California Aggie, July 14, 1982

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An enigmatic Elvis to appear at Greek


Victoria Vierk

  Sometimes I almost feel
  Just like a human meal
     — "Lipstick Vogue," This Year's Model

Americans have had a hard time digesting Elvis Costello.

The skinny bespectacled young man introduced to us five years ago on Saturday Night Live and through such marginal FM hits as "Watching the Detectives" and "Alison," has always been a nasty hairball in the vast digestive tract of the American music system. He can't seem to align himself palatably with any musical labels.

He's been called a punk, though his complex arrangements and bouncy sounds have been about as far away from The Sex Pistols as Mel Tormé (Both Mel and Elvis, in fact, have recorded "My Funny Valentine"). Last year's release of Almost Blue, with Elvis' versions of Hank Williams songs and his own country ballads, further complicated the British singer's identity.

Whereas mainstream American record buyers can depend on their fave raves to consistently reproduce to redundancy that certain sound, Elvis has had a finger in every sound, a fact even his debut album attests to: where "Alison" is as tender a ballad as any adult contemporary station could offer, "I'm Not Angry," with its fierce guitar, is one of the best revenge songs ever written.

Each of his five studio albums has been a definite musical departure from its predecessor, whether in a leap from pop to country or in subtler changes in arrangements and production, as heard between the Motown murkiness of Costello's third studio effort, Get Happy and the clean spareness of his fourth, Trust.

Costello's eclecticism may have turned off more mainstream listeners and FM station music directors, but it's won him an almost rabid devotion from a sizable minority. Costello concerts nearly always sell out, and his fans, bred in these cultural boondocks on nothing more than Elvis albums and singles, with occasional bootlegs, demand satisfaction from his live shows. In the first concert in Berkeley's Greek Theatre in the 1978 tour, Costello's brusque and short set left fans riotous.

Costello s return to the Greek this Saturday in Berkeley at 8 p.m. comes right on the heels of the release of Imperial Bedroom, his latest album, which has already sold out at at least one local record store.

Costello (nee Declan Patrick MacManus) has cloaked himself in enigma and contradiction since his appearance on the British and American music scene. He's refused to give interviews to all but a select few, claiming any such commentary would detract from the messages in his music.

He's involved himself with the British organization Rock Against Racism and has come out against British neo-Nazi movements in songs like "Night Rally" and "Less Than Zero," yet a couple years ago was decked in a bar by American singer Bonnie Bramlett for making a string of nasty racial insults.

And though Costello's lyrics lash out at the homogenizing processes of the record industry ("Radio, Radio's" "I wanna bite that hand that feeds me"), he sought out and got himself signed with CBS/Columbia, one of the biggest of them all.

This unpredictable artist should provide a few surprises in concert. The Plimsouls will open and Elvis and his band The Attractions will surely provide a full menu of entertainment, with Elvis coming out to perform separate sets of rock and country. This human meal promises to be a real treat.


Tags: Greek TheatreBerkeleyCaliforniaThe AttractionsImperial BedroomThe PlimsoulsLipstick VogueThis Year's ModelSaturday Night LiveWatching The DetectivesAlisonThe Sex PistolsMel TorméMy Funny ValentineAlmost BlueHank WilliamsI'm Not AngryMotownGet Happy!!TrustDeclan MacManusRock Against RacismNight RallyLess Than ZeroBonnie BramlettRadio, Radio

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The California Aggie, July 14, 1982


Victoria Vierk profiles Elvis Costello ahead of his concert with The Attractions, Saturday, July 17, 1982, Greek Theatre, University Of California, Berkeley.

Images

1982-07-14 California Aggie, Profile page 07 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

Page scan.
1982-07-14 California Aggie, Profile page 07.jpg

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