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Elvis Costello: Difference between revisions

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Elvis Costello (view source)

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Declan Patrick Aloysius McManus, better known by his [[Stage Names|stage name]] "Elvis Costello", has been a sometimes popular and always respectable musician and songwriter since the late [[The Seventies|seventies]]. He honed his skills playing in the pub rock band Flip City at night while working as a computer operator at Revlon's London branch. Soon after that he signed a contract with fledgling record label Stiff and a new name--an ironic [[Shout-Out]] to [[Elvis Presley (Music)|Elvis Presley]] (who died soon afterward) and his mother's maiden name.
 
Costello was initially associated in the public mind with [[Punk Rock (Music)|Punk Rock]], and in terms of attitude there was a resemblance. (He had enjoyed seeing the [[Sex Pistols (Music)|Sex Pistols]] go head to head with morning TV host Bill Grundy.) Musically his closest kinship was to classic [[The Sixties|sixties]] pop: [[The Kinks (Music)|The Kinks]], [[Bob Dylan (Music)|Bob Dylan]], early [[The Who (Music)|Who]] and especially [[The Beatles (Musicband)|The Beatles]]. While he had a [[Creative Differences|troubled relationship]] with his backup band the Attractions, they were fully able to keep up with his musical vision.
 
Since 1989 or so, Costello's humor has been less brash and sarcastic, more jocular and [[Self-Deprecation|self-mocking]]. His musical output has covered country, jazz, and chamber music.
 
[[Television]] has seen him being banned from ''[[Saturday Night Live (TV)|Saturday Night Live]]'' for a dozen years for changing songs unannounced, subbing for [[David Letterman]] during his heart surgery, and appearing [[As Himself]] on ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''. Charges that he is an [[30 Rock (TV)|international art thief]] are still being investigated.
 
He also hosted [[Too Good to Last|two seasons]] of a music/interview show called ''Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...'' which aired on the Sundance Channel in the US and [[Channel Four4]] in the UK.
 
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* [[The Band Minus the Face]] - The Attractions released ''Mad About the Wrong Boy'', a "solo" album without Costello, in 1980. Costello later covered one of its songs, "Sad About Girls".
* [[Canon Dis Continuity]] - Costello hates his 1982 single "Party Party" and has pretty much eradicated it from his discography, refusing to allow it to be included on any of his albums - not even expanded reissues or outtake collections. This includes the two-disc Rhino reissues, which gathered up pretty much every outtake and non-LP track which the compilers could find.
* [[Careful Withwith That Axe]] - "ALMOST BEATEN TO THE PUNCH!"
* [[Checkpoint Charlie]] - Costello uses the phrase in "Oliver's Army".
* [[Concept Album]] - ''The Juliet Letters'' is based around the concept of letters, with different songs representing different types of correspondence.
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* [[Godwin's Law]] - "Two Little Hitlers".
* [[I Have Many Names]] - Names he's used in his songwriting credits include: Declan McManus, The Imposter, and Napoleon Dymamite<ref>No relation to [[Napoleon Dynamite|the movie]], apparently</ref>.
* [[Ink Suit Actor]] - On ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''.
* [[Last-Note Nightmare]] - The sudden ending of the already unnerving "Night Rally".
* [[Lyrical Cold Open]] - "Mystery Dance", "Accidents Will Happen", "I Hope You're Happy Now", "Next Time Round", "Indoor Fireworks", "Poisoned Rose", and more.
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'Cause somewhere in the Quisling clinic<br />
there's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes }}
** An even more well-known example of this trope is "Oliver's Army", an upbeat [[ABBA (Music)|ABBA]]-inspired song (no, really) that sounds quite cheerful until you realise it's about sending young working-class men, barely out of school, off to fight (and die) in foreign wars.
* [[Murder Ballad]] - His cover of Leon Payne's "Psycho", which overlaps with [[Nightmare Fuel]].
* [[Nerd Glasses]] - One of his visual trademarks.
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** "Room With No Number" is technically an example of this. The refrain is always sung as "room without a number", never as the exact title phrase.
* [[Obsession Song]] - "I Want You".
* [[Paul McCartney (Music)|Paul McCartney]]: A sporadic songwriting partnership led to several McCartney/Costello compositions scattered over both artists' albums in the late 80s and early 90s. One of their joint compositions, "Veronica", became one of the biggest hits of Costello's career.
* [[Protest Song]]: "Shipbuilding," an anti-Falklands War song.
* [[Record Producer]] - As well as the producing credits on his own albums, Costello has also produced albums for The Specials, The Pogues and Squeeze.
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* [[The Troubles]] - "Oliver's Army".
* [[Vanilla Edition]] - Many of his Universal reissues.
* [[Witch Withwith a Capital B]] - From "Love Went Mad": "I wish you luck with a capital F."
* [[Working Title]] - "Emotional Fascism" for ''Armed Forces''
* [[Wrote the Book]] - "Every Day I Write The Book"
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