to their suggestion that he collaborate with Costello on the song. Costello and Bacharach collaborated on the music and then Costello fashioned lyrics to fit the resulting melody. The song was largely written by exchange of faxes fired furiously across the Atlantic (Costello by this time had settled in Dublin with Cait O’Riordan). The result, "God Give Me Strength", which later won a Grammy, was considered such a success that Bacharach and Costello decided that an entire album written along similar lines would be their next project. Early in 1998 Costello signed a new record deal with Polygram Records that would allow him to release rock/pop, jazz and classical albums as he saw fit.
     
Costello and Bacharach’s 1998 album "Painted From Memory" was an undoubted critical success, and even charted respectably in several countries, including a Top 10 placing in Sweden and #22 in Australia. However, chart action in the UK (#32) and the US (#78) was muted. Bacharach and Costello both already had large cult followings in Japan where the album also generated considerable interest. Toward the end of the year Polygram Records was bought by Seagram, and the status of Costello’s new record deal appeared to be in some doubt. A jazz-inflected interpretation of the "Painted From Memory" album, recorded in conjunction with Bill Frisell, was to be released on the Polygram Group’s "Verve" label, but this release was now delayed, and no further Costello projects were announced.
Costello played a handful of shows with Bacharach in the US and Europe, before commencing a world tour accompanied only by Steve Nieve. The tour passed through Japan and Australia in early 1999, before recommencing in the UK after a short hiatus. By now dubbed the "Lonely World Tour" more dates were added across Europe and then the US and Canada in the summer of 1999. Costello and Nieve regularly played more than thirty songs per night, mixing six or seven songs from the "Painted From Memory" album with hardy Costello perennials and the occasional new track (often tracks co-penned by Costello and Nieve). Two major films featuring musical performances by Costello appeared in this year. "Notting Hill" had Costello singing the film’s signature tune "She" (originally performed by Charles Aznavour) and the song became a surprise hit in parts of South America.
      
Radio Sweetheart - Elvis appears in Austin Powers film, with Burt Bacharach Mike Myers’ "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" included a musical interlude where Costello and Bacharach perform "I’ll Never Fall in Love Again" in a recreation of Carnaby Street circa 1967. Costello now added both songs to his live sets with Nieve. The highlight of the shows undoubtedly came at the end when Costello would sing without a microphone. He usually performed "Couldn’t Call It Unexpected #4" in this fashion, but occasionally tried "Favourite Hour", and on rare occasions even performed both songs. Anyone who thought that Costello had a weak voice had to think again after hearing his dulcet baritone fill an auditorium. Universal Records, who Costello now found himself working for after the Seagram takeover of the Polygram group, decided to release a new "Greatest Hits" 2 CD package in the UK. Surprisingly, Universal opted to promote the album vigorously and the result was a Top 5 placing in the UK.
Costello and Nieve reprised their shows in the UK and the US in late 1999, this time adding a number of new Costello songs. The brief tour ended in Japan in December 1999, and speculation grew that Costello would shortly be recording a new album. However, the year 2000 came and went with no new Costello album. Evidently Universal Records had made it clear that they were in no hurry to release a new pop/rock Costello album, indicating that Costello would have to wait until 2002. In the meantime Costello teamed up with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, and collaborated with her for the album
      
"For The Stars", which contained von Otter’s interpretations of a number of pop songs including pieces penned by Costello. The album was released in March 2001 on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Around the same time Rhino Records (now owned by Warner Bros) announced that they had acquired the rights to re-release Costello’s back catalogue and began plans to reissue all his albums up to "All This Useless Beauty" with each album having an extra CD of rare material added plus lengthy liner notes by Costello himself. Costello commenced a residency at UCLA this year, the highlights of which will include four different live performances over the course of a year.

Costello began working on a new self-produced album in Dublin in June 2001, the basic sessions (some tracks were originally demos with Elvis playing all the instruments), featuring drums by Pete Thomas and bass by Davey Faragher, lasted approximately one week, with additional keyboard parts (by Steve Nieve) and horn parts added later. The album “When I Was Cruel” was released worldwide in March 2002 and charted strongly in some territories; most notably the US where the album debuted at #20 (Elvis’ highest US chart debut). Elvis, Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher and Steve Nieve (collectively dubbed “The Imposters”) then began a lengthy tour of the various countries including the UK, USA, Japan, Australia and several European countries. More tour dates were announced as the year progressed and the tour returned to the UK and then the US. In October 2002 a new album “Cruel Smile”, featuring outtakes and remixes from the “When I Was Cruel” sessions as well as live recordings from the Japan/Australia leg of the 2002 tour, was released in North America, the UK and Australia.

In September 2002 Elvis and Cait decided to end their 16 year relationship. Their parting was officially described as “amicable”.
Elvis was nominated for 3 awards at the 2003 Grammies, including “Best Rock Album” for “When I Was Cruel”. Shortly after the Grammy Awards Elvis started work on a new album “North”; a song cycle about love first lost and then regained featuring orchestrations by Costello himself. The album was released in September 2003 and went on to top the US Billboard Traditional Jazz Chart for several weeks. As far as can be determined this is Costello’s first ever #1 chart success. Meanwhile Elvis had announced his engagement to popular jazz artiste Diana Krall and they were married on 11 December, 2003. Diana Krall’s latest album, “The Girl In The Other Room” contains six songs co-written by Elvis and Diana.
A recording of Costello’s score for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, entitled “Il Sogno” and conducted by Michael Tilson-Thomas, was released in September 2004. Also released at the same time in September was Costello’s latest album with The Imposters, recorded in Oxford, Missisippi and Memphis in April 2004 and titled “The Delivery Man”. This album also features guest appearances by such luminaries as Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris, and includes all-new Costello compositions. "The Delivery Man" reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2005, the only new Elvis album was "Piano Jazz" with Marian McPartland, from a session Elvis did with her for NPR in 2003. McPartland accompanies Elvis on piano as they discuss, and perform, a selection of standards plus two of Elvis' own songs.

After the hurricane tragedy in New Orleans in September 2005 Elvis composed a new song "River in Reverse" which was his personal response to the situation. Elvis performed the song at a benefit concert also attended by such New Orleans luminaries as Allen Toussaint (whom Costello has worked with previously). The notion of recording an album in New Orleans with Toussaint had been in the back of Costello's mind since the early 1980s, but only Costello would have the bravado to suggest making such an album in a higly devastated city. The album (believed to be the first to be recorded in New Orleans since the hurricane) was completed in December 2005 and features Costello with the Imposters, and a horn section, playing both vintage Toussaint songs and new songs written by Costello and the new team of Costello/Toussaint. The album is entitled "The River in Reverse" and is scheduled for release in May 2006.

In the meantime another Elvis Costello album was released in January 2006. This album, "My Flame Burns Blue" is a live recording featuring the Metropole Orkest recorded at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2004.

Greenhouse Talent • Ancienne Belgique • Elvis Costello

_Declan Patrick MacManus began having the time of his life on Wednesday, the 25th of August, 1954. He was the son and only child of trumpeter, vocalist and erstwhile bandleader Ronald (“Ross”) MacManus (born in Birkenhead, October 20, 1927) and record store manager Lillian MacManus.
The MacManus family’s original association with music occurred quite literally by accident. Elvis' grandfather Patrick was an orphan – his father (Elvis' great-grandfather) John MacManus (who was an Irishman from County Tyrone who'd moved to England) was killed in an accident on the dockside in Birkenhead and Patrick's mother (Elizabeth Costello) didn't survive much longer herself. Patrick and his brothers got shipped off to an orphanage in Southall where they all learned to play musical instruments. Patrick later ended up in the British Army in Ireland and was shot in 1917 (I assume he didn't heed the warning he was given by his Irish mates – as retold by Elvis in his song "Any King's Shilling") but later recovered and played jazz on the luxury trans-Atlantic cruise ships "Georgic" and "Majestic" up until 1933.

Declan was born at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, England. The family first lived in Olympia in Kensington (inner West London), and then moved to Twickenham, Middlesex, on the outskirts of West London, when Declan was seven. Declan later attended Hounslow Secondary Modern (high school) in the same area. Ross and Lillian then separated, and when Declan was sixteen, Lillian and Declan moved to Liverpool and he finished high school there, completing his “A Levels” (or University Entrance Exams) in English. Declan has four half-brothers courtesy of his father’s second marriage.
At the time of Declan’s early childhood Ross was a featured vocalist with the Joe Loss Orchestra (Britain’s premier big band) and he used to bring home acetate recordings to practice the latest pop tunes. Declan loved to listen to these and other records, his favourite (even as a toddler) being Frank Sinatra’s version of Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. At the age of nine, Declan bought his first record, the Beatles’ “Please Please Me”. Coming from a musical family (aside from his parents’ professional connections with the music world, MacManus’ grandfather, Patrick, was also a musician, as are Declan’s four half-brothers, Ronan, Liam, Kieran and Ruari who formed a band called “Manus”, later renamed “Riverway”, in the late 1990s) it was almost inevitable that Declan would have some interest in music.
Declan first performed his own compositions in public in 1970 in a London folk club and in January 1972 formed a duo called "Rusty" with Allan Mayes. A few months later Declan appeared in a television commercial for R Whites Lemonade. His father Ross also made an appearance in another commercial for the same product in 1973, as the singing voice of the "Secret Lemonade Drinker", now regarded as one of the greatest television commercials ever made in the UK. Ross also had some success as a pop star: in 1964 he wrote and recorded a ska styled song called “Patsy Girl” (HMV, POP 1279, credited to Ross McManus) which flopped initially on its release in the UK, but later entered the Top 20 in Germany in July 1966.
    
In 1974 Declan left home and moved into a shared house in Stag Lane, Roehamptom with some aspiring musicians, Mich Kent and Malcolm Dennis, who shared many of his musical interests of the time, which included such artists as The Band, Little Feat, The Byrds, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Randy Newman, Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell and Brinsley Schwartz. Declan had met Nick Lowe, the bass player from Brinsley Schwartz, in a Liverpool pub in 1973 and the band that Declan founded with his friends was transparently modeled on the Brinsley Schwartz template. After flirting with unpromising names such as "The Mothertruckers" and “The Bizario Brothers”, it was eventually decided to name the outfit "Flip City" (from an off-hand remark made by Cheech Marin on Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark" album). Declan married his first wife, Mary Burgoyne, in November 1974 and early in the following year their only child, Matthew MacManus, was born. Declan and Mary had already moved out of the shared house in Roehampton and into a flat in Twickenham. Declan’s father Ross had recently remarried and was living with his new wife Sarah in the same block of flats.
"Flip City" meanwhile were experiencing little in the way of success (not surprising as their idols Brinsley Schwartz also failed to achieve anything more than a cult following themselves), occasionally supporting some of the more well known "pub rock" acts of the era, such as Dr Feelgood, as well as achieving a couple of residencies; a brief one at The Kensington Tavern, and another at the Red Cow. Toward the end of 1975 the band was folded by mutual agreement and Declan went back to playing solo gigs, this time billed as "DP Costello" (Costello being the maiden name of his paternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Costello). Declan needed to provide a home for his young family and he wound up, almost by accident after an unpromising series of jobs, as a computer operator for the Elizabeth Arden factory in Wales Farm Road, Acton. As he was the only operator on his shift and he worked in a back room, Declan had plenty of spare time to pen new songs and plan his real career. Declan recorded a home demo tape, featuring vocal and acoustic guitar, of some of his songs and sent the tape to various record companies with little success. At one point, Declan even visited the record companies personally and played his songs live in their offices in an attempt to attract attention. Declan was eventually offered a very unsatisfactory deal with Island Records, which he wisely rejected. Declan also forwarded his tape to Charlie Gillett, who featured recordings of up and coming artists on his radio show (he also featured other struggling artists such as Dire Straits and Graham Parker). Gillett thought highly of Declan’s songs and contemplated producing a “DP Costello” album himself, if he could obtain some funding. Songs from that demo tape are now included as bonus tracks on the album “My Aim Is True”.
Elvis Is In The Building
Late in 1976, new independent label Stiff Records placed an ad in the English music press asking for demo tapes. Declan promptly dropped off his tape at the Stiff office, and as soon as Nick Lowe heard the tape, Declan was as good as signed. Stiff Records was the brainchild of Dave Robinson (manager of Graham Parker and the Rumour) and Jake Riveria (real name, Andrew Jakeman, ex-manager of Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) and had already signed up Ian Dury and Blockheads as well as Nick Lowe (born in Walton-On-Thames, 24 March 1949, who was on board as an artist, producer and all-round svengali). Jake Riveria agreed to manage Declan, and decided to merge Declan's stage name "DP Costello" with that of rock'n'roll's original icon "Elvis Presley".
And so, a star was torn. Later MacManus was to officially change his name to "Elvis Costello" to complete the transformation.
     
Riveria deduced a certain "American" influence in his new charge's songs and decided to pair Elvis Costello with his latest signing, Californian band "Clover" (now better known to the world as "Huey Lewis and the News", but originally known as "The Tiny Hearing Aid Company") who at the time included pedal steel guitarist John McFee (later of the Doobie Brothers) in their number (Huey Lewis skipped the "My Aim Is True" sessions as his vocal and harmonica talents were not required). The result, recorded in 24 hours of studio time at London's Pathway Studios and produced by Nick Lowe, became Elvis Costello's first album "My Aim Is True". However, before the album was released, Stiff issued a single "Less Than Zero/Radio Sweetheart" in March 1977. The single stiffed, and for a while there seemed to be some doubt as to whether there would ever be an Elvis Costello album at all. Two further singles were released: "Alison" and "Red Shoes". The latter in particular generated some rave reviews but little in the way of actual sales. Uncertain of his status as a professional musician, Elvis only quit his job as computer operator at the "vanity factory" when Jake Riveria and Dave Robinson agreed to match Elvis’ relatively meagre wages. Now assured of some kind of living, Elvis, Mary and Matthew moved into a house in Whitton, Middlesex.
"Elvis Costello" performed his first live gig supporting The Rumour (sans Graham Parker) at London's Nashville on May 27, 1977. Reaction to the performance was very positive, and encouraged by this Stiff placed an ad in the June 3 edition of Melody Maker calling for musicians to form a "rocking combo" to back Elvis Costello. Pete Thomas (born in Sheffield, 9 August 1954, ex-Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers) had already been pencilled in as drummer, and a 17 year old keyboard player named Steve Nason (born 19 February 1960, later renamed "Steve Naive" and then "Steve Nieve") who was attending the Royal Academy of Music distinguished himself at the auditions not only by being the best player, but also by falling asleep while the other keyboard players vainly attempted to impress Costello, Lowe and Riveria. Bruce Thomas, (born in Stockton-on-Tees, 14 August 1948, ex-Sutherland Brothers and Quiver) was keen to join up but was initially rebuffed after phoning Stiff Records and announcing his influences as "Graham Parker" and "Steely Dan". Undeterred, Bruce quickly learned the bass parts to the Costello records that had already been released and arrived better prepared than the other contenders. It soon became apparent that Bruce's intensely melodic style would provide a very interesting contrast to Pete's all-out drum attack, and might even distract listeners from noticing that Elvis couldn't convincingly improvise lead guitar parts, even though he was a more than adequate rhythm guitarist.

The newly formed Elvis Costello and the Attractions played their first gigs shortly before the release of "My Aim Is True" in July 1977. The album garnered rave reviews from the UK rock press and soon entered the UK Top 20 chart. Shortly afterwards a non-album track recorded after the "My Aim Is True" sessions, "Watching the Detectives", became Elvis' first hit single in the UK, reaching #15. The track (again produced by Nick Lowe) featured musical backing by Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Steve Goulding (drums) from The Rumour (Andrew and Steve had also assisted at the Attractions’ auditions) with organ overdubs added later by Steve Nieve. Also in July Riveria persuaded Costello, as a publicity stunt, to busk outside of CBS Records in London during a visit by CBS US executives. Costello was arrested for obstruction, but the stunt paid off and Costello was signed to CBS' Columbia Records in the US within days.
Riveria, Lowe and Costello left Stiff Records in October 1977 and formed a new label, "Radar Records" with Andrew Lauder (formerly of Warner Bros, who were bankrolling the new label in return for exclusive distribution rights in the UK and most other territories). Work was quickly begun on a second album "This Years Model", with Costello and the Attractions heading for the airport to commence their first US tour while the studio still literally echoed with last chord of "Pump it Up". A fortuitous cancellation by the Sex Pistols gave Elvis the opportunity to appear on "Saturday Night Live" in December 1977. Elvis decided to interpret the lyric of his new song "Radio Radio" (recently debuted on tour) a little too literally and "bit the hand that fed him" by cutting the Attractions off during the first few bars of "Less Than Zero" and announcing to the audience that the song was "not relevant" and that they were going to perform "Radio Radio" instead. Elvis was subsequently banned from performing on the show again, and was not invited back until 1989. However, the incident won Costello the notoriety that Riveria undoubtedly craved. Subsequently a policy of not giving interviews was adopted (the only interview Costello gave in 1978 was with the UK's New Musical Express), and more than one incident of reporters being roughed up by Riveria and his minders was alleged to have occurred. Elvis and the Attractions returned to Eden Studios in London to apply the finishing touches to "This Years Model" (including guitar overdubs by Mick Jones of The Clash, most of which were not used in the final mix) while "My Aim Is True" finally entered the US Top 40.
     
"This Years Model" (earlier working titles included "Little Hitler", "Girls! Girls! Girls!" and "The King of Belgium") was released in March 1978 in the UK and the US and amply confirmed Costello's reputation as the most talented and articulate of the "new wave" of performers. The album went on to reach the UK Top 5 and spawned two UK hit singles, "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" (#16) and "Pump it Up" (#24). The album also generated considerable sales outside of the UK, entering the Top 30 in the US, while a Top 10 chart position for "Pump it Up" was one of the highlights of Costello's new found popularity in Australia. Elvis and the Attractions toured the United States and Canada during the spring/summer of 1978, sharing some bills with Rockpile. One of the shows, at the El Mocambo club in Toronto, Canada, was recorded and later released as a promotional album that quickly found its way onto bootleg vinyl.

On his return to the UK, Costello generated further headlines when he was seen in public with model Bebe Buell (born in Portsmouth, Virginia, 14 July 1953). It soon became apparent that he had left his wife, Mary. Toward the end of 1978, Costello and the Attractions returned to the studio to record Costello's third album, provisionally titled "Emotional Fascism" and then headed off to the Far East and Australia for yet another tour. Meanwhile, a new single was released in the UK: "Radio Radio", a left over from the "This Years Model" sessions that was included only on the US version of that album. The single, which stalled just short of the UK Top 20, was backed by a new song: "Tiny Steps" from the sessions just completed at Eden Studios but ruled out of consideration for inclusion on the forthcoming album (presumably because it sounded like it belonged on "This Years Model").
     
The third album, now retitled "Armed Forces" was released in January 1979 and became Costello's first, and only, Top 10 album in the US. The album also spawned a #2 hit single in the UK, "Olivers Army" (Costello's highest charting single at the time of writing), as well as a second Top 30 UK hit single, "Accidents Will Happen". The album itself also reached #2 in the UK charts. "Armed Forces" also was popular in other territories, topping the charts in Australia and resulting in two top 10 Australian singles - "Olivers Army" and "Senior Service". Perplexingly, after adding "What's So Funny ('Bout Peace Love and Understanding)" to the US version of "Armed Forces", Columbia Records decided to release "Accidents Will Happen" as a single in the US instead. It subsequently stalled at #101. Despite the massive sales for "Olivers Army" in other markets, Columbia were wary of releasing that song as a single in the US due to the phrase "white nigger" in the second verse. Costello refused to allow an edited version of the song to be released by Columbia.

Costello and the Attractions toured the UK and Europe early in 1979 and then returned to the US for a third time to undertake their most ambitious tour yet. However, the pressures of life on the road, in addition to the turmoil of Costello's personal relationships, large amounts of alcohol, plus the hostility of Costello and his manager Jake Riviera to the press, all contributed to an unfortunate incident in Columbus, Ohio in March 1979. A drunken slanging match in a Holiday Inn bar between Costello (and the Attractions) and members of Steven Stills' entourage (including Bonnie Bramlett) led to both sides making ill-considered remarks about British and American musicians. However, only Costello's derogatory comments about certain African-American musicians were reported to the press. The subsequent press furore was reminiscent of the outrage generated in the US by the out-of-context rehashing of John Lennon's "We're more popular than Jesus" remark in 1966. Despite his performances at

 "Rock Against Racism" shows in the UK, and his anti-fascism songs "Less Than Zero" and "Night Rally", Costello was forced to hastily convene a US press conference and apologise for his statements. Ray Charles, who bore the brunt of Costello's reported remarks, certainly holds Costello no ill will, and commented that "drunken talk isn't meant to be printed in the paper." The tour was quickly wrapped up, despite "Armed Forces" riding high in the charts, and Costello did not return to the US again until 1981, this defusing any commercial momentum he had generated. It is likely that Columbia’s ultimate decision not to release either "What's So Funny ('Bout Peace Love and Understanding)" or "Olivers Army" as singles in the US may well have been made in the wake of the "Columbus Incident". Columbia certainly made no further attempt to promote "Armed Forces" despite its Top Ten chart placing, a decision which saw the album fall out of the Top Ten as quickly as it had arrived there. It is rumoured that Columbia executives even considered cancelling Costello’s contract at this time. For once, Columbia may have been grateful for Costello’s and Riveria’s "No Interview" policy, as the lack of Costello’s face on the cover of any major magazines probably helped the controversy to blow over more quickly. Subsequent events would demonstrate that Elvis Costello was certainly no racist, beginning with Costello’s work as the producer of The Specials, a multi-racial band, during 1979. Their self-titled album went on to top the charts in the UK.

Costello reunited with his wife and son, did some low-key touring of the UK and Europe, and then returned to Eden Studios in London with the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe in September 1979 to record a fourth album, "Get Happy!!". After recording 10 songs, it became evident that the arrangements (a continuation of the style pioneered on "This Years Model" and polished on "Armed Forces") were not working, at least not to Costello's satisfaction, except for a slow version of "High Fidelity" modelled on David Bowie's "Station to Station". Costello decided to remodel all the arrangements for the album based on various 1960's R'n'B stylings, no doubt hoping that this would confirm his love of "black" American musicians in the wake of the "Columbus" incident. This inspiration led Costello to quickly pen several new songs whilst he, the Attractions and Nick Lowe relocated to studios in Holland where they rerecorded the 10 songs previously attempted and added 10 more. The result was twenty songs somehow jammed onto one mighty crowded album.
Due to the failure of Radar Records to achieve success with any artists other than Nick Lowe and Costello, Warner Bros. decided to exercise their option and they withdrew funding for the label. Riveria believed that this made Costello and Lowe free agents, but Warner Bros. had other ideas and the release of the "Get Happy!!" album was tied up by legal injunctions for several weeks. Eventually a new company called F-Beat Records was formed with "Riveria Global Productions" maintaining creative control and Warner Bros receiving exclusive distribution rights outside of the USA until 1983. The album, finally released in March 1980 sold well but failed to improve on "Armed Forces" chart placings (Get Happy reached #4 in the UK and #11 in the US). Costello's UK distributors, anticipating that the album would outsell "Armed Forces", were left with at least 50,000 copies of "Get Happy" literally collecting dust in a warehouse. The album produced one Top 10 single in the UK ("I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down"), and two other minor hits ("High Fidelity" and "New Amsterdam"), but Costello's previous seeming infallibility now looked shaky and the US Top 100 singles chart once again proved impenetrable, although Dave Edmunds and Linda Ronstadt had both already had major chart successes with versions of "Girls Talk" and "Alison" respectively. Costello and the Attractions made an appearance at Paul McCartney’s "Concert for the People of Kampuchea" in December 1979 in London.
Before Costello and the Attractions could reconvene in 1980 to tour the UK and Europe to promote "Get Happy!!", Attractions keyboardist Steve Nieve was injured in a serious car accident in the US which left one of the other passengers dead. Rather than replacing Steve with another keyboardist (for example, Bob Andrews from "The Rumour") Costello decided to opt for a twin guitar attack, drafting in rhythm guitarist Martin Belmont from "The Rumour", resulting in a thicker, heavier on-stage sound than hithertofore. Although no reasons have ever been offered for this experimental change to the Attractions line-up, Costello has commented since that on certain songs during this period he was attempting to emulate the sound that David Bowie achieved with his band in the mid to late 70s. Costello eventually realised that Bowie's "sound" was partly due to the layering of multiple guitar parts. Needless to say, any resemblance between Elvis Costello and David Bowie is safely locked away in Costello’s mind.
In the (Northern) summer of 1980, a rejuvenated Steve Nieve rejoined the Attractions. The "guitar experiment" was abandoned (although Martin Belmont was keen to continue as the "Fifth Attraction", he only ever performed this role once again: on one track on Elvis' next album). Elvis and the Attractions continued to tour, now adding new songs that would appear on the next album "Trust" and briefly headed over to Canada in August to play their only North American show in 1980 at the "Heatwave" festival.
Also during the summer of 1980, the Attractions released their solo album "Mad About the Wrong Boy", featuring songs written and sung by the Attractions themselves. The album garnered tepid reviews and sold poorly. Suprisingly, not only were the Attractions unremarkable singers and songwriters, but the songs themselves were not particularly well arranged, giving weight to Elvis' later claims that he was largely responsible for the "Attractions Sound". In the US, Columbia decided to round up all of the unreleased or rare Elvis tracks (including songs removed from the US versions of "This Years Model" and "Armed Forces") and issued a new US only album "Taking Liberties" which managed an impressive Top 30 chart placing. A UK equivalent of this album "Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers" was also later released.

Elvis had been toying with retiring at this early stage in his career and it was only with some effort, particularly by members of the Attractions, that he was persuaded to continue. Elvis, the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe reconvened at Eden Studios to record Elvis' fifth studio album "Trust" (earlier working titles were "Cats and Dogs" and "More Songs About Fucking and Fighting"). Elvis and Nick Lowe continued the move away from the so-called "new wave" style of "This Years Model" and "Armed Forces", although on "Trust" the overriding production ethic seems to have been merely "turn the drums and bass up, keep it simple, and no synthesizers". "Fifth Attraction" Martin Belmont made a brief return to the fold playing guitar on "From A Whisper to A Scream" while
     
Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook duetted with Elvis on the same song. The album included some departures for Costello, including his first piano composition, "Shot With His Own Gun", a country styled number "Different Finger", and a solo Costello performance "Big Sisters Clothes". Some of the tracks, including "New Lace Sleeves" and "Big Sisters Clothes" were old songs written in the days of "DP Costello". The first single from the album, "Clubland" reached only #60 in the UK chart, and the second single "From A Whisper to a Scream" failed to chart at all, Elvis' first outright chart failure in the UK since the Stiff era. The album itself peaked at #6 in the UK chart and #27 in the US charts, hardly a failure but certainly disappointing. Significantly, Costello's refusal to follow up the chart success of "Armed Forces", by repeating its formula, was already starting to cause resentment at Columbia Records.
Costello and the Attractions toured the US to promote the "Trust" album in early 1981 supported by English band Squeeze in what was known as the "English Mugs Tour". Surprisingly, Elvis' career took a very dramatic turn in May 1981 when, by now dissatisfied with his own songs, he took the Attractions to Nashville to record a country covers album with producer Billy Sherrill. The result, "Almost Blue" was released at the latter end of 1981. The album charted well for the most part, especially in some countries that had previously been resistant to Elvis' charms. The first single from the album, "Good Year For the Roses", achieved Top 10 placings in both the UK and Australia. However, the album was less successful in the US, reaching only #49. No doubt the relatively poor US sales were a result of the traditional country audience being uninterested in an album by someone they no doubt judged to be a "skinny, nerdy, British punk". Similarly, many of Costello's US following were unenthused by his latest musical direction. The overall result of the album for many music critics, especially in the US, was to call into question Elvis' sanity and musical judgement. Elvis then took a break to co-produce Squeeze's "East Side Story" album with Roger Bechirian, after earlier sessions with Dave Edmunds had been scrapped. The move proved to be an astute one for the band and resulted in their first US Top 40 single, "Tempted", and their highest US album placing at that time (#44). The album also included Squeeze’s third and last Top 10 UK hit single "Labelled With Love".

At the end of 1981, Elvis and the Attractions retired to a cottage in Cornwall to rehearse 20 new songs for Elvis' next album, (working titles "Revolution of the Mind", "Music To Stop Clocks" and "PS I Love You"). Former Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick was drafted in for co-production duties and the team assembled at London's Air Studios to work on what would become Elvis' most ambitious project to date: "Imperial Bedroom". Spending an unprecedented (for him) two months in the studio, Costello used the time to reshape and remodel his songs, most notably on the album’s standout track "Beyond Belief". The album also contains hints as to many of his later musical interests, especially the elaborate orchestral settings for "…And In Every Home" and "Town Cryer" and the pseudo-Bacharachian stylings of "The Long Honeymoon", which eerily presages "Toledo" from Costello and Bacharach’s 1998 album "Painted From Memory" (albeit from the wife’s point of view rather than the husband’s). The album was also released in a special promotional double album format ("A Conversation With Elvis Costello") with extensive commentary by Elvis on each song. Despite the many departures from Costello’s previous work, and the many flattering comparisons by music journalists to George Gershwin, Cole Porter and the Beatles, the album failed to sell significantly better than "Trust" reaching #6 in the UK and #31 in the US (although once again charting well in Australia). More worryingly, the two singles from the album, "You Little Fool" and "Man Out of Time" failed to set the charts on fire in the UK, reaching only #42 and #58 respectively, despite their relative
      
The albums striking cover art, titled "Snakecharmer and Reclining Octopus" and credited to "Sal Forlenza", dated 1942, was actually the work of the brilliant Barney Bubbles, who had designed all of Costello’s record covers, and had also directed the "Clubland" video. Regrettably Barney died a few months later, before he could finish the artwork for Costello’s next album. Prior to "Imperial Bedroom’s" release Costello performed two concerts in London with the Attractions and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performing songs from "Almost Blue" and "Imperial Bedroom" as well as past favourites. The concerts were filmed and recorded for a possible television special and live album release, but nothing was ever issued other than one single in March 1982, a live version of "I’m Your Toy" (written by the late Gram Parsons with Chris Ethridge). More touring of the UK, the US and the Far East and Australia followed. Elvis also appeared on the cover of the "Rolling Stone" and was interviewed by Griel Marcus in the same issue. Elvis later grumbled about the words on the cover: "Elvis Costello Repents", but the interview signalled to the world Elvis’ new attitude to the press and heralded a warmer, more fuller rounded persona that astute fans had already detected.
Following the release of "Imperial Bedroom" in July 1982, and the subsequent disappointing sales, Costello decided a change of tack was required – a retreat from the elaborate and somewhat torturous emotional landscape of that album. With this aim in mind, Costello and the Attractions recorded four covers under the aegis of producer Colin Fairley: "From Head to Toe" (written by Smokey Robinson and covered by the "Merseybeat" band The Escorts), "The World of Broken Hearts" (originally a #26 UK hit in 1967 for Amen Corner – a soul flavoured Welsh based outfit). "Night Time" (also recorded by The Escorts as the b-side to their final unsuccessful Paul McCartney produced "From Head to Toe" single) and "Really Mystified" (the b-side of The Merseybeats’ third #13 UK hit single "Don’t Turn Around" - this was the second of their songs that Costello had covered, the first being "I Stand Accused" on "Get Happy!!"). Although the plan was originally to release a four track "Merseybeat EP", the final result was a single release of only the first two tracks. The single release was distinguished by an apparent attempt by Costello’s UK distributors to rig the charts by giving away a free copy of the "Get Happy!!" album with each single of "Head To Toe" but only in stores that figured in the calculation of the UK charts! Needless to say the record buying public of Britain decided that they already owned sufficient copies of "Get Happy!!" and were not persuaded to push "From Head To Toe" higher than #43 in the charts.
     
Costello and the Attractions continued their more or less non-stop touring schedule, pausing only to record one new song which was to be featured as the title song of the English comedy film "Party Party". This song also failed to set the charts alight, stalling at #48 in the UK charts and later being dismissed by Costello as the worst song he ever wrote. Fans looking for the song on CD will be disappointed as Costello has ensured that the song will never appear on any of his albums, although I believe that the soundtrack album is available on CD in Europe. Costello also submitted three songs to Phil Collins who was slated to produce Frida’s (of Abba) first solo album. The songs evidently failed to slip under Collins’ radar as they were never seriously considered for inclusion. More notably, Costello also co-produced (with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley) a song for Robert Wyatt, "Shipbuilding" (co-written by Costello and Langer), a breathtakingly beautiful and elegiac rumination on the tragedy of war inspired by the Falklands conflict. The song was later reworked for Costello’s next album.

Costello decided that he would now write less lyrically complex and emotional tangled songs and inject more of a pure pop flavour and the results of this showed on his 1983 album "Punch the Clock". Perversely though, a month prior to the release of that album, Costello rush-released a single; "Pills and Soap" (co-produced by Costello and Colin Fairley) that seemed to be a reaction to the forthcoming British elections. As Costello and Riveria were in the process of negotiating a new record distribution deal in the UK (with RCA), he was forced to release the single under the pseudonym "The Imposter". Just so everyone would know who it really was, Costello took the unusual step of personally visiting the offices of every major music publication in the UK and personally presenting them with copies of the single. Elvis’ hands-on approach worked. The single, another Costello piano composition, garnered rave reviews and charted as high as #16.
At the end of June the album "Punch the Clock" appeared (no working titles known). The album was (apart from "Pills and Soap") co-produced by Clive Langer, :Alan Winstanley and Costello, but was miles away from their previous stately co-production of Robert Wyatt’s version of "Shipbuilding". The album overall was reminiscent of Langer and Winstanley’s poppier output, most notably Madness’ "Rise And Fall" album. Costello decided to employ a horn section for the first time. The horn section, (who had previously worked with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, another Langer and Winstanley project) was rechristened "The TKO Horns" by Costello. Backing vocalists Caron Wheeler (now perhaps better known as a member of Soul II Soul) and Claudia Fontaine were dubbed "Afrodiziak" by the pun happy Costello, and added to the radio friendly brew. Although Costello had written some more reflective and downbeat songs, including "Heathen Town" and "The Flirting Kind", Langer and Winstanley persuaded him to relegate those songs to b-sides in favour of more uptempo material, such as "Love Went Mad". Other tracks, such as "The World and His Wife" started out life as ballads and ended up as knees-ups. The first single, "Everyday I Write the Book" was a moderate hit in the UK , reaching #28, but more significantly became Costello’s first Top 40 single in the US, reaching #36. The second single, "Let Them All Talk", although a great opening track on the album, failed to garner much interest and stalled at a rather unimpressive #59 in the UK, probably hindered more than helped by the song’s rather unflattering video. "Punch the Clock" ultimately reached #1 in the UK charts and #24 in the US but had mixed reviews. Some critics reacted positively to the album’s overall positive vibe while others accused Costello of selling out. Rolling Stone magazine memorably dubbed Costello "halfway to hackdom". Costello venomously replied that Rolling Stone should know, as their writers were already all the way to hackdom.
Costello also demonstrated his right-on political and racial stance in 1983 by producing the Special AKA’s hit single "Nelson Mandela" the proceeds of which went to help free political prisoners (such as Nelson Mandela). In much the same vein Costello also commented archly that his video for "Everyday I Write the Book" featured 50% of the black artists featured on MTV at that time (the Afrodiziak singers) . Presumably the other two were Michael Jackson and Prince. A far cry from the "Columbus Incident" indeed. MTV predictably ignored Costello’s suggestion that they should "get blackenized".
 
The remainder of 1983 saw Costello playing to packed houses across the UK, Europe and the US. In the meantime, Costello had quietly resumed his relationship with Bebe Buell, neatly contradicting the pro-marital sentiments of "The Greatest Thing" (from "Punch the Clock") in the process. Little wonder that Costello reminded more than one interviewer that his songs were not "The Sermon from the Mount". Matters came to a head in 1984 when Costello’s wife, Mary, sued for divorce. Costello had begun work on a new album "Goodbye Cruel World" and as an experiment he decided to write the songs in an office over the space of two weeks, as if he were writing as a "9 to 5" kind of job. The results were, for the most part, as lacklustre as most 9 to 5 jobs can be. Nonetheless Costello was convinced at the time that these were "the greatest songs he had ever written" and arranged for recording sessions with the Attractions.
Prior to the recording sessions Costello released a second "Imposter" single entitled "Peace in Our Time". Widely perceived as a "follow-up" to the social commentary of "Shipbuilding" and "Pills and Soap", the song failed to find its mark and Costello belatedly realised that the strength of the previous two songs had been in depth of their emotional reaction, rather than the cleverness of their political analysis. The single, backed by a solo cover of Richard Thompson’s "Withered and Died", once again stalled before reaching the UK Top 40. Costello later remarked that the chorus of "Peace in Our Time" was "lifted" from another song, but refused to elaborate. Without blowing Costello’s cover, I will merely say that the other song also has a similar lyric (about bells) at the critical point in the song. Nudge nudge, wink wink, Mr MacManus.
Not quite knowing who to call on to produce his latest opus, and not quite having the chutzpah to do the job alone, Elvis brought in Langer and Winstanley again. This proved to be something of a tactical blunder, in that Costello didn’t want another "Madness meets Dexy’s" effort this time, but rather something more sombre and affecting. Costello briefly toyed with drafting in Richard Thompson to play guitar on the album, but their schedules were not complementary. Langer and Winstanley attempted to put a pop sheen on the proceedings which Elvis half-heartedly agreed to, but the overall effect was aimless. Steve Nieve (operating under the temporary pseudonym "Maurice Worm") was forced to overplay on a number of ill-considered synthesizer parts that sounded dated six months after the album was released, due to the lack of any real guitar or other lead instrumentation, other than a few bursts of electric (and acoustic) saxophone by Gary Barnacle. Meanwhile Bruce and Pete Thomas sounded restrained and constricted in the sterile recording environment. The brittle production tended to highlight rather than hide the flaws in the songs, particularly the unmitigated disaster that is "The Comedians". Elvis later rewrote the lyrics of this song so that they made sense, restored the song to 6/8 time (instead of the herky jerky 5/4 on "Goodbye Cruel World") , and gave the highly improved result to Roy Orbison, who took the song at face value (rather than the affectionate parody that it clearly aims to be). Another track, "The Deportees Club", was also later remodelled and given to Irish folk singer Christy Moore. The album sold significantly less well than "Punch the Clock", reaching only #35 in the US, and failing to reach the Top 40 in Australia. However, "I Wanna Be Loved" reached #18 in the UK, while
      
The Only Flame In Town "The Only Flame In Town" became Elvis’ second Top 100 single in the US, reaching #56, probably by repeating much of the formula first used on "Everyday I Write the Book". Reviews again were mixed, and Costello later admitted that he was "forced" to release the album, even though he knew it was flawed, in order to avoid bankruptcy due to his pending divorce settlement. Intriguingly, the first "Best Of" Elvis Costello compilation appeared in this year accompanied by a compilation of his videos. In retrospect, Costello’s motivation in allowing these items to be released is obvious. The album, which also included some "should have been singles" such as "Beyond Belief" and "Green Shirt", reached the Top 10 in the UK, but failed to make much initial headway in the US, although it eventually achieved "Gold" status (500,000 copies sold) there.
Despite the turmoil, Costello found himself intrigued by new Irish punk-folk band "Pogue Mahone", (Gaelic for "Kiss my arse") hastily renamed "The Pogues". Costello and the Attractions, continued touring throughout 1984, starting in Japan and moving through Australia and New Zealand before doing the more familiar rounds of the UK and Ireland (where they were supported by The Pogues), Europe and the US. The last few shows at the end of 1984 almost seemed like a swansong for Elvis and the Attractions as he determined that a hiatus was in order while he pondered future plans. Costello then said goodbye to the Attractions and undertook a solo tour of the US and Europe, supported by eclectic songwriter T-Bone Burnett.
The first few months of 1985 saw little public activity on Elvis’ part, although he did drag the Attractions and Nick Lowe into the studio to record one new song "I Hope You’re Happy Now" for a one-off single release. The single release never occurred, and the song was temporarily shelved. The lyrics are almost the ultimate kiss-off, but whether the song was meant to have personal relevance (despite the evident venom in the lyrics) to either of the women who had just left Costello’s life (Mary Costello and Bebe Buell) is less than clear, although the timing of the song makes this interpretation intriguing. Mary Costello later became a DJ for Radio London. Bebe Buell, who has described Elvis as "the love of her life", eventually married musician Coyote Shivers in 1992, although they divorced in 1999.
Meanwhile, Costello’s musical love affair with The Pogues was continuing and he became part of their less-than-royal retinue, also finding the time to produce their second (and best) album "Rum, Sodomy and The Lash" (named after Winston Churchill’s retort to the British Lords of the Admiralty when they protested that he was destroying the "great traditions" of the Royal Navy) and also accompanying them on tour. The Pogues nicknamed Elvis "Uncle Brian", a tribute to his avuncular nature rather than to any particular age difference (Shane MacGowan was born in December 1957, Jem Finer was born in July 1955).

The "Elvis solo" tour concept was then revived with Elvis touring the Far East and Australia in May 1985, previewing many of the songs for his next two albums, finishing off the shows by duetting with his new found alter ego T-Bone Burnett (born St Louis, Missouri, 14 January 1948) in the guise of "The Coward Brothers". Shortly afterwards The Coward Brothers released their first and only single, a Costello/Burnett composition called "The People’s Limousine", a tawdry tale of love, death and Italian Communism.
Live Aid's "old northern folk song"
July 1985 saw Elvis in a more unfamiliar role, participating in Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. The crowd were probably surprised to see "Elvis Costello" striding onto stage replete with beard and announcing that he was about to sing an "Old Northern folk song" – The Beatles’ "All You Need Is Love" (Lennon and McCartney’s publishing company was called "Northern Songs"). Elvis later explained the absence of the Attractions on stage by telling interviewers that it was easier for the concert organisers to deal with a solo artist than yet another band, given the tight schedules the event required.
Elvis immediately retired to the studio in Los Angeles with T-Bone Burnett to begin work on the first album since 1977 that would not exclusively feature the Attractions as Elvis’ band. The first task was to record solo versions of the songs as a kind of reference point. The plan was to then record approximately half the songs with the Attractions and half the songs with line ups drawn from a kind of "dream team" of American musicians; including such luminaries as Jim Keltner, T-Bone Wolk, and members of the other Elvis’ TCB (Taking Care of Business) stage band including the legendary guitar guru James Burton. As the sessions progressed and the different lineups tackled the various songs assigned to them it became increasingly apparent that the Attractions were not performing up to their usual standard. For one thing, the Attractions were hurt that they had not been asked to play all the songs, as per usual. However, T-Bone Burnett had convinced Elvis that although the Attractions were brilliant musicians, better results could be obtained by picking players who were already familiar with the styles required, rather than having to learn and adapt as the Attractions would have done. The other, less obvious point, is that the Attractions were English and therefore would approach the songs differently than American musicians. The common music industry prejudice is that English musicians "start" songs better (ie, more dramatically and excitingly) but American musicians "finish" songs better (they lock into a groove and build on it). In the end, the Attractions only played on one song ("Suit of Lights") out of the sixteen tracks on the finished album. Clearly, something had soured in the professional relationship between Costello and the Attractions, and it would be easy to believe that they were now effectively shooting themselves in their collective feet with their lacklustre studio efforts for this album. The rest of the album featured various lineups, and not always those originally envisaged by co-producers Costello and Burnett, who ended up playing a role not dissimilar to Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan, who had realised that they could create any "band" or combination of players they wanted to fit each of their songs. However, Costello and Burnett managed to make the process sound a little more organic than it might have by not relying on overdubs and insisting on maintaining a live "in the studio" feel. The result is Costello’s warmest and most open sounding album. The relatively laid back feel of the arrangements and the American musicians’ tendency to subtly underplay gave Costello room to move and he delivered some of his most affecting vocals ever.
Only two things remained to be determined, a name for the album, and a name for the artist. Costello at this time was starting to doubt the wisdom of having chosen the name "Elvis Costello" and recognised that it saddled him with an image that, although useful in 1977, was simply a burden in 1986. He seriously considered releasing the album under the name "Declan MacManus", or even something like "The MacManus Gang". However, Columbia Records were fairly certain that "Elvis Costello" was the name on their contract (due to expire in 1987) and eventually "The Costello Show" was offered up as a compromise. However to make his point clear, Elvis was credited on the album as "Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus" having recently officially changed his name back and adding the "Aloysius" as a tribute to the late great Tony Hancock, one of Costello’s favourite comedians. One other change was also occuring: Costello’s time spent with The Pogues had led him to develop a relationship with their bass player, Caitlin O’Riordan (born in Nigeria, January 4, 1965). Eventually, Costello found the title he was looking for in the opening track (and signature tune) for the album "Brilliant Mistake", in the very first line "He thought he was the King of America". Costello’s son Matthew has a credit on the album sleeve as "design consultant".

"King of America" was released in February 1986, and like its two predecessors received mixed reviews, with some critics welcoming the "kinder, gentler" Costello/MacManus, and others wondering out loud as to whether Costello had lost his focus as well as his backing band. The album only just reached the US Top 40, stalling at #39, although the surprise choice as single: a cover of "Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood" did reach the Top 30 in both the UK and Australia. Meanwhile, Costello wondered out loud whether Columbia Records were not interested in promoting the album in the US. Presumably Columbia regarded the album as a slap in the face; after years of denying Columbia "Armed Forces 2", Costello now refused to even put his name on the cover of an album, while the cover art depicted him with a crown, a beard and sans his distinctive horn rims, and therefore almost unrecognizable. To further add to Columbia’s ire, the one track that they actually liked from the sessions: "Blue Chair" (which had been tipped by as a possible Top 10 US single) was perversely left off the album by Costello, who decided that the particular version recorded "lacked heart". Columbia now wrote off Costello as a liability and decided not to renew his contract, particularly inconvenient as Costello, who knew nothing of Columbia’s plans, was intent on releasing another album in 1986, hard on the heels of "King of America".
Meanwhile Elvis and Caitlin O'Riordan exchanged vows on May 17, 1986 in an informal ceremony. Their relationship endured until 2002. "We’re the Sonny and Cher of the Eighties", Elvis announced to the press, "and I’m Cher."
     
Costello assumed that by recording a loud "angry" sounding album in the vein of "This Years Model", he could make some kind of uneasy peace with the Attractions and win back the support of his US record company, thinking that this was the album that Columbia wanted him to make. Elvis and the Attractions raced through the songs in three days (with Nick Lowe producing and adding occasional acoustic guitar), caring little for the usual niceties of album production, and probably realising that none of them would live through another protracted recording session. The result, "Blood and Chocolate", was a startlingly raw and aggressive album that came closer to capturing the Attractions’ live sound than any of their other records , and included some of Elvis’ strongest songs, including remakes of "Blue Chair" and "I Hope You’re Happy Now" plus the quietly incendiary "I Want You", the most startling evocation of the dark side of passionate obsession ever set down in song. Columbia Records responded predictably by burying the album (did Jake send them a truckload of shovels?) which ascended to the giddy heights of #84 in the US, despite rave reviews from most critics. Regrettably, due to unfortunate timing Costello found himself without a record distributor for the UK and most of the rest of the world, and the album failed to register on the charts at all in most territories, and barely scraped into the Top 20 in the UK.
Costello’s inexplicable but typical perversity failed to help matters when he opted to release the lengthy rant "Tokyo Storm Warning" as the first single from the album, rather than the more obvious "Blue Chair" or even "I Hope You’re Happy Now". The second single was the outstanding but once again less than commercial "I Want You". Neither single troubled the Top 40. Costello’s unusual approach to album packaging was evident in the cover painting (a crude representation of Costello’s alter-ego "Napoleon Dynamite" painted by Costello himself), and the album credits (which were written in Esperanto). Thankfully, the lyric sheet itself was in English.
Costello and the Attractions toured the UK and the US again on what was at the time assumed to be the Attractions’ final live fling with Costello. Some shows also featured sets with some of the musicians who appeared on "King of America", billed as "The Confederates", including drummer Jim Keltner, guitar wizard James Burton, and bassist Jerry Scheff.
Although Costello did not release in album in 1987, he did tour again with the Confederates, passing through the UK, Europe, the US, Japan and Australia, previewing some of the songs that would later appear on "Spike", including "Veronica", "Gods Comic" and "Let Him Dangle". A compilation album of rarities and unreleased tracks, "Out of Our Idiot" was issued by Costello’s UK label Demon during this year as well. Finally "Blue Chair" was released as a single, but it was a remix/remodel of the rejected "King of America" take rather than the more familiar version from "Blood and Chocolate". Toward the end of the year Costello teamed up with Paul McCartney (who had decided he needed a songwriting collaborator) and together they wrote at least 14 songs for a planned Costello-McCartney album. The album was never recorded and in the end most of the songs ended up on various Costello and McCartney albums.
    
Costello also failed to release an album in 1988, although he did compose much of the soundtrack for the Irish film "The Courier" which just happened to include his new wife Cait O’Riordan in the cast. Toward the end of 1988 Elvis called on T-Bone Burnett again as he prepared to make an album could have been called "More Important Work", "Pantomime Evil" or "The Beloved Entertainer" but ultimately was titled "Spike". Costello later remarked that he had ideas for five albums in his head at the time. Rather than just make five separate albums, Costello opted to shoehorn all five concepts into the one record. The result was sprawling, diverse and slightly unsatisfying. Costello had just signed a new five album worldwide deal with Warner Bros, but it seems unlikely that his new record company expected all five albums to be delivered in the first release. The recording sessions for the album proved to be the most complex that Costello ever attempted, with recording starting in Dublin, continuing in New Orleans and finishing in Los Angeles. Rather than recording complete arrangements of each song at every studio, Costello opted to record parts of the arrangements at one studio, and then add the finishing touches elsewhere. This approach meant that in some cases the songs were assembled in unusual ways with the drums and bass often being added last, rather than being laid down first as is usually the case.
The resulting album, although strange and desperately uncommercial, contained a song called "Veronica" (a song that Costello brought along to his sessions with Paul McCartney in an attempt to finish it off – McCartney re-wrote the music for the middle eight, and made a couple of other small but telling alterations) that became Costello’s biggest hit in the US to date, reaching #19, and also achieved good sales and significant airplay in a number of other countries. The resulting exposure was sufficient to keep "Spike" in the US Top 100 for several months (despite peaking at #32) and the album soon achieved Gold status (500,000 sales) in the US. The album which received generally positive reviews, also reached #8 in Australia, Costello’s best chart placing there since "Almost Blue", and #5 in the UK.
To promote "Spike" Costello toured, both solo and with various members of The Confederates, and gave numerous interviews. Warner Bros. also issued a promotional audio cassette of "Spike" similar in format to the double album promo of "Imperial Bedroom", but featuring the dubious bonus of the "Bastard Mix" of the album’s opening track "…This Town…" where the word "bastard" is replaced by the sound of doubletracked Costellos intoning "sweetheart", but done in such a way as to leave no doubt that another word was intended. A promo video was made for ":…This Town…" featuring Costello as the satanic host of a TV Game Show "Babes, Bikes and Beelzebub". The video is easily the best Costello ever made, but is rarely (if ever) screened.
     
1990 proved to be another fairly low key year for Costello, but he made up for it in 1991 by recording two albums: "Mighty Like A Rose" and "Kojak Variety", although the tapes for the latter were put away for a rainy day (and didn’t see the light of that rainy day until 1995). Both albums featured approximately the same lineups: including recent stalwarts James Burton, Jerry Scheff, Marc Ribot and Jim Keltner along with old hands such as the Attractions’ Pete Thomas and a brief (but noisy) burst of bass from Nick Lowe on "Mighty Like A Rose". "Kojak Variety" (recorded in Jamaica, the album is named for a store near the recording studios) is comprised of covers, for the most part obscure, and is regarded by most fans as a lesser work (the fact that it was widely bootlegged before its release probably didn’t help much either). "Mighty Like A Rose" is considerably more interesting, although Costello fans seem divided on its merits: some can’t stand it and others find it challenging and rewarding. Moving away from the layered and disjointed style of "Spike", most of "Mighty Like A Rose" was cut live in the studio, although numerous overdubs ensued on some tracks, such as "Invasion Hit Parade". The album certainly contains some of Costello’s finest songs, including the astonishing "Couldn’t Call It Unexpected #4", rendered here in a eccentric circus-style melange a million miles from the stark piano and voice version used to end most Costello shows later in the decade. Costello had a shock in store for the music lovers of the world: the video for the first single, "The Other Side Of Summer" showed Costello sporting long unruly hair and a full beard. Enough music lovers recovered from the shock and propelled the song all the way up to the rarefied heights of #43 on the UK chart. The album itself reached #5 in the UK and a somewhat disappointing #55 in the US.
Costello then spent much of the rest of the year touring around the world with a combo dubbed "The Rude Five", even though only four of them (Marc Ribot, Jerry Scheff, Larry Knechtel and Pete Thomas) usually played live with Costello (the fifth member was Steven Soles). Marc Ribot was unable to make the dates for the Japanese and Australian shows at the end of the tour in September, and The Rude Five became The Rude Four, with Costello handling all the lead and rhythm guitar duties. The night I saw them in Sydney, Costello played lead with uncharacteristic flair, although "The Little Hands Of Concrete" (nickname courtesy of Nick Lowe) broke as many guitar strings as ever. Benmont Tench (from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) was supposed to substitute for Larry Knechtel on the Far Eastern leg of the tour but was indisposed for the Australian shows and was replaced by Austin de Lone, the keyboard player from the original "pub rock" outfit "Eggs Over Easy" (Costello had previously played with Austin de Lone in LA during 1989 at a gig at Sweetwaters that also figured such unlikely luminaries as Commander Cody and Sammy Hagar). His eccentric on-stage demeanour during the show I saw suggested that his acquaintance with "pub rock" might not have been solely confined to the "rock" part of the movement. However, most of the audience was probably distracted by the sight of Costello himself, hair and beard wilder than ever, filling his dark suits with his ever-increasing frame.

1992 saw another one of Costello’s breathtaking stylistic changes. Costello had become interested in classical music around the time of "Spike" and, bored with most rock acts, he began attending classical concerts instead. One of the ensembles he most enjoyed was the Brodsky Quartet, and he began attending their recitals regularly. Little did Costello know, but the "Brodskies" were Costello fans and soon became aware that their idol was also one of their fans. Curious to know more, the Brodskies (at the time Michael Thomas and his sister Jacqueline Thomas, Ian Belton and Paul Cassidy) invited Costello backstage to compare notes.      
Brodskies were classically trained musicians accustomed to working from sheet music. Costello could neither read nor write musical notation, having always relied on his "musical ear", memory, tape recorders, and an idiosyncratic form of written "shorthand" that only he could understand. Incredibly, in the space of a few months, Costello mastered musical notation to the point where he could write four part arrangements. He was now ready to work with a string quartet. Fortunately he had now dispensed with the long hair and beard, presumably so that the string quartet would be willing to be seen in public with him Costello had read a newspaper article about a Veronese professor who took it upon himself to answer letters written to Shakespeare’s Juliet, and so "The Juliet Letters" - a song-cycle about love, life, death and correspondence, was born. Costello asked the members of the Quartet to suggest different kinds of letters and lyrical ideas associated with the letters. The result was a mixture of original compositions by Costello and collaborations featuring different combinations of the Brodskies with Costello. The album was well received by the record buying public, reaching #18 in the UK, although critics were divided. Generally speaking most of the rock critics (with the exception of "Rolling Stone") thought that the album was nothing less than a tour de force, while many of the Classical critics were predictably less enthusiastic: some of them sneered at Costello’s idiosyncratic vocals and obsessed over the obvious influences in the arrangements: Shostakovich, Bartok, Debussy, Gershwin et al, whilst they overlooked the inherent melodic invention and totally avoided the lyrical beauty of the songs. In spite of the initial disdain in some quarters, "The Juliet Letters" is now attaining the reputation as a "standard" work and has been performed by a number of other string quartets around the world.
      
 In the liner notes for "The Juliet Letters", Costello mentioned that he was working on two new projects, an album called "Idiophone" and a musical. The musical (set in a nightclub on New Years Day 1978) is yet to be publicly performed, and "Idiophone" mutated into Costello’s 1994 album "Brutal Youth". Meanwhile, Costello took on another unlikely project. Wendy James had been the lead singer of 80s trash pop outfit "Transvision Vamp", but now the band had broken up and she was looking for songs for her first solo album. One of the writers she approached, in November 1992, was Costello (I don’t think that they met, probably more a case of "her people" calling "his people"). Costello was never one for doing things by half, and inspired by his imaginings of Wendy James’ situation, he sat down with Cait O’Riordan and wrote ten songs over a weekend or so, presumably recycling one or two unused songs in the process. Elvis then spent a day in the studio with Pete Thomas, pounding out raw punky versions of the songs, and forwarded the result to James’ "people". Astoundingly, Wendy James was delighted with the tape: "Instant Album, just add talent", she probably thought. Unfortunately, although Pete Thomas also played on the album ("Now Ain’t The Time For Your Tears"), the "added talent" didn’t add up to much and the resulting disc compares poorly to Costello’s original demo tape (some of the demo tape versions were released as bonus single tracks a year or so later). The album barely cracked the UK Top 50, and did nothing in other countries. Most of the reviews commented on the yawning gap between the material and the singer’s interpretation. The CD buying public just yawned. During this year, Costello (who by now had dispensed with the services of Jake Riveria) licensed the rights to his first 12 albums to Rykodisc, who re-released the albums with numerous bonus tracks over the course of the next two years.
     
Meanwhile Costello began work on his "Idiophone" project. Costello invited Pete Thomas back to Pathway Studios (where "My Aim Is True" had been recorded) and they laid down a number of tracks, with Costello overdubbing bass and keyboards on top of his guitar. Costello decided that this approach only suited two of the tracks, "Kinder Murder" and "20% Amnesia" and realised that it was time to bring Steve Nieve back into the fold. Soon, producer Mitchell Froom and sound guru Tchad Blake were drafted in , and Nick Lowe was succoured to bring forth great pumping basslines. When Nick drew the line at playing on the more complex songs, Mitchell Froom observed that he had been working with a great bass player on Suzanne Vega’s 99F album: Bruce Thomas. Elvis Costello and the Attractions were reborn, at least for half an album, and a subsequent tour. The resulting album, "Brutal Youth" caught the public imagination somewhat, reaching #2 in the UK and #34 in the US, and one of the singles, "Sulky Girl" became Costello’s first Top 30 UK chart entry in some time, reaching #22. The second single, "13 Steps Lead Down" had a very brief flirtation with the UK charts, stalling at #59. In an unusual move, a third single "London’s Brilliant Parade" was released in the UK in a variety of different versions featuring different bonus tracks. The single charted as high as #48.
1995 was another quiet year for Costello, and it was at this time that he decided it would be a good moment to release the "Kojak Variety" album, recorded four years earlier. Unfortunately, Costello agreed that the album could be issued with minimal promotion, and the result was a dismal chart showing: #21 in the UK, and #102 in the US. The reaction to the album by most fans and critics was tepid at best. Later in the year a live collaboration between Costello and jazz guitar icon Bill Frisell "Deep Dead Blue" was released to minimal fanfare.

Toward the end of the year Costello started featuring a significant amount of new material in his shows with the Attractions. It seemed that a new album was imminent and late in 1995, Costello summoned the Attractions back to the recording studio in Dublin. Geoff Emerick, who had previously co-produced "Imperial Bedroom", returned to co-produce the new album. Costello went into the studio with over 40 songs, and at one point thought of making the album a double album. Unfortunately, changes in personnel at Warner Bros had resulted in a change of attitude toward Costello. Now, as had happened at Columbia in the previous decade, he was viewed as a liability who produced too many unprofitable albums at too rapid a rate. Eventually the album "All This Useless Beauty" (working title "A Case For Song") ended up being dominated by ballads, and once recording had finished, Costello mentioned to one too many interviewers that most of the songs on the album had originally been intended for other artists. Some critics seized upon Costello’s comments as a sign that he had some kind of writers’ block and had been forced to recycle old material. Nothing could have been further from the truth, as Costello’s original plan to record a double album demonstrates. Once again, sales of the album were disappointing, and reviews were mixed, with some critics praising the album while others were overtly hostile; particularly a reviewer in Spin magazine who accused Costello of hating men – not bad for an artist who was once branded a misogynist! Although the album peaked at #53 in the US, the highest chart placing in the UK was a very disappointing #28, the worst performance for a new Costello album at that time.
Costello played a few US dates accompanied only by Steve Nieve, and then the rest of the Attractions returned to play further dates across the US and Europe. However, indications that something was wrong in the Attractions camp began to surface. Speculation grew amongst fans that past tensions between Costello and bass player Bruce Thomas had resurfaced, and when Costello performed his latest single "You Bowed Down" on the Tonight Show and changed the lyrics to state that he should have "never walked over the bridge …[he]… burned" it became clear that the Attractions’ days were (once again) numbered. Costello announced that the Attractions would not perform again after this tour, and they played their final date in Japan on September 15, 1996. A video release called "A Case For Song" documents one of their televised performances from June of 1996 and is the only officially released live video of Costello and the Attractions. A promo box of CD singles featuring selections from Costello and Nieve’s shows was later released.

Costello’s contract with Warner Bros was almost at an end, and all that remained was for them to issue a greatest hits package. Fortunately, Costello was able to retain creative control and selected the tracks himself (apparently the record company’s only requirement was that the US Top 20 single "Veronica" be included) adding a new song "The Bridge I Burned", recorded with his son Matthew on bass and Danny Goffey from Supergrass on drums (the song borrows the chord sequence of Prince’s "Pop Life" – Costello wanted to cover "Pop Life" but Prince - formerly known as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" but now known once again as "Prince" - refused permission). Also included was the track "My Dark Life" which had been recorded with Brian Eno for "Songs in the Key of X", an album "inspired" by the X-Files, a television show that was a favourite of Costello in the mid-90s. The album "Extreme Honey" was released in 1997, while Costello planned his next move; a collaboration with another of pop music’s finest. Costello claimed that Warner Bros’ marketing budget for "Extreme Honey" was "about $1000" or the minimum that Warners were legally obliged to spend. Costello described this as the music industry equivalent of waking up and finding a horse’s head in one’s bed.
One of the highlights of Costello’s shows with the Attractions was his interesting choice of covers. As early as 1977, Costello had confounded expectations by covering songs that were far removed from the contemporary rage and fury of the punk scene. One song he memorably covered regularly was Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s "I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself". Costello had first met Bacharach in 1989 while recording "Spike", playing him "Satellite" and thinking that he would be flattered by the "Bacharach-pastiche" arrangement. Instead, Bacharach was non-plussed by the song, which Costello at the time had attributed to the subject matter of the lyrics (which neatly anticipated much of the sleazy goings-on associated with the Internet). Only later would it dawn on Costello that Bacharach’s arrangements were quite different to how he had imagined them. Nevertheless, Bacharach must have come away from their meeting with some sort of positive impression, because when the producers of the film "Grace of My Heart" approached Bacharach to write a song for the film he reacted favourably to their suggestion that he collaborate with Costello on the song. Costello and Bacharach collaborated on the music and then Costello fashioned lyrics to fit the resulting melody. The song was largely written by exchange of faxes fired furiously across the Atlantic (Costello by this time had settled in Dublin with Cait O’Riordan). The result, "God Give Me Strength", which later won a Grammy, was considered such a success that Bacharach and Costello decided that an entire album written along similar lines would be their next project. Early in 1998 Costello signed a new record deal with Polygram Records that would allow him to release rock/pop, jazz and classical albums as he saw fit.
     
Costello and Bacharach’s 1998 album "Painted From Memory" was an undoubted critical success, and even charted respectably in several countries, including a Top 10 placing in Sweden and #22 in Australia. However, chart action in the UK (#32) and the US (#78) was muted. Bacharach and Costello both already had large cult followings in Japan where the album also generated considerable interest. Toward the end of the year Polygram Records was bought by Seagram, and the status of Costello’s new record deal appeared to be in some doubt. A jazz-inflected interpretation of the "Painted From Memory" album, recorded in conjunction with Bill Frisell, was to be released on the Polygram Group’s "Verve" label, but this release was now delayed, and no further Costello projects were announced.
Costello played a handful of shows with Bacharach in the US and Europe, before commencing a world tour accompanied only by Steve Nieve. The tour passed through Japan and Australia in early 1999, before recommencing in the UK after a short hiatus. By now dubbed the "Lonely World Tour" more dates were added across Europe and then the US and Canada in the summer of 1999. Costello and Nieve regularly played more than thirty songs per night, mixing six or seven songs from the "Painted From Memory" album with hardy Costello perennials and the occasional new track (often tracks co-penned by Costello and Nieve). Two major films featuring musical performances by Costello appeared in this year. "Notting Hill" had Costello singing the film’s signature tune "She" (originally performed by Charles Aznavour) and the song became a surprise hit in parts of South America.
      
Radio Sweetheart - Elvis appears in Austin Powers film, with Burt Bacharach Mike Myers’ "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" included a musical interlude where Costello and Bacharach perform "I’ll Never Fall in Love Again" in a recreation of Carnaby Street circa 1967. Costello now added both songs to his live sets with Nieve. The highlight of the shows undoubtedly came at the end when Costello would sing without a microphone. He usually performed "Couldn’t Call It Unexpected #4" in this fashion, but occasionally tried "Favourite Hour", and on rare occasions even performed both songs. Anyone who thought that Costello had a weak voice had to think again after hearing his dulcet baritone fill an auditorium. Universal Records, who Costello now found himself working for after the Seagram takeover of the Polygram group, decided to release a new "Greatest Hits" 2 CD package in the UK. Surprisingly, Universal opted to promote the album vigorously and the result was a Top 5 placing in the UK.
Costello and Nieve reprised their shows in the UK and the US in late 1999, this time adding a number of new Costello songs. The brief tour ended in Japan in December 1999, and speculation grew that Costello would shortly be recording a new album. However, the year 2000 came and went with no new Costello album. Evidently Universal Records had made it clear that they were in no hurry to release a new pop/rock Costello album, indicating that Costello would have to wait until 2002. In the meantime Costello teamed up with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, and collaborated with her for the album
      
"For The Stars", which contained von Otter’s interpretations of a number of pop songs including pieces penned by Costello. The album was released in March 2001 on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Around the same time Rhino Records (now owned by Warner Bros) announced that they had acquired the rights to re-release Costello’s back catalogue and began plans to reissue all his albums up to "All This Useless Beauty" with each album having an extra CD of rare material added plus lengthy liner notes by Costello himself. Costello commenced a residency at UCLA this year, the highlights of which will include four different live performances over the course of a year.

Costello began working on a new self-produced album in Dublin in June 2001, the basic sessions (some tracks were originally demos with Elvis playing all the instruments), featuring drums by Pete Thomas and bass by Davey Faragher, lasted approximately one week, with additional keyboard parts (by Steve Nieve) and horn parts added later. The album “When I Was Cruel” was released worldwide in March 2002 and charted strongly in some territories; most notably the US where the album debuted at #20 (Elvis’ highest US chart debut). Elvis, Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher and Steve Nieve (collectively dubbed “The Imposters”) then began a lengthy tour of the various countries including the UK, USA, Japan, Australia and several European countries. More tour dates were announced as the year progressed and the tour returned to the UK and then the US. In October 2002 a new album “Cruel Smile”, featuring outtakes and remixes from the “When I Was Cruel” sessions as well as live recordings from the Japan/Australia leg of the 2002 tour, was released in North America, the UK and Australia.

In September 2002 Elvis and Cait decided to end their 16 year relationship. Their parting was officially described as “amicable”.
Elvis was nominated for 3 awards at the 2003 Grammies, including “Best Rock Album” for “When I Was Cruel”. Shortly after the Grammy Awards Elvis started work on a new album “North”; a song cycle about love first lost and then regained featuring orchestrations by Costello himself. The album was released in September 2003 and went on to top the US Billboard Traditional Jazz Chart for several weeks. As far as can be determined this is Costello’s first ever #1 chart success. Meanwhile Elvis had announced his engagement to popular jazz artiste Diana Krall and they were married on 11 December, 2003. Diana Krall’s latest album, “The Girl In The Other Room” contains six songs co-written by Elvis and Diana.
A recording of Costello’s score for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, entitled “Il Sogno” and conducted by Michael Tilson-Thomas, was released in September 2004. Also released at the same time in September was Costello’s latest album with The Imposters, recorded in Oxford, Missisippi and Memphis in April 2004 and titled “The Delivery Man”. This album also features guest appearances by such luminaries as Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris, and includes all-new Costello compositions. "The Delivery Man" reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2005, the only new Elvis album was "Piano Jazz" with Marian McPartland, from a session Elvis did with her for NPR in 2003. McPartland accompanies Elvis on piano as they discuss, and perform, a selection of standards plus two of Elvis' own songs.

After the hurricane tragedy in New Orleans in September 2005 Elvis composed a new song "River in Reverse" which was his personal response to the situation. Elvis performed the song at a benefit concert also attended by such New Orleans luminaries as Allen Toussaint (whom Costello has worked with previously). The notion of recording an album in New Orleans with Toussaint had been in the back of Costello's mind since the early 1980s, but only Costello would have the bravado to suggest making such an album in a higly devastated city. The album (believed to be the first to be recorded in New Orleans since the hurricane) was completed in December 2005 and features Costello with the Imposters, and a horn section, playing both vintage Toussaint songs and new songs written by Costello and the new team of Costello/Toussaint. The album is entitled "The River in Reverse" and is scheduled for release in May 2006.

In the meantime another Elvis Costello album was released in January 2006. This album, "My Flame Burns Blue" is a live recording featuring the Metropole Orkest recorded at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2004.

Tickets • Greenhouse Talent • Elvis Costello

_Naar jaarlijkse gewoonte kregen we nu al het volledige progralma binnen van John’s festibal in cc De Borre in Bierbeek. Ditmaal geen namen die we hier en daar wel eens op en andere affiche staan en dat is altijd leuk om te vernemen. Met namen als Kirk Fletcher, Kyla Brox en Roland Tchakounte? kan er niet veel mis lopen.

Kyla Brox Band (UK)
De blues is een mooie toekomst weggelegd. Het is al lang niet meer enkel dat beeld van niet aflatende oude knarren, die één met hun instrument, geen moeite besparen om wankel dat podium te betreden. Op deze editie kan je er niet naast, een nieuwe generatie met stuk voor stuk klasse muzikanten garanderen ons heden ten dage oorstrelend bluesgenot. En het wordt des te mooier en het krijgt warempel nog wat extra dimensies wanneer vrouwelijk talent niet hoeft onder te doen. En niks is minder waar met onze tweede gaste Kyla Brox. Het best bewaarde bluesgeheim van de Britse eilanden. Een drietal keer werd ze genodigd op een Belgisch festival en telkens werd ze er de grote revelatie. Wat goed is moet je van de daken schreeuwen. Kyla verdient ook haar plaats op het Bierbeeks podium, tot groot jolijt van zij die haar al aan het werk zagen.
Geboren in Lancashire bij Manchester en opgegroeid in het warme muzikale nest van Victor en Annette Brox, gekend uit de originele cast van Jesus Christ Superstar. Net zoals haar oudere zussen heeft Kyla een prachtige heldere soulstem waarmee ze zo de temperatuur in de zaal met enkele graden weet te doen stijgen. Enkel Kyla ging van de Brox kroost de professionele toer op. Het groeiproces ontkiemde in haar vader’s Victor Brox Blues Train, gekend als de “child slavery band” omwille van de extreme jeugdigheid van de bandleden. Kyla was amper 13, haar latere levenspartner bassist Danny Blomely evenzo, en drummer Phil Considine 19. In 2000 vergezelde ze vader Victor op een toer door Australië waar Kyla, net 20, zichzelf ontdekte bij het zingen van gewaagde bluessongs als ruggesteun aan de harde stiel in de mijnkampen in afgelegen streken van de outback. Dit was de trip die haar helemaal transformeerde tot een echte blues en souldiva.
Terug in Manchester in 2001 vormde ze samen met Danny een duo voor de gelegenheid aangevuld met oude leden van de Child Slavery Band. De Kyla Brox Band was een feit. Nu 10 jaar later en 6 CD’s verder dwingt Kyla en Dan overal diep respect af met hun schitterend songwriters talent maar weet Kyla als de beste te charmeren, emoties te ontketenen en doet ze de grote afstand tussen vreugde en verdriet vervagen zoals enkel de groten uit het verleden dat konden. Omringd door top muzikanten weet u nu waaraan u zich kan verwachten.
Enkele quotes:
"Her breathing control is superb but, more than this… Kyla's vocal is natural and very clean… a depth of feeling…" - Blues Matters
"An authentic soul diva… sensitive, sexy, and with infinite reserves of sassiness" - City Life
"A classic sound pulled off with finesse… classy, impressive…" - Oldham Chronicle
"Great voice, great presence, great songs, great band…" - Leicester Mercury

Line Up:
Kyla Brox: Vocals, dwarsfluit
Danny Blomeley: Bas
Rick Weedon: Drums
Tony Marshall: Sax
Marshall Gill: Gitaar

_Roland Tchakounté (CAM/F)
Muziek die betovert en beklijft, een brok muzikaal magnetisme dat u onweerstaanbaar naar het podium trekt en al uw aandacht voor een tijdje helemaal opeist. Het zal u overkomen. U zult het met plezier ondergaan. Het is het recept van onze eerste gast. Zelden te zien in België maar hij stond wel al op vele podia in alle continenten van onze aardkluit en trok er volle zalen. Een unieke, authentieke en doordringende versmelting van Afrikaanse roots muziek met Amerikaanse delta blues. Kunnen we de blues nog origineler aanbieden?

Roland Tchakounté, geboren in Kameroen, zette er ook zijn eerste stappen in de muziek met percussie, gevolgd door de gitaar, piano en harmonica. Dit alles ver weg van de katoenvelden aan de overzijde van de grote plas waar de muzikale sculpturen van zijn verre voorouders door de jaren heen alom verfijnd werden. Zijn eerste podiumervaring deelde hij als zanger en basgitarist in een lokale Kameroenese band die zich toelegde op Afro-Amerikaanse songs. Nadien werd hij bevangen door het bluesvirus dankzij John Lee Hooker’s “Crawling Kingsnake”. En toen wist hij het zeker, hier lag zijn levensdroom: in de blues. Het zijn zijn wortels van wat later uitgroeide tot een perfect mengsel van Afrikaanse rootsmuziek, Amerikaanse bluesinvloeden gecombineerd met zijn opvallende songteksten  die hij allemaal brengt in het Bamiléké, zijn dialect uit zijn geboorteland.
De in 1999 uitgebrachte CD “Bred Bouh Shuga Blues” leverde hem zijn eerste internationale erkentenis op. In 2005 volgde “Abango”, een akoestisch duo meesterwerk. Het bood Roland en Mick Ravassat de opportuniteit hun eerste grote Amerikaans – Canadese  toer te verwezenlijken. In 2006 ontmoette hij drummer en percussionist Mathias Bernheim. Verleid door zijn buitengewone speelstijl, mocht hij van Roland meteen de band vervoegen. “Waka” en “Blues Menessen” maakten het succes compleet.
Roland Tchakounté bestempelt zijn muziek als een wilde melodie waarin hij zijn gevoelens, triest of vrolijk, het best kan uiten. Zijn addoratie voor Son House, Robert Johnson, Elmore James en Muddy Waters verbergt hij niet maar zijn echte meesters zijn John Lee Hooker en Ali Farka Touré.
Dit is een concert om naar uit te kijken, een mooi voorbeeld van hoe blues op een originele manier gebracht, tot een hemels muziekgenre verheven wordt.

Line Up:
Roland Tchakounté: Acoustic Guitar & vocals
Mick Ravassat: Electric Guitar
Laurent Legall: Upright Bass
Mathias Bernheim: Percussions

_Kirk Fletcher Band (USA)
De hoofdmaaltijd van deze 9e Bierbeek Blues’d Up wordt overgoten met een pittig sausje meesterlijk gitaarspel. Want met Kirk Fletcher mogen we één van de allerbeste jonge gitaristen van de hedendaagse blueshorizon aankondigen.

Amper 36 en al 2 WC Handy Award nominaties op zijn naam, bovendien de wereld rondgetoerd als leadgitarist van The Fabulous Thunderbirds maar ook in de bands van Lynwood Slim, Janiva Magness en Charlie Musselwhite. Het rijtje artiesten met wie hij samenwerkte lijkt haast eindeloos: James Cotton, Pine Top perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Mojo Buford, Ted Harvey, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, Ronnie Earl, Elvin Bishop en zoveel meer.
Geboren in 1975 in Bellflower California. Kirk leerde zijn eerste gitaarrifjes al op zijn 8ste. Op zijn 12e mocht hij mee naar het Long Beach Blues festival waar ondermeer Albert Collins, Albert king, The Staple Singers een bijzondere indruk lieten op de jonge Kirk. Dat dit de mijlpaal zou zijn voor zijn toekomstige levenswandel was hij zich niet bewust of … net wel.  Het was de eigenaar van een kleine muziekshop in Los Angeles die hem kort nadien de technieken van het instrument bijbracht en toen hij daar Jeff Rivera, de gitaartechnicus van Robben Ford tegen het lijf liep die de jonge Kirk meenam als assistent tech was het hek helemaal van de dam.
Midden jaren 90 ontmoette Kirk Al Blake, de frontman van The Hollywood Fats Band. Hij werd Kirk’s mentor. Blake introduceerde Kirk door de grote variëteit die de blues wel heeft. Dankzij Blake kwam Kirk ook in contact met gitarist Junior Watson. “Junior and I would get together smoke cigars, drink tequila and talk guitars…” Harmonica legende Lynwood Slim nam Fletcher mee in zijn band op toer. Het was ook in die periode dat zijn eerste solo project “I’m Here & I’m Gone” verscheen. Kirk Fletcher was geliefd bij de harpers en zo kwam hij in contact met de grote Kim Wilson. Kim nam hem eerst mee in zijn side project Kim Wilson’s Blues Review. Kirk Fletcher speelde op Kim Wilson’s album “Smoking Joint” dat een Grammy nominatie kreeg. In 2003 nam Kirk zijn 2e erg gerespecteerd album “Shades Of Blue” op. Charlie Musselwhite nam hem 3 jaar mee op toer en gaf Kirk ook de vrijheid verder zijn eigen stijl te ontwikkelen. Een jaar later belde Kim Wilson nog een keertje in het kader van nieuwe opnames van The Fabulous Thunderbirds voor  “Painted On”. Kirk werd goeie maatjes met ondermeer Nick Curran, Gene Taylor en Ronnie James Weber en mocht in 2005 mee op toer met de alombekende Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Vandaag de dag wisselt hij het toeren met zijn eigen band af met sessies in het “Hollywood’s Guitar Institute of Technology” en maakte hij tijd voor een schitterend nieuw studioalbum “My Turn”.
Kirk weet maar al te goed hoe hij zijn publiek kan boeien: soms funky, groovy, dan weer pakkend ingenomen bluesy of onweerstaanbaar swingend. Zijn songs met knipoogjes naar zijn grootmeesters Sonny Landreth, Robben Ford, Jimmy Hendrickx, Albert Collins zijn met de mooiste blues strik verpakt. Kirk Fletcher komt naar Bierbeek met zijn eigen band voor een exclusief Belgisch concert. Pasen op zijn best dus. 

Line Up:
Kirk Fletcher: Guitar, vocals
Per Erstad: Bass
Iver Erstad: Hammond b3
Jon Furulund: Drums

Tickets • Kirk Fletcher • Kyla Brox • Roland Tchakounté

_Neal walden black has spent the last 18 years electrifying audiences throughout the world performing his own unique brand of high voltage boogie and hard driving texas blues rock as an internationally acclaimed recording artist having successful releases in europe, canada, and the united states.

His musical journey bagan at the age of 12 in fayetteville, north carolina where he attended a johnny winter/foghat concert. He then became a student of the blues, fascinated with the influence of blues in modern music. During his high school years in pennsylvania he began studying the guitar and performed with regional bands. In 1978 he attended grahm college in boston for audio engineering picking up musical chops from his roomates that were attending the berklee college of music. After boston neal black headed to san antonio, texas and studied for 2 years at the southwest guitar conservatory, there he was influenced and taught a jazz-classical approach to the guitar by such legends as jackie king, lenny breau, herb ellis and barney kessell.
At the same time he also formed the san antonio based blues band, "dogman & the shepherds" with rene lopez on drums and gary walden on bass. The group achieved national recognition through numerous releases on small texas labels, touring nationally with major radio airplay on blues stations.
After 10 years in texas neal black moved to new york city with his musical partner pedal steel guitar wizard gib wharton and it was there that they both achieved international recognition.
In 1992 after touring europe as a backing guitarist for such legends as the chambers brothers, jimmy dawkins and johnnie johnson, neal black & the healers signed to dixie frog/msi records. His self titled 1st release reached the top 50 in france. This was followed by a us release on flying fish/deluge records. In 1994 his 2nd release "black power" featured such guest artists as john sebastian, johnnie johnson, jimmy vivino and others. Br>after touring europe extensively performing at such major festivals as nottodden blues/norway, montreaux jazz/switzerland, woodstock 20th anniversary/new york, montreal jazz festival/canada, neal black decided to head back to texas to recharge his musical battery in a place where he would be close to his creative roots.
There he recorded an experimental acoustic album (that is available exclusively through blue cobra music). In 1999 he went back into the studio to record "gone back to texas" the most current release available on dixie frog records and was also featured on the polygram compilation - "blues story" alongside such legendary blues artists as muddy waters, bo diddley, chuck berry, ian moore, etc.
He also received the pinnacle of critical acclaim in the united states with 4 star reviews on 2 of his albums in the "rolling stone jazz and blues buying guide".
Other major credits include publishing contracts with warner chappell music, hammstein music,television and radio commercials with shinerbock beer, espn television, b.e.t. television and an artist endorsement deal with gibson guitars. Neal black performance credits are monumental to say the least. They include co billing/support act for artists such as albert king, stevie ray vaughan, leon russell, stephen stills, and many others...(see performance credits).
Neal black currently performs throughout texas and is working on his 4th album for dixie frog records.

Tickets • Neal Black

_One of my old work colleagues (Graig M) got me into The Waterboys because we used to travel around the UK repairing PC's and spent a lot of time driving and The Waterboys was one of his favourite CD's to play and then because I liked it we used to listen to it more often. When I got paid one month I went out to HMV and bought four The Waterboys CD's (I often spend most of my wages on CD's and music) and listen to them a lot. Craig is also responsible for some of the other music I am into.

The Waterboys were formed by Mike Scott in 1983 and Mike is the only member to have remained from then til now. There have been many members over the years, some being: Anthony Thistlethwaite, Roddy Lorimer, Martyn Swain, Kevin Wilkinson, Eddi Reader, Karl Wallinger and Chris Whitten. Their musical style is a mix of Celtic, Folk and Rock N' Roll. Some people have dubbed The Waterboys sound "The Big Music" which is named after a song off the A Pagan Place album. The same term has been used to describe some other bands such as World Party, The Alarm, Simple Minds, The Hothouse Flyers and Big Country, and a lot of their songs are centered around spirituality. The name The Waterboys is taken from Lou Reed's song The Kids.

The self titled debut album The Waterboys was released in 1983 and has one of their most famous songs on it, A Girl Called Johnny. The song is a tribute to Patti Smith who was a great inspiration to Mike Scott alongside the likes of Bob Dylan and David Bowie. The original track listing only had eight songs but the album was re-released in 2002 and has an additional seven songs on it.

When A Pagan Place was released in 1984 it is known that the recording for it started even before The Waterboys album was released. The recording was done in two separate sessions, one in 1982 and the second in 1983 with new band members joining for the second session. This album too was re-released in 2002 with additional songs from the first recording session. Following the release The Waterboys toured the UK, with them also supporting U2 and The Pretenders at Glastonbury Festival.

1985 saw the release of This Is The Sea and was much more successful than the previous two albums and boasts their biggest hit The Whole Of The Moon which reached #26 in the UK. The song could have had more promotion, but Mike Scott refused to perform on Top Of The Pops due to them insisting they must lip sync.

The second phase of The Waterboys style started just before the release of Fisherman's Blues in 1988 and saw them move from The Big Music into the Raggle Taggle Band style which was influenced by Mike Scott moving to Ireland and the folk music there. The album is their most successful album to date containing songs like Strange Boat, And A Bang On The Ear and Fisherman's Blues.

Room To Roam was released in 1990 and followed in the folk style of the previous album. The album is apparently named after a passage in a George MacDonald book, Phantastes. Some of the hits from the album are A Man Is In Love, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, Further Up - Further In and Something That Is Gone.

My favourite of The Waterboys albums, Dream Harder was released in 1993 and is a return to the more Rock style of their earlier albums. The song The Return of Pan is about the Greek God also the song The Return Of Jimi Hendrix is one of my favourite tracks on the album. Some of the other hits from the album are Corn Circles, Glastonbury Song and Preparing to Fly.

A Rock In The Weary Land was released in 2000 and was the first for seven years due to Mike Scott pursuing his solo career. The album saw another shift in style inspired by Radiohead and Beck, and Mike Scott described the style as "Sonic Rock", another change happened in 2003 when they released Universal Hall which is mostly an acoustic album and a return to some of their earlier Celtic music.

In 2007 The Waterboys released a new album Book Of Lightning and contains some new hits like Love Will Shoot You Down, You In The Sky and The Man With The Wind At His Heels. The Waterboys played at the Return To Peace And Love Festival in Sweden on March 11th 2008.

Tickets • The Waterboys

_Randall Stuart (Randy) Newman (Los Angeles (Californië), 28 november 1943) is een Amerikaans componist en zanger. Hij bracht meer dan 35 albums uit. Hij schreef ook diverse soundtracks voor films.
Newman groeide op in een muzikaal beroemde familie. Zijn ooms Alfred, Lionel en Emil waren gerespecteerde filmcomponisten. Zijn vader Irving schreef een song voor Bing Crosby. Newman werd op zijn zeventiende jaar professioneel songwriter voor een uitgever in Los Angeles. Toen hij met hulp van zijn vriend Lenny Waronker een platencontract bij Reprise kreeg, stopte hij als broodschrijver en richtte zich op een carrière als singer-songwriter.
Zijn orkestrale debuut in 1968 a.k.a. Randy Newman was niet direct een succes in verkoopcijfers, maar de nummers van het album werden binnen korte tijd door diverse artiesten op de plaat gezet. Met zijn volgende album ‘12 songs’ uit 1970 oogst Newman alom lof. Gedurende de jaren zeventig maakt hij diverse platen, waaronder ‘Sail Away’, ‘Good Old Boys’ en ‘Little Criminals’.
Kenmerkend voor zijn hits zijn de bijtende satirische teksten, zoals ‘God’s Song’ van het album ‘Sail Away’. Daarin laat hij zeggen waarom God zoveel van de mensen houdt, hoewel hij de steden platbrandt en hun kinderen afneemt. De mensen zeggen dat ze gezegend zijn met zo'n Heer. “You must all be crazy to put your faith in me! That's why I love mankind!”
Diverse malen wordt Newman bekritiseerd of zelfs voor de rechter gedaagd vanwege cynische teksten die door veel Amerikanen verkeerd begrepen worden. De tekst van ‘Short People’ schiet bij veel kleine mensen in het verkeerde keelgat.
Vanaf de jaren tachtig verdeelt Newman zijn tijd tussen het opnemen van nieuwe albums en componeren voor films. Voor zijn soundtracks en filmsongs ontving hij tot dusver zestien Oscarnominaties. Hij ontving een Grammy Award voor de score van ‘The Natural’ en een Emmy voor zijn muziek in ‘Cop Rock’. Bekend filmwerk uit de jaren negentig van Newman is de muziek voor ‘Toy Story’. In 2002 won hij zijn eerste Oscar voor  het liedje ‘If I didn't Have You’ uit de film ‘Monsters en co..’ Newman zegt daarover: “The impact of the Oscar lasted about a day and a half.”

‘Oh It's Lonely At The Top!’ Dat was één van zijn meest fijnzinnige hitjes. Naast natuurlijk nog 'Short People', 'Mama Told Me Not To Come', 'You Can Leave Your Hat On', 'Rider In The Rain', 'Naked Man', 'Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear', 'Rednecks', 'Birmingham', 'Sail Away'... Maar er zijn ook ontelbare soundtracks, ondermeer ‘Ragtime’ en -pas op kindjes- ‘Toy Story’, ‘A Bug’s Life’, ‘Monsters’...
Het is al weeral een tijdje geleden dat deze Amerikaanse ster-satyricus, zanger en pianist nog in de (volle) AB stond. Voor wie verlekkerd is op speels Engels, droge humor en sprankelend pianospel is dit een muzikale must. Randy Newman kan zich vrolijk beperken tot zijn eigenste omvangrijke oeuvre en weet als de besten te entertainen. Dat hij een telg is van een hele familie Hollywood muzikanten zal hieraan zeker niet vreemd zijn. Nog niet overtuigd? Weet dat hij ook al succesvol gecoverd is door Alan Price, Three Dog Night en natuurlijk Joe Cocker, e.v.a.! Hoedje af!

Tickets  I  Randy Newman  I  Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

_The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the world’s most successful reggae band is not the stuff of fairytales as might be imagined. The group’s led a charmed life in many respects it’s true, but it’s been a long haul since the days they’d meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than £8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if you’d left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.

By the summer of 1978, something else did happen, and the nucleus of UB40 began rehearsing in a local basement. Robin’s younger brother Ali, Earl Falconer, Brian Travers and James Brown all knew each other from Moseley School of Art, whilst Norman Hassan had been a friend of Ali’s since school. Initially, they thought of themselves as a "jazz-dub-reggae" band, but by the time Robin was persuaded to join and they’d recruited Michael Virtue and Astro – who’d learnt his craft with Birmingham sound-system Duke Alloy – the group had already aligned themselves to left-wing political ideals and forged their own identity, separate from the many punk and Two Tone outfits around at that time. The group had nailed their colours to the mast by naming themselves after an unemployment benefit form. Their political convictions hadn’t been gleaned secondhand either, but cemented in place whilst attending marches protesting against the National Front, or rallies organised by Rock Against Racism.
By the time Chrissie Hynde invited them to tour with the Pretenders during the summer of 1980 and their debut single "King b/w Food For Thought" had sailed into the UK Top 5, all the essential elements of UB40 were already in place. Their line-up will remain unchanged for almost thirty years, and they will continue playing a mix of original material and inspired choice of reggae covers in a style that’s instantly accessible with its bright melodies and sweeping horn arrangements – one that’s allied to a formidable rhythm section, capable of holding its own with anything from Jamaica.

UB40’s first album was released the following September, on Graduate Records. Their deal allowed them more creative freedom than if they had signed with a major label. The cover artwork memorably duplicated an unemployment benefit card, with the title "Signing Off" rubber-stamped in red, but it was the music that quickly worked its way into the affections of a young, mainly student crowd with its knowing lyrics, solid reggae rhythms and dubby, instrumental passages, offset by warm horn s olos and Jamaican style scatting. There was nothing else like it at the time. As a multi-cultural band from Birmingham, UB40 weren’t drawn into trying to sound "authentic," and there was considerably more depth to their music than that of many punk and 2Tone bands. "I’m a British subject, not proud of it, whilst I carry the burden of shame," they sang on one of the tracks. Accepting the truth of their own situation amidst a sea of other reggae songs proclaiming black heritage gave us a valuable insight into where UB40 were coming from. They were unafraid to stand up and be counted, and British audiences instinctively loved them for it. "Signing Off" duly went to No. 2 in the UK and stayed on the nation’s album charts for 72 weeks.
At the end of 1980, the contract with Graduate expired and UB40 formed their own record company, DEP International, with all eight members owning an equal share. They also signed a licensing deal with CBS, which ensured them far better distribution. "Signing Off" was still in the charts when they released their second album "Present Arms" in the summer of 1981. The sound was immediately brighter, harder and more professional, yet the spirit and commitment underpinning the band’s songs remained resolutely unchanged, as heard on "One In Ten," written about the UK’s record number of unemployed. With lyrics like "Nobody knows me, but I’m always there. A statistical reminder of a world that doesn’t care," "One In Ten" became an anthem of the British protest movement, and a genuine counterpart to the equally motivated songs being written by the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh in the Caribbean. "One In Ten" will earn the rare distinction of being "versioned" by Jamaican reggae acts in future. Back in 1981, it formed part of the soundtrack accompanying the race riots erupting in places like Brixton, Handsworth and St. Paul’s in Bristol – hard pressed, inner city areas with large immigrant communities that had found themselves on the frontline in resisting the right wing policies of Margaret Thatcher’s government.

Four months later, and "Present Arms In Dub" became the first-ever dub album to enter the UK Top 40 – this during a period when dub music was the exclusive preserve of grassroots reggae fans, accustomed to buying Jamaican imports. UB40’s stature among British audiences was now assured. They possessed credibility, even whilst racking up hit records, and practiced true democracy by insisting that each member had an equal say in the band’s affairs.
Their next album, 1982's "UB44," was recorded in Dublin and featured innovative use of holograms on the ‘limited edition’ sleeve. Trips to Australia and Zimbabwe coincided with further hits in the shape of "I Won’t Close My Eyes," "Love Is All Alright," "So Here I Am" and "I Got Mine," but none breached the Top 20. "UB44" did get to No. 4 in the album charts, but then CBS ended their association with the band, leaving them to negotiate a new deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin Records.

Soon afterwards, they opened a studio in Birmingham called The Abattoir. Now masters of their own destiny (and with legendary JA keyboard player Jackie Mittoo in tow), they decided to pay tribute to the reggae pioneers who’d first inspired them back in the blues parties and clubs of Birmingham, and from hanging out at places like Don Christie’s record store. The band became evangelists of a kind, introducing classic reggae songs and artists to new audiences from around the world as they embarked on three best-selling installments of "Labour Of Love."

The first was released in the summer of 1983, and contrary to past record labels’ expectations, the change of direction worked magnificently. Labour Of Love became the band’s first No. 1 album in the UK, and would remain in the British charts for eighteen months. Lead single "Red Red Wine" also went straight to No. 1. In fact it stayed in the British charts for two years, thereby giving UB40 their first truly worldwide hit and, eventually, their first American No.1.
UB40 were now recast as Britain’s foremost reggae ambassadors. They have arguably fostered a love of reggae music in more people than any other artist, including Bob Marley, and it started just as soon as they’d introduced timeless Jamaican classics to contemporary audiences on "Labour Of Love." "Please Don’t Make Me Cry," "Many Rivers To Cross" and "Cherry Oh Baby" were the other hits from that seminal first edition, which went on to sell more than ten million copies worldwide.

UB40’s next single, "If It Happens Again," went to No. 9 but the album it was taken from, "Geffery Morgan," wasn’t a success by previous standards, despite a return to hard-hitting, reality topics on tracks like "Riddle Me," "As Always You Were Wrong Again," "You’re Not An Army," "The Pillow" and "I’m Not Fooled So Easily." Recorded at The Abattoir, "Geffery Morgan" whilst not selling in the same numbers as "Labour Of Love" like "Baggariddim" – a collection of tracks recorded with leading British reggae MCs – awaits urgent, critical reappraisal. In the summer of 1985 UB40 joined forces with Chrissie Hynde for a cover of Sonny & Cher’s "I Got You Babe" that promptly flew to No. 1 in the UK. "Don’t Break My Heart" also went Top 3 shortly afterwards, confirming UB40 as Britain’s most successful reggae band. Before long, they were again breaking new ground by becoming one of the first western groups to tour the Soviet Union. Their watershed concert in Moscow was recorded and released the following year as "UB40 CCCP." It was UB40’s second live album – the first, "UB40 Live," had been released in February 1983.

In August 1986, "Rat In The Kitchen" became UB40’s sixth Top 10 album in the UK. The title track became the first hit off the album, whilst "Sing Our Own Song" had been written in support of black artists in South Africa – this during an era when South Africa was still an apartheid regime, and Nelson Mandela regarded as a terrorist by Britain’s Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
The following November, "The Best Of UB40 - Volume One" began its two and a half year tenure on the UK charts, peaking at No. 3. The group were now a national institution, and yet still full of surprises. "Maybe Tomorrow," a Jackson Five cover, went Top 20, and previewed an unlikely collaboration with hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa and the Family called "Reckless." UB40’s next venture would prove a little more predictable. By early 1988 – still recovering from the death of engineer Ray Falconer, who was Earl’s brother, and had been highly influential in determining the band’s sound – UB40 again teamed up with Chrissie Hynde, who joined them on "Breakfast In Bed." The result was another Top 10 hit, taken from the 1988 album "UB40."

By 1988 the band was now embarking on lengthy world tours, taking in places like Australia, Japan and South America. In July the same year, they played the Free Nelson Mandela Concert at Wembley Stadium in London – an event that was beamed around the world to millions of television viewers, and prompted renewed appreciation of "Red Red Wine" in America. The song had already topped the charts in many other countries, but UB40’s first US No. 1 was certainly special, and especially since they received the good news whilst headlining at Madison Square Gardens in New York! Its success reignited interest in "Labour Of Love," which entered the Billboard’s Top 20, and led to a second helping of "Labour Of Love." This album – recorded between extensive touring commitments – would yield three Top 10 hits in America alone, including "Kingston Town" and "Homely Girl," both of which went Top 10 in the UK and throughout Europe, closely followed by "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)" and "The Way You Do The Things You Do."
At the onset of the nineties, Robert Palmer duetted with them on their next UK Top 10 hit, "I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight," and 808 State charted with a remix of "One In Ten." Highlights such as these, whilst welcome, were then dwarfed by the release of "Promises and Lies" which became the group's biggest selling album, selling in excess of nine million copies worldwide. The biggest hit from "Promises And Lies" was "Can't Help Falling In Love", which brought the band their third UK No. 1 and would remain a favourite on American radio stations for years – especially after its inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1993 Sharon Stone film "Sliver."

By 1994, the constant touring had taken its toll and the band was ready for a well-earned rest – this after playing to record crowds around the world, including South Africa, where they performed to over 250,000 people in total. Virgin would fill the gap by releasing "The Best Of UB40 – Volume Two," containing hits like "Kingston Town," "Here I Am" and more recent efforts such as "Bring Me Your Cup," "Reggae Music" and "Until My Dying Day." During their sabbatical from UB40, several of the members worked on their own musical projects. Robin and Ali made a guest appearance on Pato Banton’s No. 1 hit "Baby Come Back," whilst Earl would have success producing house and drum & bass tracks. Ali Campbell also released his debut solo album "Big Love," which he’d recorded in Jamaica. Their adventures in Jamaica will result in several, celebrated encounters with various reggae legends. The first, UB40’s "UB40 Present The Dancehall Album," featuring Jamaican acts like Beenie Man, Mad Cobra and Lady Saw, appeared in 1998, and "UB40 Present The Fathers Of Reggae" in 2002. Robin has described the latter as one of the highlights of their career, since it featured many of the artists who’d inspired UB40 (among them Toots Hibbert, John Holt, Alton Ellis and the Mighty Diamonds), singing the group’s own material. Were it needed, the "Fathers" set offered proof of the respect UB40 have always been accorded in Jamaica, and especially among the island’s artists and musicians.
The "Fathers" album had taken three years to record, and the follow-up UB40 set, "Guns In The Ghetto," would also take longer than expected to reach fruition. The group had reconvened in 1996, when they appeared in the film "Speed 2," starring Keanu Reaves and Sandra Bullock. UB40 perform "Tell Me Is It True" in the movie, which duly became the lead single (and a Top 20 hit) from "Guns In the Ghetto", released the following year. Ali described "Guns In The Ghetto" as sounding like "a reggae record, made in Jamaica proper." It peaked at No. 9 on the UK album charts, and yielded just one further single, "Always There." "Guns In The Ghetto" eventually sold over a million copies, but suffered from the band’s unwillingness to tour.

Such imperatives were soon realised with the release of "Labour Of Love III," which became the band’s twelfth Top 10 album in the UK during late 1998. "Come Back Darling," "Holly Holy" and "The Train Is Coming" were the hit singles from "Labour Of Love III." The following year they played before estimated television audiences of one billion in India, and then celebrated with yet another UK Top 10 album, the definitive "The Very Best Of UB40 1980-2000."
Other landmark shows would soon follow, including concerts in South Africa, and at a peace concert in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. One of them, in Switzerland, was later released as "Live In at Montreux." In 2003, they received an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement and secured another Top 10 album with the "Platinum Collection", a triple box set comprised of the entire "Labour of Love" series. By now, UB40 had been favourites of the British public for well over two decades. It was therefore fitting they should provide the official anthem for the England rugby team's triumphant 2003 World Cup campaign in Australia. "Swing Low," taken from the "Homegrown" set, will become the group's 49th UK chart single. UB40 have now had 51 chart successes, the only bands to have notched up more hits are Status Quo and Queen, but for UB40 to achieve this distinction by playing reggae music is nothing short of miraculous.

Two years later, on the 25th anniversary of their recording debut, the band released "Who You Fighting For." Acclaimed not only as a return to form, but also an artistic triumph," Who You Fighting For" was distinguished by UB40’s decision to record once more as "a live" band – i.e., playing all together in the studio. Its success was aided by a clutch of powerful message songs that wouldn’t have sounded at all out of place on their first few albums. The questioning of authority (including Britain and America’s decision to invade Iraq) and steadfast allegiance to working-class values was there for all to see, and yet the Grammy nominated "Who You Fighting For" also contained its fair share of love songs, such as "One Woman Man," "Kiss And Say Goodbye" and a winning cover of Matumbi’s "After Tonight."
At the beginning of 2008, Ali Campbell decided to leave the band in order to pursue a solo career. With a minimum of fuss, he was replaced by another Campbell brother, Duncan, who has a voice that’s virtually indistinguishable from Ali’s. Duncan had been invited to join the band at their inception, but declined. However, some thirty years later alongside the other UB40 vocalists he has made his presence count on the latest album "TwentyFourSeven," which received widespread acclaim on its release during the summer of 2008. Following on from "Who You Fighting For," "TwentyFourSeven" was again recorded "live" in the studio, and thus showcases UB40 at their best. Not for the first time, the choice of material was dominated by the kind of searching, political messages they’d long been famous for. Songs like "Rainbow Nation," "End Of War," "Oh America" and "Securing The Peace" rank alongside their best-ever reality tracks, except with guest singer Maxi Priest taking over lead vocals on "Dance Until The Morning Light" and a cover of Bob Marley’s "I Shot The Sheriff," the mood is celebrationary as well. Freed of the need for hit singles (if not hit albums), UB40 sound rejuvenated, as if they’ve rediscovered the creative spark that inspired them in the first place. The results make essential listening, reaffirming their reputation as the world’s most successful reggae band as they continue to reach out to audiences that are impossible to categorise by race, age or nationality.

This year UB40 have had yet another busy tour schedule including such places as, USA, Italy, Germany, Spain and Slovakia to name a few. In between this extensive touring schedule they have also been having a great time recording "Labour of Love IV," which they have now completed and it is due for release in February 2010. Along side this they have also made time to do a benefit gig at the Rainbow pub in Digbeth, Birmingham. The gig that took place on the 3rd of November was to help the Rainbow raise money to sound proof their roof as they had a noise abatement order slapped on them by Birmingham Council. Needless to say this was a resounding success and not only raised a lot of money for an extremely good cause, it gave around 500 fans an opportunity to see the band up close and personal for the first time in many years. UB40 are now currently in rehearsals for the much anticipated UK tour which begins in Killarney on the 19th of November.

Tickets • UB40

_Värttinä Line-Up
   
SUSAN AHO - vocals.

Playing accordion since the age of 13, she played accordion on Värttinä's Vihma album before moving to vocals. Previously involved at Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, she also now works with the puppet theatre Sampo. Susan is also now in the duo Kuunkuiskaajat with Johanna Virtanen.

MARI KAASINEN - vocals.

Mari is an original Värttinä singer and co-founder from Rääkkylä, Karelia. Her first public performance took place at the age of 2 ?. During her career she's studied classical singing, accordion and fiddle and majored in folk voice in Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department. Partly because of her own North Karelian roots and dialect, she's always been keen on Kalevala poetry and has become the main lyricist for Värttinä. She now maintains a career simultaneous with her life in Värttinä, teaching voice and kantele in Helsinki and participating in outside projects.
   
JOHANNA VIRTANEN - vocals.

Johanna studied folk music at the Central Ostrobothnian Conservatory in Kokkola and is now studying folk music and singing at Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department. Also plays harmonium, kantele and 2-row accordion. She joined Värttinä in 2001. Johanna is also now in the duo Kuunkuiskaajat with Susan Aho.

HANNU RANTANEN - basses.

Hannu Rantanen is one of Finland's top bassists. Having studied and now teaching at Helsinki Pop Jazz Conservatory and brilliantly skillful on double bass and electric bass, Hannu has been involved with numerous Finnish groups and orchestras including UMO Big Band, Pepa Päivinen Trio, Raoul Björkenheim Triad, Unto Tango Orchestra, Rajaton, Avanti, Helsinki Symphony and Lahti Symphony. Hannu has also played with international stars: John Adams, Wayne Krantz, Larry Coryell, Django Bates, Anders Bergcrantz, Ted Curson and Luis de Matteo. He also does music for theatre.

MATTI KALLIO - accordion, keyboards.

Matti Kallio is a musician from Helsinki, Finland. During his career he has been engaged in numerous projects of different musical styles. Matti's instruments are the piano and keyboards, 2- and 5-row accordion, Irish whistles, flute and vocals.
Matti has worked as a musician with Värttinä as substitute accordionist on previous tours. He has also worked with Finnish popular singers Hector, Vesa-Matti Loiri and Anna Eriksson. He has arranged music for a cappella groups such as Rajaton and Club for Five, and composed music for the Reykjavik City Theatre in Iceland. Matti has been taught accordion playing by Maria Kalaniemi, Jackie Daly and Mairtin O'Connor. He has also completed a master's degree in music from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

TONI PORTHEN - drums, percussion.

Toni Porthen, one of Finland’s best drummers, has studied at Sibelius Academy Jazz department for ten years and played with countless bands and artists. Before Värttinä he has played with such names as MP4, Lenni-Kalle Taipale trio, Niklas Winter Japan Quartet and numerous other projects and sessions.

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