Valencia County News-Bulletin, September 25, 2002

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Punk, New Age, Bacharach-singing
Elvis Costello to play in Santa Fe


T.S. Last

It's interesting. Elvis Presley died four months after Declan Patrick MacManus performed for the first time under the name of Elvis Costello.

The timing was just right for me. Born too late to live during the King's reign, I came around just in time to catch the crest of the New Wave movement in the late 1970s. Back then, that's how Costello was categorized — New Wave, but partly Punk. He was part of the swell of edgy and innovative music that reverberated from across the pond a decade after the initial British Invasion.

There were the Clash and the Police, to name two. And there was Elvis — a punked-up version of Buddy Holly for a new age of rock 'n' roll.

The year Elvis Presley died, 1977, was the year I graduated from high school. It was also the year Elvis Costello put out his first album — My Aim is True — which made a New Wave splash with songs such as "I'm Not Angry," "Less Than Zero" and "Red Shoes."

Later that same year, Elvis made his infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live. I remember watching that telecast on a TV in the common area at my college dorm. Costello and his band, the Attractions, were a late replacement for the Sex Pistols. They were supposed to play "Less Than Zero," but Elvis crossed everybody up by cutting off the Attractions after the first few chords. Deeming that selection "not relevant," he led the band through a torrid recital of the highly-amped "Radio Radio."

Bespectacled and buckling at the knees, Elvis' spastic performance was a crowning moment for a new epoch of music. Here was the next rock 'n' roll rebel. The King is dead. Long live the Prince of Punk.

Costello continued to put out some of the best music of the period, releasing This Year's Model the next year and the powerful Armed Forces the year after that. "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding," said it all for those of us growing up in the post-Vietnam-pre-Iran-Conta era.

Costello mellowed over the years. He crossed up everybody again in 1981, putting out a country and western album, Almost Blue, and Imperial Bedroom, described by him as an "experimental" album the following year.

Recently, Costello collaborated on a record with Burt Bacharach and was accompanied by him in an Austin Powers film, singing "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."

Elvis is no longer the angry young man. The wine that flows from the prince's cup is less bitter but is nonetheless intoxicating, as one can savor from a taste of his latest vintage recording — When I was Cruel.

Costello will perform at the Palo Solari Amphitheater in Santa Fe on Thursday, Oct. 3. On the current tour, he typically plays no less than nine songs from the new release, which not only is his first offering in four years but is his best in decades.

Costello followers can expect a healthy helping of his new music, as well as oldies-but-goodies such as "Waiting For the End of the World" and "Watching the Detectives."

When I Was Cruel turns out to be quite pleasing. "After singing so many ballads in the last few years, it was time for a rowdy, rhythm record," he was quoted as saying.

Actually, it's more of the mellow Costello, with a little bit of the old edgy Elvis thrown in for good measure.

"Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution)" and "Daddy Can I Turn This" are ebbs from Elvis' New Wave days. But the rest is more of a result of Elvis' evolution as an artist.

The autobiographical opening cut, "45," takes you through the progression in time and is a prime example of his extraordinary skills as a songwriter.

Forty-five first refers to 1945 — the year World War II ended. But it's also used to allude to stacks "of shellac and vinyl" — 45 r.p.m. records he grew up listening to as the son of a bandleader and record store manager. And it laments the passing of time — 45, "it creeps up on you without a warning."

"When I was Cruel No. 2" is another example of his exquisite talent as a songwriter. Throughout the album, his songs' lyrics are provocative and often amusing. Musically, it's as good as anything he's ever done.

"We used a highly skilled team of musicians and engineers to ensure that we did not accidentally make a record that had been previously released," he said.

Costello almost quit making records in the mid-1980s. Before going into the studio to record Good-bye Cruel World in 1984, he privately told producers it would be his last album.

Fortunately, Costello reconsidered and evolved to making records as good as When I Was Cruel.

Twenty-five years after the King's passing, Prince Elvis still produces.

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Valencia County News-Bulletin, September 25, 2002


T.S. Last profiles Elvis Costello ahead of a October 3, 2002 concert at Paramount Lounge & Night Club, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
(The show was later cancelled.)


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