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Who is Elvis Costello and why are critics and enlightened DJs force-feeding us the music of this Rock Around the Clock refugee?
You might find the answer Monday night in Cincinnati when the former computer programmer from Britain performs at Bogart's.
Costello burst out of the English "new wave" scene last year with a sound that is closer to classic rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues than it is to the three-chord rock meandering of most punk-rock groups. His album, My Aim Is True, received more critical acclaim than the more-infamous Sex Pistols' LP and, wonder of wonders, it's selling like hot crossed buns.
Actually, Costello (rumor has it his real name is "Dec") takes his inspiration more from rockers like Graham Parker and Johnny Lyon and only his appearance and manners from the English punks. He spits out lyrics about anger, bitterness and jealousy with catchy sarcasm. Not surprisingly though, his American break-out came with the single, "Alison," a melancholy love song that evokes images of the late Buddy Holly (Costello himself evokes the Holly image with his oversized specs and guitar-man pose).
Critic Roy Carr wrote that Costello's songs are "sexual psychoanalysis set to a dozen superb juke joint anthems."
No one paid much attention to him until he set up his equipment in front of the London Hilton last year and sidewalk serenaded CBS Records executives who were in town for a convention. Before that, Costello was trying to peddle demo tapes to any record company that would listen. Stiff, the maverick English label, signed him in August 1977, and CBS signed a distribution deal with Stiff to get the album to the U.S. market.
Costello, in an interview in Britain's Melody Maker, said, "I didn't go in (to the record companies) and say, 'Look, I've got these songs and, well, with a bit of patching up and a good producer I might make a good record.' I went in and said, 'I've got some great songs, record them and release them.' Stiff were the only ones that showed that kind of faith in me."
Costello's band, the Attractions, is a no-nonsense lineup of drums, bass, and keyboards. It includes Pete Thomas, Bruce Thomas, and Steve Naieve.
Tickets for the 8 and 11 p.m. shows Monday are sold out.
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