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Elvis Costello rocks and keeps rolling along
Gary Mullinax
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Last summer, Elvis Costello wasn't really getting anywhere in a music career he hoped would lift him for good out of his dull life as a computer technician.
So he strapped on his guitar, plugged in a small amplifier and played his music on the street in front of the London hotel where a CBS Records convention was going on.
It worked. At least Costello, 23, eventually got a Columbia contract. He put out a well-received album and he's been playing larger and larger halls on his U.S. tour.
A few months ago he was in Philadelphia's tiny Hot Club. Friday night he'll be at the larger and more prestigious Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pa.
Costello is an excellent, intense r & b-influenced rock 'n' roller. He's not exactly a punk, but he is possibly the leading example of the new wave.
The difference? It goes something like this: the rawer punk bands are part of the new wave, but so are groups as diverse as Talking Heads and Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, which will open for Costello Friday.
They all approach their music with energy and with a new vision of music's cultural role. Major record companies have noted that something is happening here (even if the Mr. Joneses aren't sure what) and they have opened up the gates a bit.
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