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The street hustlers were out in full force in front of New York's grimy Palladium Theatre last week trying to sell Elvis Costello badges and T-shirts and hot, over-priced tickets to the sold-out Elvis Costello show taking place inside.
These characters are always present on the rock circuit, nosing out the Next Big Thing and trying to capitalise on it, and right now the New Wave of the future is Costello — scrawny, intensely intelligent and, as his publicists keep repeating, burning.
While American stalwarts and New Wave innovators like the Ramones, Blondie and Television struggle to get their albums anywhere near the music charts. Elvis Costello's second LP, This Year's Model, has grabbed a strong hold on the lower reaches of the American top 40.
He is programmed by radio directors who feared the rabid message of the Sex Pistols or Stranglers, but were desperate to appear in the know before the ever challenging numbers of their listeners.
Elvis Costello, who writes songs attacking current fashions, ungrateful women, even the radio industry that helped propel him this far, has become the acceptable face of New Wave in the U.S.
Asked to explain his success where so many other new bands fail, Costello says pointedly: "Because we're better. We try harder. We gig, like lots of American bands won't, who are content to just play New York and Los Angeles.
"It's a combination of all three, a certain amount of rock, a certain amount of timing, our own ability and our willingness to go out and do it every night."
But there is another major factor behind Costello's achievement — the clout of his American record label, CBS. If Costello's UK success on the independent Stiff label was an unanticipated miracle, his American stardom with the Columbia machinery in full force is being deftly planned and executed. Nothing is left to chance.
When the New Wave showed its face, CBS couldn't or wouldn't relate to forked hair and anarchy. But they did understand the young man who dressed like Buddy Holly and wrote searing diatribes that were challenging without being nihilistic.
Columbia blitzed with advertising, so no one could ignore Costello's non-stop American touring.
Even with the best of intentions U.S. record companies have rarely been able to get all-important airplay for New Wave groups.
Woodstock-hippy era disc jockeys are frightened of this music which threatens them with a one-two punch, and stick to the dubious comforts of a Linda Ronstadt or Fleetwood Mac.
Strangely, as unlikely a character as Ian Dury may just become accepted by the same timid programmers, simply because of his musically tender album cuts like "Sweet Gene Vincent."
It's possible that Elvis Costello's success was greatly assisted by a song called "Alison" on his first album, My Aim Is True. This ballad is a radio dream, and it was clear that last week's sold-out Palladium crowd recognised it and greeted the first notes with cheers.
Costello, himself, doesn't count the song as a standout. The part of Elvis Costello which wants more massive recognition is the one that wrote "Radio, Radio," a blistering attack on British stations but meant to serve for U.S. top pop stations as well.
He has stated that a station's integrity could well ride on whether or not they are courageous enough to play it.
And by this challenge Costello has gone straight to the force which ultimately decides the future of any new musical movement in the U.S.
Only by radio play does a splintered country create new concert stars. Without that support, a young band is immediately doomed to the obscure underground.
Elvis Costello never dipped into that subterranean vista in the U.S. His first New York date was at the Bottom Line club. He has returned, six months later, to headline two shows at a mainstream rock palace.
"Sure, we can sell out New York and LA," he scoffs, "but we can't do one ticket in Mobile, Alabama."
Achieving that for any new bands British or American, is what's called progress.
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