Arizona Republic, May 21, 1986: Difference between revisions
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<center> Kristine McKenna </center> | <center> Kristine McKenna </center> | ||
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'''Editor's note: Elvis Costello is perhaps better known by the general public for his past churlishness than for his music, a situation the seminal punk rocker hopes to change with his new album (''King of America'') and his newly mellowed manners. Bluntness, however, is still very much part of the Costello style. In this excerpt from the April issue of ''Interview'' magazine, the singer-songwriter confesses to Kristine McKenna that his own "stupidity and selfishness" have been his biggest obstacles, suggests that the music press should "shut up and listen," and talks about his failed marriage. McKenna is a Los Angeles-based | '''Editor's note: Elvis Costello is perhaps better known by the general public for his past churlishness than for his music, a situation the seminal punk rocker hopes to change with his new album (''King of America'') and his newly mellowed manners. Bluntness, however, is still very much part of the Costello style. In this excerpt from the April issue of ''Interview'' magazine, the singer-songwriter confesses to Kristine McKenna that his own "stupidity and selfishness" have been his biggest obstacles, suggests that the music press should "shut up and listen," and talks about his failed marriage. McKenna is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer. | ||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus was born in 1954 and raised in a blue-collar section of London, in 1977 he took the name Elvis Costello and released an album called ''My Aim Is True'' that catapulted him to the front ranks of the first wave of English punk. By 1980 the first blush of success had faded and the next five years were a period of controversy and trouble. The quality of Costello's music has never been in question; instead, the problem has been what Costello himself dubbed his "mouth almighty." He simply refused to play The Music Biz Game; worse than that, he refused to kowtow to the press. They exacted their revenge by portraying him as an angry young psychotic, and Costello's fine music was frequently drowned out by the din of his ongoing battle with the Fourth Estate. | Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus was born in 1954 and raised in a blue-collar section of London, in 1977 he took the name Elvis Costello and released an album called ''My Aim Is True'' that catapulted him to the front ranks of the first wave of English punk. By 1980 the first blush of success had faded and the next five years were a period of controversy and trouble. The quality of Costello's music has never been in question; instead, the problem has been what Costello himself dubbed his "mouth almighty." He simply refused to play The Music Biz Game; worse than that, he refused to kowtow to the press. They exacted their revenge by portraying him as an angry young psychotic, and Costello's fine music was frequently drowned out by the din of his ongoing battle with the Fourth Estate. | ||
Costello recently released a new album, ''King of America'', which he hopes will set the record straight. "Though it's not without anger, there's more generosity and love in this record," he explains. "I'm not trying to hide behind anything and there's no meanness in the songs, which tend to be very open and simple. There's a difference between being mellow and reasonable, however, so it's possible for this reasonable record to also be a punk record which it is." | Costello recently released a new album, ''King of America'', which he hopes will set the record straight. "Though it's not without anger, there's more generosity and love in this record," he explains. "I'm not trying to hide behind anything and there's no meanness in the songs, which tend to be very open and simple. There's a difference between being mellow and reasonable, however, so it's possible for this reasonable record to also be a punk record — which it is." | ||
Talking with Costello in a New York hotel suite, I found him to be a far cry from a stormy soul. Fueling himself with mineral water, carrot sticks and cigarettes, he responded to my questions with wit and honesty. It's no news to anyone who's followed Costello's music that he's a smart and clever man; what did come as a surprise is that he seems uncommonly happy and lighthearted. One of the things he's happy about is his engagement to Cait O'Riordan, bass player with the Irish punk group the Pogues. | Talking with Costello in a New York hotel suite, I found him to be a far cry from a stormy soul. Fueling himself with mineral water, carrot sticks and cigarettes, he responded to my questions with wit and honesty. It's no news to anyone who's followed Costello's music that he's a smart and clever man; what did come as a surprise is that he seems uncommonly happy and lighthearted. One of the things he's happy about is his engagement to Cait O'Riordan, bass player with the Irish punk group the Pogues. | ||
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Is it valued? Who by? Critics are the only people who care about that. Go to the Museum of Modern Art and look at Pablo Picasso's work and tell me that he valued originality. All those people stole loads of stuff. The Dadaists and Surrealists parodied previous forms and used them for their own ends with ruthless abandon. I don't think they | Is it valued? Who by? Critics are the only people who care about that. Go to the Museum of Modern Art and look at Pablo Picasso's work and tell me that he valued originality. All those people stole loads of stuff. The Dadaists and Surrealists parodied previous forms and used them for their own ends with ruthless abandon. I don't think they | ||
cared a damn about originality perhaps they realized they couldn't help but be original and that's part of what made them great. | cared a damn about originality — perhaps they realized they couldn't help but be original and that's part of what made them great. | ||
''Why is Western culture so enamored of the idea of the celebrity? | ''Why is Western culture so enamored of the idea of the celebrity? | ||
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''What's the most important thing you get from your work? | ''What's the most important thing you get from your work? | ||
I get it out of my head and therefore am a bit less neurotic. I can be very neurotic, a terrible hypochondriac all those sorts of things. I'm a human being and have all the usual vanities and frailties. But I'm not trying to make them into a career. | I get it out of my head and therefore am a bit less neurotic. I can be very neurotic, a terrible hypochondriac — all those sorts of things. I'm a human being and have all the usual vanities and frailties. But I'm not trying to make them into a career. | ||
''Ideally, how should the press function in relation to music? | ''Ideally, how should the press function in relation to music? | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
{{Bibliography next | {{Bibliography next | ||
|prev = | |prev = Arizona Republic, September 8, 1983 | ||
|next = Arizona Republic, February 24, 1989 | |next = Arizona Republic, February 24, 1989 | ||
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[[Kristine McKenna]] interviews Elvis Costello. | [[Kristine McKenna]] interviews Elvis Costello. | ||
<br><span style="font-size:92%">(from [[Interview magazine, April 1986|''Interview'' magazine, April 1986]]; another version ran in the [[Irish Press, May 25, 1986|''Irish Press'']].)</span> | <br><span style="font-size:92%">(from [[Interview magazine, April 1986|''Interview'' magazine, April 1986]]; another version ran in the [[Irish Press, May 25, 1986|''Irish Press'']].)</span> | ||
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[[Salvatore Caputo]] reviews ''[[King Of America]]''. | |||
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<center><h3> King Of America </h3></center> | |||
<center> '''Elvis Costello </center> | |||
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<center> Salvatore Caputo </center> | |||
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[[image:1986-05-21 Arizona Republic, City Life page 02.jpg|x120px|border]] | [[image:1986-05-21 Arizona Republic, City Life page 02.jpg|x120px|border]] | ||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} |
Latest revision as of 20:54, 21 August 2023
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