Love your post title (“elvis cuntello”); such witty wordplay. He is indeed Teh Suxx :rolleyes:.
Carry on.
Some artists feign distinctive styles deliberately, to attract attention. EC is one who is simply being himself, and happens to be distinctive. All the difference in the world.
As noted above, saying “he can’t sing” is really a statement of one’s preferences in singing style. EC is the best in the world at his style of singing. A person who doesn’t like that style is perfectly entitled to that opinion, and isn’t “wrong”. Honesty about one’s feelings is a cornerstone to appreciating the arts. But it’s wise to understand the subjectivity, and fleeting nature, of such feelings. Remember in the mid-1960’s, when practically everyone over 30 agreed that the Beatles ‘couldn’t sing’? The fact that you don’t like someone doesn’t prove they have no talent.
I remember seeing EC for the first time, on that SNL appearance - the first song was “Watching the Detective”. His presence and singing were strikingly different from anyone I’d seen before. And lyrics like, “It only took my little fingers to blow you away”, in a love song, really… well, blew me away. You didn’t hear that on TV in 1978. And the riotous, organic blowup over “Radio Radio” was even more memorable.
I make a distinction between how much I like someone’s music (how much and how often I enjoy listening to it) and how much I respect a musician (a combination of the craft shown in the work, the authenticity of its emotions, and the opinions of others I respect). Someone can rate low on the like scale, but high on the respect scale. I’m a lifelong amateur musician, and I believe musicians are more aware of this distinction. Working with other musicians, with different tastes, forces us to confront it.
A couple of examples: I like very little material by David Bowie or Prince, but have a great deal of respect for them. I rate them around 1/10 (on the like/respect scales, respectively). I like Bob Dylan a little more - he gets a 2/10 or 3/10. For comparison, I consider the Beatles the pinnacle of rock music - they get a 10/10.
I would give Elvis Costello around 4/10 or 5/10.
Well stated - haven’t seen you on the Dope much lately (maybe I was just not paying close enough attention) - either way, nice to see you back.
But now I am beyond belief.