London Telegraph, June 14, 2009: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> The man behind the glasses </h3></center> | <center><h3> The man behind the glasses </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Nigel Farndale </center> | <center> Nigel Farndale </center> | ||
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'''He has worked with Paul McCartney, palled around with Bill Clinton and headlined Barack Obama's inauguration. For someone who doesn't want to be liked, Elvis Costello has an awful lot of friends. Has love — and fatherhood — mellowed the angry young man? Thankfully not | |||
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On a roof terrace overlooking Manhattan, an awning flaps lazily in the breeze. The man sitting underneath it is wearing sunglasses, as well he might given that a) the afternoon sun is unforgiving, even in the shade, and b) he is a rock star. Well, rock star up to a point. At 54, Elvis Costello is still leaping from genre to genre like a young pond frog spoilt for choice with waterlilies. | On a roof terrace overlooking Manhattan, an awning flaps lazily in the breeze. The man sitting underneath it is wearing sunglasses, as well he might given that a) the afternoon sun is unforgiving, even in the shade, and b) he is a rock star. Well, rock star up to a point. At 54, Elvis Costello is still leaping from genre to genre like a young pond frog spoilt for choice with waterlilies. | ||
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Anyway, the point is, the twins have been listening to music since before they were born, and I ask Costello if he sings to them now. "No, and I don't think they are all that keen on my songs. It's Randy Newman they love because he wrote Toy Story. They know the score so they can say what action is happening when. Randy must have a great trick there to imprint that music in children that young." | Anyway, the point is, the twins have been listening to music since before they were born, and I ask Costello if he sings to them now. "No, and I don't think they are all that keen on my songs. It's Randy Newman they love because he wrote Toy Story. They know the score so they can say what action is happening when. Randy must have a great trick there to imprint that music in children that young." | ||
The twins, he tells me, by the way, think he looks like Mr Potato Head, or at least that the drawing of him on the sleeve of his new album does. For his own part, he describes himself as a combination of Cheeta, the elderly chimp from the Tarzan movies, and Liza Minnelli. "The dynamism of Liza," he adds, "with the hairiness and long arms of Cheeta." | |||
The twins, he tells me, by the way, think he looks like Mr Potato Head, or at least that the drawing of him on the sleeve of his new album does. For his own part, he describes himself as a combination of Cheeta, the elderly chimp from the ''Tarzan'' movies, and Liza Minnelli. "The dynamism of Liza," he adds, "with the hairiness and long arms of Cheeta." | |||
Oh, and another aside while we are at it; he was born Declan Patrick MacManus in London in 1954, the year Elvis cut his first record, and he has had his stage name since 1977, the year Elvis Presley died (the Costello part was taken from his great grandmother). | Oh, and another aside while we are at it; he was born Declan Patrick MacManus in London in 1954, the year Elvis cut his first record, and he has had his stage name since 1977, the year Elvis Presley died (the Costello part was taken from his great grandmother). | ||
But back to his music. Does his 34-year-old son like it? He smiles a rare, gap-toothed smile. "You'd have to ask him. I think so yeah, but I can't speak for him. I can speak for my wife because we are both musicians, so of course we influence each other in our musical choices, but as for him, I can't really say. Up to a certain age you can say our life together is beautiful but then the child becomes a separate person with his own identity. I love them all and am proud of them all. And I often don't feel deserving of the love I get back from them." | But back to his music. Does his 34-year-old son like it? He smiles a rare, gap-toothed smile. "You'd have to ask him. I think so yeah, but I can't speak for him. I can speak for my wife because we are both musicians, so of course we influence each other in our musical choices, but as for him, I can't really say. Up to a certain age you can say our life together is beautiful but then the child becomes a separate person with his own identity. I love them all and am proud of them all. And I often don't feel deserving of the love I get back from them." | ||
His relationship with his own parents seems to have been equally healthy, even after their divorce in 1972. It was a musical family. His mother sold records, his father was a successful big-band singer and his grandfather a trumpeter, working the cruise ships. Does he ever look in the mirror now and "see" his father looking back? "I see both my parents. My dad in some respect but also my mother. I look like both of them. I think we made some of the same choices. They worked hard to make sure I had a decent standard of living. And I've worked hard, every single day since I left school. I think I have a protestant work ethic. | His relationship with his own parents seems to have been equally healthy, even after their divorce in 1972. It was a musical family. His mother sold records, his father was a successful big-band singer and his grandfather a trumpeter, working the cruise ships. Does he ever look in the mirror now and "see" his father looking back? "I see both my parents. My dad in some respect but also my mother. I look like both of them. I think we made some of the same choices. They worked hard to make sure I had a decent standard of living. And I've worked hard, every single day since I left school. I think I have a protestant work ethic. | ||
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"'The River in Reverse', the song I wrote about [Hurricane] Katrina, wasn't a pious song, that was an angry song about the lack of care for the victims." | "'The River in Reverse', the song I wrote about [Hurricane] Katrina, wasn't a pious song, that was an angry song about the lack of care for the victims." | ||
Besides, often his songs were about love and betrayal. Of "The Crooked Line," one of the songs on his new album, he says that it is the first time he has written about fidelity in an unironic way. "I think when I was younger I was not very good at writing love songs that didn't have a twist. You know, Smokey Robinson writes the heartfelt songs, whereas it was my job to write the songs about weakness and failure in love." | Besides, often his songs were about love and betrayal. Of "The Crooked Line," one of the songs on his new album, he says that it is the first time he has written about fidelity in an unironic way. "I think when I was younger I was not very good at writing love songs that didn't have a twist. You know, Smokey Robinson writes the heartfelt songs, whereas it was my job to write the songs about weakness and failure in love." | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
{{Bibliography next | |||
|prev = London Telegraph, May 29, 2009 | |||
|next = London Telegraph, December 4, 2011 | |||
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'''The Sunday Telegraph, Seven magazine, June 14, 2009 | '''The Sunday Telegraph, Seven magazine, June 14, 2009 | ||
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[[image:2009-06-14 London Telegraph Seven photo 01.jpg|140px|border|right]] | [[image:2009-06-14 London Telegraph Seven photo 01.jpg|140px|border|right]] | ||
One of the | One of the singer's earliest comic cameos came in the mid-1980s, when he played a deaf A&R man in the Adrian Edmondson/<wbr>Jennifer Saunders/<wbr>Dawn French sketch show ''The Comic Strip Presents''. | ||
In a 2003 episode of ''[[TV 2003-04-22 Frasier|Frasier]]'', Costello made an appearance as Ben, a cheery but tuneless folk singer whose renditions of "[[The Wild Rover]]" and "[[Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport|Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport]]" ruin the atmosphere at Frasier and | In a 2003 episode of ''[[TV 2003-04-22 Frasier|Frasier]]'', Costello made an appearance as Ben, a cheery but tuneless folk singer whose renditions of "[[The Wild Rover]]" and "[[Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport|Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport]]" ruin the atmosphere at Frasier and Niles's favourite coffee house. | ||
Costello paid a visit to US sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'' in 2005, playing himself as a member of an elite | Costello paid a visit to US sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'' in 2005, playing himself as a member of an elite men's group whose other members include Sean Penn, Harry Dean Stanton and the show's regular star, Charlie Sheen. | ||
In season 3 of ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'', Costello plays "[[13 Steps Lead Down]]" before trashing his dressing room. In season 5, he sells | In season 3 of ''[[The Larry Sanders Show]]'', Costello plays "[[13 Steps Lead Down]]" before trashing his dressing room. In season 5, he sells Larry's sidekick, Hank, a lemon of a car. "I should have learned my lesson when I bought that moped from Sting," laments Hank. | ||
In 2005 he appeared on ''The Kumars at No 42'', joining in a rendition of " | In 2005 he appeared on ''The Kumars at No 42'', joining in a rendition of "I'm A Secret Lemonade Drinker," the jingle written for the R. Whites ad by his father, [[Ross MacManus]]. | ||
Costello closed the last in the series of nineties comedy ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' with a version of "[[Fly Me To The Moon]]." | Costello closed the last in the series of nineties comedy ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' with a version of "[[Fly Me To The Moon]]." | ||
In ''The Simpsons'' episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation," Homer responds to | In ''The Simpsons'' episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation," Homer responds to Costello's suggestion that he take up the bass guitar by breaking his trademark spectacles. | ||
The season finale of Tina | The season finale of Tina Fey's ''[[TV 2009-05-14 30 Rock|30 Rock]]'' saw Jack (Alec Baldwin) persuade Costello to join an all-star choir to sing a song "[[He Needs A Kidney|Just Give a Kidney]]" for his father. "Elvis, haven't you said that if a song reaches just one person, you've done your job?" pleads Jack. "No, I've never said that," replies Elvis. | ||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
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*[http://www.nigelfarndale.com/ NigelFarndale.com] | *[http://www.nigelfarndale.com/ NigelFarndale.com] | ||
*[http://www.michaelschmelling.com MichaelSchmelling.com] | *[http://www.michaelschmelling.com MichaelSchmelling.com] | ||
*[http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=7832 Elvis Costello Fan Forum] | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:London Telegraph 2009-06-14}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:London Telegraph 2009-06-14}} | ||
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[[Category:Bibliography 2009]] | [[Category:Bibliography 2009]] | ||
[[Category:London Telegraph| London Telegraph 2009-06-14]] | [[Category:London Telegraph| London Telegraph 2009-06-14]] |
Latest revision as of 04:21, 11 March 2020
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