Elvis Costello! 
By James Cury

[This interview appeared in Hits Magazine 1995-07-01 and FAD magazine. ]


He's hailed as the modern generations Cole Porter--and yet he appeals to 
people from 8 to 80. He's lauded as one of the greatest original 
songwriters in pop history--and yet has recorded some of the best cover 
versions of songs already adored. And his taste in music has helped shape 
many a young persons palette--this writer included--even when it meant 
braving the disparate terrains of country, soul, and jazz ballads. Elvis 
Costello is one of the few living legends who continues to consistently 
create musical masterpieces--and he's still churning out albums at a 
prolific rate. His new album, Kojak Variety, (Warner) covers obscure songs 
that probably would have died quiet deaths were it not for Elvis 
charismatic capacity for reinvention. Elvis spoke to us about cover songs, 
the new album, his multimedia concert, and his views on the 
computer/Internet/CD-ROM revolutions.

FAD: How did you choose which covers to include? You probably know 
thousands. 

Elvis: You make that list up don't you?  If anyone ever asks you what your 
favorite record is, my mind goes blank usually. I can't think of any 
records I like. Over a period of time I was thinking of doing this 
record--I made it five years ago--I knew the musicians I had and I had an 
idea of some of the things we could do with some songs. And most of all I 
wanted to get away from songs that would be overly familiar to people. I 
wanted to avoid any song that was known. Admittedly, there will be 
somebody who knows every song on this record--but not that many. I tried 
to pick songs that would be fresh. So that cut away a lot that have been 
my favorites as a listener. But I didnt really think I had anything to add 
to them as a performer. And then it was just how the mood takes you. If I 
were to go and do the same today I might have five of the same songs and 
ten different ones. Or I might have the same 15 songs. 

FAD: The artists and the works youve chosen are very obscure. Has anyone 
else covered these tunes?

ELVIS: I don't know of any of covers of any of the songs. Theres a couple 
of versions of Pouring Water on a Drowning Man recorded around the same 
time; I think Percy Sledge cut it also. I heard it first from Bonnie 
Raitt. I was familiar with Mose Allisons music through the roots of Georgie
Fame versions. And sometimes it takes an intermediate artist. Just as you 
said, I may be responsible for pointing the way to Chet Baker because 
someone hasnt encountered him until he played on my record. Well, I had 
the same experience when I was growing up. I discovered the Byrds records 
and through them figured out about Merle Haggard and people like that. 

FAD: I imagine you have a huge record collection.

ELVIS: Actually I don't have that big a collection. I've had more records 
in the past, and things happen, you dont always get to keep hold of all 
your possessions. You can get a little neurotic about the actual 
possession of objects--its whether its in your heart. Ive never been too 
bothered about the rarity of a particular label or record--as long as I 
could hear the music. Although some of the records invoke memories; like 
an album I picked up from my father when he was playing with a band. Its 
wonderful that I actually have that record. Just picking it up and looking 
at it reminds me of my dad sitting around the house and learning songs; I 
learned a lot through absorbing all of that and thats very personal to me. 

FAD: Did you plan on balancing slow and fast songs on the new album?

ELVIS: Overall, its a more relaxed album than some of the albums of my own 
music; when you write your own stuff you use a lot more aggressive or 
startling devices to grab peoples attention and suddenly change the mood 
completely. With a record like this, the musical world is easily 
understood, and the lyrical contents can be grasped in one hearing. Unlike 
some of my own compositions where I go out of my way to write things other 
people havent written before. That doesnt mean they dont have an 
appreciation of the more universal language that you find in a lot of 
great pop songs; obviously I do have it. I have written some songs in 
admiration of those styles. This is me doing some songs written by other 
people that celebrate that way of working. These are not particularly 
poetic songs. They use very common language and theyre easy to understand 
right away. 

FAD: Were any of these songs originally inteneded for other albums like 
Almost Blue or Get Happy? 

ELVIS: No. It was all recorded in two week five years ago. And there are 
songs Ive liked since I was eight years old and some that I only learned 
in the last 10 or 15 years. Since I came to America theres been a lot of 
music that I simply couldnt get my hands on; it wasnt available to me. 
Artists who I maybe knew only one song by, I could find whole new albums 
and a whole other level. Of course, since I first came to the States 17 or 
18 years ago, the whole process of reissues has gathered pace. Now theres 
warehouses of the stuff; and you need a map to get through it all. 

FAD: The reissues of your albums have been particularly good buys for 
folks who want to hear more from a specific era or session.

ELVIS: I tried to add a few things that were made at that time, songs 
which got lost or maybe could have been part of those records but the 
choice of the moment was to include one track whereas they could just as 
easily have chosen another track. So now you can play the original album 
in its original form or play some of the extra songs as well. Im not 
saying thats why you should buy those records. I would hope that people 
would buy my albums for the main album, and they get a little something 
extra like a free single used to be during the vinyl days. 

FAD: For me, it was relief to hear cleaned up versions of songs I acquired 
from taping my friends bootlegged tapes. 

ELVIS: Theres more care taken now over the transfer of CDs. When they 
first introduced CDs, they just banged out a lot of the catalog, they did 
it very haphazardly. The technical quality was pitiful. Weve taken care on 
this new record. I wrote the liner notes for this new album. There are 
certain kinds of albums that dont require explanations, and certain kinds 
do. Particularly older albums and, I suppose, covers fall into that 
category of older music because they come from another time. Theres 
nothing newer than 1970 and maybe in another ten years, Ill make a record 
that covers the more recent period, or just some other favorites that dont 
have to adhere to any time frame. . . it just worked out that it was 1930s 
to 1970s. It would have been late 50s to 70s if it hadnt been for the The 
Very Thought of You. Theres no big deal about it being a long period of 
time. 

FAD: Did you come up with the album title Kojacks Variety from some place 
Im just not recognizing?

ELVIS: Yes. But I cant tell you what it is. Its an enigma.

FAD: If I thought about it and did some research might I discover its 
meaning on my own?

ELVIS: No. You just have to accept it for what it is. Its just there.

FAD: The album sports fairly notable musicians and some of the original 
Attractions. Howd this lineup form?

ELVIS: It was cut in Barbados. We went specifically to record this. Id 
been working with these guys quite a bit. I wanted to get them on record 
doing something in a different way. When we do my songs no one knows how 
they go, so part of the process of recording is experimental. And the 
records that I made with a lot of these players--like Spike and Mighty 
Like the Rose--are among the most experimental records Ive made in terms 
of the way in which instruments are juxtaposed and different instrumental  
groupings. And we created quite unusual hybrid bands with loud electric 
guitars right next to soft sounds and strings things next to pipes. And I 
was using the studio as a type of laboratory during those two albums. This 
is like using the studio like a sandpit, like a playpen. The music is very 
easy to grasp; and the musicians knew exactly how these songs went. 
	All we had to work out was how we wanted to approach it. What we 
wanted to do to make it ours. We had some musicians with very distinctive 
styles and personalities playing, and these guys allowed us to put a stamp 
on these arrangenents to make them ours. 
	It doesnt mean I think theyre any better than any other versions. 
But I think these songs are good enough to be heard in a number of 
versions. When we play live over satellite, it will be with the 
Attractions with guests, and it will be different again. Ive done a lot 
ofcovers over the years but I havent always recorded them. But a couple of 
my biggest hits in Europe have been covers. Good Year for the Roses--a 
George Jones song I did was big hit in England. And I Cant Stand Up for 
Falling Down was an even bigger hit. Ive had a lot of luck covering 
peoples songs. 

FAD: Is Volume 2 planned at all?

ELVIS: No. Everything that we finished went on to the record. We were 
recording very quickly on a very tight schedule. We recorded it like an 
old-fashioned record that might be recorded on wax. 

FAD: Which covers of your songs do you like?

ELVIS: I think some of my best songs have recorded by other people. Ive 
given some of my best songs to others because I think you write in a more 
open way when you know you wont have the responsibility of introducing the 
song. June Tabor, the English folksinger has cut two of my songs and I 
think theyre probably the best covers Ive heard (All this Useless Beauty 
and I Want to Vanish). When I wrote with Paul McCartney, that was great. I 
did a concert with him recently, where we did a song he recorded on his 
last album called Mistress and Maid and we did it as a duet with just two 
guitars and, of course, it has very different charm when you hear it with 
that simple songwriter rendition. 
	Ive been pretty lucky; Ive been covered by some of my favorite 
artists. For someone whos written maybe 300 songs, I havent had that many 
covers but I would acknowledge that some of my songs are difficult to 
cover. Some have my particular stamp on the phrasing and its hard to 
escape that--particularly my earlier songs. But more  recently I tried to 
write in a musical language that can be reinterpreted. Theres just not 
that many singers who have that much imagination. Ive been very fortunate 
that Chet Baker has sung my songs, Johnny Cash has done a couple. George 
Jones cut one of my songs. Just those would have been beyond my imagining w
hen I started out. 

[ELVIS ON COMPUTERS]
FAD: Did I once read that you had some kind of data entry job before 
becoming a musician?

ELVIS: I was an IBM 360 operator. I first worked on either an ICL or a 
Honeywell computer--a big, big thing like the million-dollar brain with 
millions of tapes and machines and printers. I worked first in a bank and 
their computer center was like the size of a football field. We used to 
have to run up and down it like the computer center in Dr. Strangeglove or 
something. Very neon-lit box. And we worked shifts because it could never 
be turned off. Because it took all day and night to process the 
transactions; something that could be done in the blink of an eye today. I 
went from there to working for a cosmetics company as a solo operator on a 
smaller mainframe computer. Then they started linking . . . I had a 
terminal that wasnt intelligent and my job gave me access to the 
mainframe, which was in another town, which was in turn connected to 
Indianapolis.

FAD: Do you have any newer computer experiences?

ELVIS: I have a couple of computers. I have one that runs an outmoded 
sequencing and notating program that Im in the process of updating. My 
music isnt geared for sequencers; so I use it as a notepad, like a digital 
16-track recorder. I never even bother to turn on the metronome. Just 
allows me to have multiparted voice things. More recently I got myself a 
more conventional PowerBook, which I use for letters and tying out a nice 
lyrics sheet. Its convenient. But I dont like to get too fascinated and 
end up staring at the screen. I never wore glasses until I started to work 
in computers. I am testimony that staring at the computer screen is bad 
for your eyes. 

FAD: I went on the Net recently and conducted a search on your name and 
came up with about 30 hits including an Elvis home page on the WorldWide 
Web. Do you have anything to do with this and have you seen it?

ELVIS: I am aware that this exists. Around five years ago when we did this 
session we also cut a track for Deadicated--the Grateful Dead covers 
album. I was doing a solo show in San Jose. I included Ship of Fools in my 
concert and a friend of mine who surfed all kinds of e-mail back then told 
me that by the time I got back to San Francisco that night, it was already 
regitsered all over the e-mail that I had played that songs. That was my 
first awareness of the speed with which information was getting around. 
	But Ive never been particularly fascinated by it. Around the time 
of my satellite show, I am going to go on the Internet--and that will be 
my first experience on it. Warner Bros showed me show stuff just to show 
me how it exists and how forums are ongoing. Im not so sure that reading a 
book isnt better for your mind, not that I spend a lot of time reading. I 
havent personally connected my computer to the wall, I tend to use it in 
isolation and I prefer it that way.There isnt enough time in the day for 
all the things I want to do. 

FAD: The Web pages I found offer your song lyrics, chord progressions, 
related films, and all kinds of information about you and your music.

ELVIS: I cant imagine why anyone would need all of those things. I can 
understand the lyrics and chord changes, perhaps, but sometimes it goes 
beyond that. There are lines that you have to draw for sanity. There are 
certain parts of your life that shouldnt be accessible. I dont think if 
you do something in public that everything about you becomes public 
property. I dont hold to that premise. There might be some speculative 
stuff in there that would probably offend me. I probably best stay out of 
it. If its interest you have stimulated, and if its something of a 
curiosity or an exasperation--if they dont like what youve done--then 
thats an honest response. You might imagine, over the years, I ve received 
a lot of odd letters. Theres an area were operating in here thats sort of 
a semi-imaginary dimension--where there arent the same responsibilities we 
have in the physical world. 

FAD: Im sure your privacy has been compromised and its been a serious 
issue for some artists and celebrities. Can you tell me about the 
multimedia element of the show? Is there going to be supplementary video, 
or sound or images? 

ELVIS: There was talk of some filming the concert. I dont exactly know 
what makes it multimedia. This seems to be the word. I suppose its a 
little like the definition of unplugged. What exactly is unplugged about 
Unplugged? The cameras are plugged in, so are the microphones, and so are 
some of the guitars, but theyre acoustic acoustic guitars but they still 
use leads. As I understand it, its a fairly sophisticated thing that were 
doing a concert in London and its expected to be broadcast over the radio. 
To my mind, that doesnt seem that extraoridnary. I remember listening to 
concerts in the 1970s that were broadcast from Europe, but maybe its never 
been done before. The Internet forum thing is the main electronic thing.

FAD: What are some future plans?

ELVIS: Were going into the studio soon to do another new record and we 
learned this repertoire. Itll be another new thing.

FAD: Any CD-ROMs in the works?

ELVIS: I dont actually own one of those things. And I havent had a chance 
to look at one of them. My son has one and he says theyre quite 
interesting--like the encyclopedia types that have an educational 
dimension. I suppose at some future time, it would be very appropriate to 
annotate the reissues on CD-ROM with pictures--beyond the initial layer. 
But I dont know if you need that level of detail. I suppose with classical 
music or jazz--something with a lot of history to it--would lend itself 
more to it than rocknroll which has already been in the moment. Of course 
now, were getting so far away from the earlier music of the rocknroll time 
that it is already being treated like history. Im willing to be persuaded 
about it. I kind of like keeping an open mind and balance between a pencil 
and a laser beam. I like the feeling of rubbing something out when I make 
a mistake. We should only use tools to make our lives easier, not more 
complicated. But who knows what the future may bring.