Elvis Costello: Classic or Dud

Me? I liked him for a very long time. But I'm not sure how much I do now. I'll have a think and get back to you.

1. Encountering him in 80s childhood: the almost capuccino-pop textures (I may be off the mark there) and heavy wordy satire of Punch The Clock seeped into me and made it my favourite EC LP for ever amen.

2. His eternal 'returns' and reinventions... come the end of the 80s I get mildly more clued up and start to work out how EC's career fits together, what he's been up to, what are the highs and lows... I decide, roughly, that he is pretty much a genius. People have said before that 'genius' is an unhelpful term, and I agree that it tells you little save that I admire EC. But what I mean is, a) I think he is the most accomplished lyricist in the history of pop over the last 40 or so years - at least amongst what I have heard. b) he is able to be comic and serious, elaborately tongue-in-cheek or straight-out sincere (but maybe I shouldn't exaggerate the range here - I'm not sure, I think there is an 'EC mode' somewhere). c) he is able to dip in and out of genres with rare distinction and understanding; he always shows huge (even excessive?) respect for the genres he uses. (This makes for a slight difference with Merritt, who clearly loves lots of the genres he essays but is still less 'respectful' towards them.) d) He has a rare melodic gift which gets rather eclipsed by his even rarer lyrical gift; he reminds me of McCartney, really. So, classic, classic, classic.

3. But hang on. I don't actually *listen* to EC that much. I have to admit that for all his brilliance, he's not always what I want to hear. Possibly there's a certain lack of... 'lightness' in his work - he's so 'full-on' about everything that I can't quite see him pulling off the nonchalant grace of, say, 'Ask', 'Here's Where The Story Ends' or 'The Saddest Story Ever Told'.

4. Then again - his 1998 collaboration with Bacharach, Painted From Memory, seems to me magnificent. Lyrical simplicity yet point; fabulous melodic dynamism; lush arrangements. From my particular POV, one of the most vital records of the last 10 years, and a great highlight of EC's entire career. In the end, I can only admire this fellow.

I'll have to combine this with the 'records never played' answer. Somehow I have a near complete EC collection and I've never listened to any of it!

My favorite quote about him came from Bernard Sumner, god among men:

Interviewer: "What do you think of wordsmiths like Elvis Costello?"

Sumner: *deep breath* "Don't talk to me about that overrated fucking jerk."

Genius.

Heh.

Ned - it must be really cool to have a complete collection of records by people you dislike.

I wouldn't mind looking like Beck, or even Elvis Costello, but I guess that just proves David Lee Roth's point - but I'm not a critic, so maybe it's OK.

I find Sumner's voice far more compelling than EC's; like Ned, lyrics to me are not the be-all-end-all qualification for "good vocals." (Even though I'd take Sumner's lyrics over EC's...) But I can see why people like EC; he does have a knack for a hook (but so does Sumner--no pun intended ;-)--but I must say, I have two of his records, and I hardly listen to them, ever.

Dylan I like, though. He sounds quite fragile ("Har-har-har, that's 'cause he can't sing in tune!" NOT FUNNY, CLICHE-WIELDING ASSHOLES!), as opposed to EC, who comes across to me as pretty smug a lot of the time. Of course, Bright Eyes sounds fragile, and I don't know if I could name one vocalist whose teeth I'd rather kick in...

My Aim Is True is a great record that took me a long time to get into. In fact, it's one of my favourites, despite the pub-rock backing group. I always thought they were the perfect band for the 50s Punk Buddy Holly thing he was being marketed as at the time. The lyrics are great, too: "now that your picture's in the paper / being rhythmically admired"? Brilliance. I haven't listened to any of his other stuff except "Pump It Up" and "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea" and "Veronica" and they're all good too. Hey Ned, how much for the collection?

that said, he's not luther vandross and when he sings out of his range, it's at best endearing, at worst really, really, really bad.

i like e.c. because he's got a lot of pop smarts, see for example his nicks of everyone from abba to stax. i can listen to him rather than, say, dylan because not only does he have fine lyrics but he takes an active interest in the recording process and is an underrated melodist.

RC being a creep in person (as opposed to just in print) is the least surprisingly thing I've ever heard.

here's a question: I feel like I once heard, somewhere, a bouncy reggae cover version of "the beat" by someone. but I can't seem to locate that now. ring any bells?

it's by Elvis Costello on TYM iirc

man y'all are making me want to dive back into this catalogue again. I don't think I've heard much past Blood & Chocolate but I remember liking that one a lot.

tbh it's been really tough for me to listen to Elvis Costello these last few years. I had a friend who was really big into him - I brought My Aim is True to one of our poker nights and he absolutely loved it, we'd listen to that CD pretty much every time we got together. saw EC w/ him at Summerfest and it was awesome. he died of an overdose 4 years ago. I heard "Watching the Detectives" in a mall a few months after that and felt like I was getting PTSD. I had to run away. It was so weird. I've been kind of scared to hear his music again.

I do not like the Dean, can't speak for anyone else
Alfred has his poster above his bed iirc

― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, June 27, 2018

I'm glad I piss everyone off. His fans are skeptical of if not downright hostile toward me. We haven't agreed consistently in over thirty years.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, June 27, 2018 5:43 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

alfred it was just a light zing, i just recalled you seemed like a big fan, which i obviously exagerrated in my memory, apologies!

Get Happy is the peak for me. Hook after hook after hook, and the wordplay is out of control.

opportunity & secondary modern, both sooo great. watch yr step is like a chorus-less retread of secondary modern.

love opportunity, probably my favorite on get happy!!

i hear the similarity beween watch your step and secondary modern, but i disagree about watch your step being a retread, possibly my fav song on trust.

you lack lust, you're so lacklustre

I wish you luck with a capital F

His vocal on Watch Your Step is one of his best.

possibly nieve's most measured and beautiful piano/organ

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/06/elvis-costello-cancer-diagnosis-cancels-tour-dates :(

my 50yo Fall-mad housemate played me his 'my aim is true' LP the other night. it took a few goes round, but its such a fun album!

New album with the Imposters coming. I like the two songs he shared this week.

Under Lime being the better of the two.

yeah Under Lime is a great song; haven't liked his stuff for quite some time. However, the album cover is in the running for the worst cover of all fucking time.

Scroll past the bellend 2001 posts

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/ode-to-elvis-costellos-stellar-backing-bands-the-attractions-the-imposters-invisible-hits/

Thanks for this tylerw. Great to see Nieve and the Thomases get their due. That Rockpalast show is incredible.

the rockpalast show has probably the definitive version of "the beat"

Well it turns out that “Under Lime” might be the only song on the new album that I like.

sounded good, the album, but the tempos are too slow and the trademark ec melodies a little too fussy.

need to give the new one a little more time, but i like that it doesn't sound like EC is coasting — some interesting moves/arrangements.

Could be the best album since All This Useless Beauty. But then again When I Was Cruel with 20 minutes shaved off it would be really something

What would your 40 min ‘When I Was Cruel’ look like? Have to agree it drags on a bit.

Got ‘Look Now’, it’s good. No idea how it holds up to his recent material as the only other EC record I’ve bought since ‘When I Was Cruel’ was ‘Wise Up Ghost’, which I remember liking but haven’t gone back to much.

I think this is his best album in a while, but I don't love it.

Current tour setlists look awesome, I wished I caught him here last week.

"All this Useless Beauty" (listening this morning) is such a nice collection of songs, I wish less of it was so mannered. I remember the tour behind it (the last as the Attractions). It came to Chicago the same night as the big Sex Pistols reunion, but I was all, fuck that, I want to see the Attractions again. But even the show was kind of mannered, so I guess EC was just in a mannered mode.

A mannered out of time.

(Open gole, soz)

It came to Chicago the same night as the big Sex Pistols reunion

Weird, I don't remember those being on the same night. I'd seen Elvis with Steve Nieve a few months prior, which was pretty wonderful.

The Pistols played a fine show, but the Aragon was crazy oversold. They shoehorned what felt like an additional 500-1000 people in there, and it was really uncomfortable and annoying.

Yeah, EC played at the Rosemont Theatre. Maybe it was the night the Pistols came back? The second reunion show? I think I saw that EC& Nieve show, too, either at the Park West or the I think the Cadillac Palace Theatre (both of which were EC&Nieve nights).

has he ever played "Opportunity" live? did he not play a lot of Get Happy when it came out?

I think I saw that EC& Nieve show, too, either at the Park West or the I think the Cadillac Palace Theatre (both of which were EC&Nieve nights).

I saw the one at Park West, and it was a perfectly intimate atmosphere for that show.

I...don't know what the Cadillac Palace Theatre is...(looks it up)...oh shit! That was the Bismarck! I saw Frankie Goes To Hollywood there in '84.

XP

There is a live version from 1979 prior to the recording of Get Happy. The 1980 tour could be a weird one, lots of cover versions jostling with old favourites as well as songs from GH and AF.

He opened with Opportunity when I first saw him in 1996.

is that 1979 live version on youtube?

would love to see that, opportunity is my favorite get happy track

XP - Not quite what you're looking for but kinda interesting, a rough and ready version from '79, it's well known that EC had grown wary of stylistically repeating himself with the new songs he'd been writing and rolling out on the AF tour, so this version is before they changed the arrangements which made them more beholden to older soul music.

https://youtu.be/wuTcUvsdWiQ?t=24m28s

Oh and check out the version of High Fidelity too, it is kinda insane.

holy shit this heavy version of Opportunity is incredible, thank you!!!

So I just now see that Steve Nieve had been doing online Facebook shows at home with his son and wife. Today, they have Elvis Costello on zoom or something, and they just collaborated on "45" and on "13 Steps." Nieve is gonna take a break after today, and then resume it in 3 days or so.

Costello is proposing they do a longer set together next Saturday May 9 and include songs he hasn't sung before.

Now Steve Nieve is doing a Johnny Cash song "25 Minutes to go" by himself on piano. His son (?) sometimes joins on drums. Son also sang Green Day "21" with Steve N on piano, after Steve N did a music hall /broadway type take on Alice Cooper "18."

I've watched that before, after having been led there by EC's recommendation. I thought his French wife was playing the drums, at least when I was tuned in.

She was just working the camera today and emceeing. Or did Costello say Sunday for next week? Not sure . I guess details will be out by the end of the week on one of their Facebook pages.

googling tells me her name is Muriel Teodori, and her son does music under the name A.J.U Q. He was also sharing this on his Instagram live

I wish it was just Costello (singing from Vancouver) and Naive (in France?) on these Facebook lives from Naive's page . Son's voice is too bombastic, and Teoderi is just kinda annoying. Costello singing Roy Acuff, Psychedelic Furs, and Pogues "A Pair of Brown Eyes" was nice, as long as the son and Mom weren't involved

Costello doing “It’s All over now Baby blue” with just his acoustic guitar also was nice .

Nieve is proper spelling , oops

I once had a copy of one of Nieve's (very out of print) solo albums that had iirc a jazzy piano take on "Ghost Town." You can hear it and a lot of other stuff here:

https://soundcloud.com/steve-nieve-official/sets/keyboard-jungle-and-a

That was yesterday? The Color Tour or something, which they were going to try last weekend but had technical difficulties because of a storm or something?

I had heard a rumor over the summer they were coming back to NYC but then it didn't happen they stayed in Vancouver, yeah.

Yeah, I found one of his solely albums last year.

Oh, and he has spelled it "Naive" and "Nieve" over the years. Neither are his real surname..