Costello that is… I’ve been listening to his Greatest Hits album and was just wondering when he became popular? In the 70’s or 80’s? And what was he known for? There’s just about everything in it from pop to rock, reggae and some soft punk (?). I get the impression that he’s more of a musician’s musician. Also, since I’ve been enjoying his greatest hits can anyone recommend an album?
“Painted From Memory,” with Burt Bacharach, is excellent.
One of the big events early in his career was an appearance on Saturday Night Live where he sang a song that the producers had asked him not to sing, and there was some sort of controversy. Not exactly the Doors and Ed Sullivan, but he didn’t get invited back to SNL until the late 80s.
I’m old enough to have bought Costello’s first album back when it was
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his only album and
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an actual album (back in my day we didn’t cotton to them dad-blasted cd’s. we listened to vinyl and we liked it … up until the first skip or scratch)
Where was I? Oh yes, My Aim is True was not an overwhelming best seller when it was released in 1977 but it received a lot of critical acclaim and became an enduring cult classic. Ironically, the first exposure many people had to Costello’s music was the Linda Ronstadt cover version of “Alison”.
On a personal note, I’ve bought this album four times. The first was the above mentioned vinyl LP; then I bought the CD when I converted to that format; then the special edition CD with bonus songs, and most recently the 2 disc deluxe edition. I’m sure as we speak some executive is putting together a My Aim is True box set in the ongoing quest to test the depths of my susceptabilty to marketing gimmicks.
Costello has never been big on the American hit charts. Only two of his singles, “Everyday I Write the Book” in 1983 and “Veronica” in 1989, have made Billboard’s Top 40, tho neither cracked the top ten.
A CD is an album. What you bought was a vinyl album. You later bought a CD album. An album is a collection of songs, not a format.
Èlvis Costello has always been excellent…
my all time favorite is Miracle Man,
but he is, and always has been,
‘eclectic’ in his musical styles,
sometimes going too way
off the beaten track even for my tastes.
The controversy was that the Sex Pistols were billed as the band up until the opening of the show. I forget what song Elvis played.
I was at one of the shows he played on a tour in the late 70s where he ticked a lot of people off. The show was in Berkeley, California. His band played for 20 minutes. That was it. The band never took the stage again, and they played white noise in the theater to get people out. We felt cheated and taken advantage of.
(But hey, the opening act was The Rubinoos!)
Ah, so his corpse performed? That must have gotten BIG ratings.
Re: the Saturday Night Live performance. Elvis started playing “Less Than Zero”, then after a about half a verse he started waving his hands around and the Attractions ground to a halt. He then said something, and I can’t remeber what it was, and went into “Radio Radio”. Apparently Lorne was not pleased. And yes, the Sex Pistols had been announced as the musical guest the week before.
gex gex: As you can see in the last paragraph of my previous post, I am aware that an album can refer to either the vinyl or CD version. However, I feel the term “vinyl album” is a retronym and the term album usually assumes the meaning of being vinyl unless indicated otherwise by context.
Ave Minerva: As you wrote, Costello did play “Radio Radio”. Michaels was annoyed for two reasons. First was because Michaels is surprisingly opposed to spontanuity; second was because the song “Radio Radio” could be considered as a reference to NBC’s parent corporation RCA.
To answer the question in the OP, I’d like to put in a recommendation for Armed Forces.
The “joke” is that Elvis was over 80 years old, when of course this was not what was intended.
Big yucks.
Concur on that one. I recommend Armed Forces, This Year’s Model, and Imperial Bedroom. There are others with great stuff, but these are probably the most consistently excellent.
If you get a chance to see him live, be sure to take the opportunity. I have seen two radicaly different Elvis shows (one acoustic and solo, the other with a band) and both were spectacular.
And no, I am not named after him. I’m named after the first Elvis.
I misread and thought they meant the other one.
Elvis Presley’s corspe singing would bring in big ratings, I think.
Armed forces is playable. Better than his 80s stuff. But I like, as was mentioned, TYM and Imperial Bedroom far far far better, as well as Brutal Youth and When I was Cruel. But Armed Forces is a good addition to a collection.
When MAIT was released, there was some very nice review articles of it. Some popular press articles that seemed to focus on his name more than his music. Bought the vinyl of course. Was a fan for a while.
He never really became “big” in a string of #1 hits way. Didn’t get a lot of MTV airplay until AF and only then 2nd tier play. “Everyday I write the book.” got decent play. “Veronica” even more.
If you want to appreciate his music do not listen to his Bacharach covers. You will lose all respect for the guy instantly.
(He also did a really good job subbing for Letterman.)
So far my favorites are Chelsea and Radio, Radio. I’m getting a bit Elvis obsessed. Thanks for all your suggestions I’m going to look into getting MAIT and Armed Forces, then promptly go out to buy some Elvis glasses.
Unfortunately, I did miss him on David Lettermen, though I heard he was great and flirted with the guests.