Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1982

Bibliography   72 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 UK & Ireland weeklies UK & Ireland magazines UK & Ireland newspapers US newspapers US rock magazines US music magazines US magazines US alternative weeklies European magazines European newspapers Canada  •  Mexico  •  Asia Australia  •  New Zealand South America  •  Africa Blogs  •  Fanzines  •  Books Online publications Los Angeles Times  1977 November 8 1977 November 22 1977 December 25 1978 January 8 1978 April 22 1978 April 23 1978 May 7 1978 June 1 1978 June 5 1978 June 6 1978 July 2 1979 January 14 1979 February 13 1979 February 20 1980 March 2 1980 October 4 1981 January 10 1981 February 1 1981 April 30 1981 October 24 1981 December 31 1982 July 7 1982 July 18 1983 August 7 1983 September 16 1983 September 20 1984 May 3 1984 June 24 1984 September 18 1984 December 23 1986 February 11 1986 February 16 1986 September 28 1986 October 3 1986 October 4 1986 October 6 1986 October 7 1986 October 12 1986 December 28 1987 April 20 1987 May 17 1987 October 2 1988 March 6 1989 February 5 1989 March 12 1989 March 26 1989 September 11 1990 November 11 1991 May 12 1991 May 28 1991 August 19 1993 January 17 1993 February 14 1993 March 14 1993 March 16 1994 March 6 1994 May 12 1994 May 13 1994 May 16 1995 May 14 1996 May 12 1996 May 16 1996 August 29 1998 April 12  1998 July 19 1998 October 2 1998 October 11 1998 October 22 1999 June 3 2001 April 28 2002 April 10 2002 April 21 2002 May 30 2003 March 31 2003 May 19 2003 September 21 2004 March 5 2004 April 13 2004 September 19 2005 March 24 2006 March 5 2006 June 4 2006 June 15 2006 October 28 2008 October 27 2008 December 3 2009 January 27 2009 June 1 2009 June 8  2009 June 23 2009 August 19 2010 September 21  2010 November 1  2011 May 12 2012 April 18 2012 October 3 2013 March 12 2013 September 17 2014 March 24 2014 March 26 2014 September 2 2014 September 6 2014 November 14 2015 October 18 2016 April 3 2017 December 10 2021 September 10 2022 January 11 2023 February 10 Newspapers   The Australian Belgium Soir Berliner Zeitung Cleveland Scene Columbus Dispatch Connecticut Post Correio da Manhã Corriere della Sera Le Figaro Financial Times Gazeta Wyborcza Hamburger Abendblatt Irish Examiner Irish Independent Irish Press Irish Times Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Liverpool Echo London Daily Mail London Evening Standard London Guardian London Independent London Observer London Telegraph London Times Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Louisville Courier-Journal Mail & Guardian Marin Independent Journal Mail Tribune Melbourne Age El Mundo Neue Zürcher Zeitung New Zealand Herald Otago Daily Times El Pais Philadelphia Inquirer Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Tribune-Review La Presse Providence Journal Radikal Reading Eagle la Repubblica Satakunnan Kansa South China Morning Post Der Spiegel La Stampa Der Standard St. Petersburg Independent St. Petersburg Times Süddeutschen Zeitung Svenska Dagbladet Trondheim Adresseavisen Trouw De Volkskrant La Voz de Galicia Wanganui Herald Wiener Zeitung Die Zeit — Elvis Costello: Shedding the image of an angry young man Robert Hilburn SANTA CRUZ — Elvis Costello, arguably the most arresting and gifted rock . songwriter of recent years, wants to discard his angry-young-man image. That's one reason he's doing interviews for the first time in four years and why he has adopted a softer, more melodic tone in his new, pop-flavored Imperial Bedroom album. Sitting in a hotel room here last week on the eve of a U.S. tour that includes shows Tuesday and Wednesday at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, Costello acknowledged that the controversial image initially helped him attract attention, but he feels it eventually threatened to smother him, emotionally and creatively. "I think I was definitely beginning to lose control of things," Costello. 27, said. "It's too personal to go into all of it, but! will say I made several wrong sums in succession around the time of the Armed Forces album. I found myself getting farther and farther from what I started out to be and moving toward all the things I hated." In the five years since the release of his first album, Costello has established himself as one of the most enigmatic and volatile figures in rock. Alarmed by seeing the pop machinery strip the creativity from many of his own favorite artists, the Englishman challenged pop conventions at every turn — avoiding interviews. refusing to court radio stations and frequently showing little regard for his audience. It wasn't uncommon for him to Walk off stage after only 40 minutes during his early tours. Though he argued that journalists were being superficial when they described him as abrasive, Costello reinforced that image time and again. The most dramatic of the Costello explosions occurred in 1979 when the singer got into a drunken dispute with Bonnie Bramlett and other rock musicians in a Columbus, Ohio, bar. Trying to offend their sensibilities so they'd leave the bar, Costello later said, he made a racial slur against Ray Charles. After the other musicians reported the incident to the press, the tale was widely distributed, causing many rock fans to brand Costello a racist. Costello was so shaken by the reaction that he broke his press silence to meet with reporters in New York to give his side of the story and apologize for the misunderstanding. He then resumed the media blackout. Because of Costello's cool relations with the press, I felt like a man trapped behind enemy lines as Costello whisked into the hotel lobby here. Bathe posed patiently for the photographer and showed no uneasiness during the subsequent interview. Asked why he is doing interviews again, he said: "I think it's just time. I've been making records for five years now, and certain things probably need some explanation. In the past, I was never very keen to explain things as we went along because I felt it would diminish the impact if we constantly amended what was on the records. Plus, we were working at such a furious pace a lot of the time that! didn't think my opinions might be all that considered." Despite the compassion and humor in his early albums, the combination of musical fury, brusque manner and biting themes about romantic betrayal and false allegiance caused Costello to be mistakenly lumped with rock's punk contingent. Costello made a musical break from the early starkness with the Get Happy album in 1980, substituting a lighter, Memphis R&B feel. He made additional steps away from the aggressive tone of the early LPs with 1981's Trust and, especially, the all-country Almost Blue. In his live shows, too, Costello has become far less combative on stage, frequently thanking the audience and even (gulp) smiling. Costello's latest musical move comes in the new Imperial Bedroom. Rather than emphasize the big beat, Costello and producer Geoff Emerick (a former Beatles studio aide) focus on vocal nuances and stylish production touches that are reminiscent in places of the Beatles' White Album. Without sacrificing the tension of most Costello recordings, the music this time centers on many of the sophisticated elements of pre-rock pop. They range from the accordion-assisted flavor of "The Long Honeymoon" to the torchlike tone of "Almost Blue." And the lyrics contain enough classy and inventive rhymes to suggest that Declan McManus (Costello's real name) might have adopted the stage name "Cole" (as in Porter) if he had lived in an earlier pop era. Here are four examples — from different songs — of Costello's lyric approach: So in this almost empty gin palace / Through a two-way looking glass / You see your Alice There's been a long honeymoon / She thought too late and spoke too soon Don't get smart or sarcastic/He snaps back just like elastic Almost blue / Almost doing things we used to do / There's a girl here and she's almost you. ... The last set of lyrics is from the new album's "Almost Blue," a ballad with the stamp of a standard on it. While most of the other tunes on Imperial Bedroom are more idiosyncratic, there's an ambitiousness and scope in the LP's bending of pop traditions that is breathtaking at times. Coupled with his seven earlier albums, the new collection represents a creative explosion perhaps unmatched for quality and quantity in rock since Dylan's mid' '60 period. Costello was just 22 when his first album, My Aim Is True, was released in 1977, but he seemed unusually impatient for attention, all but snarling at the British pop industry for not acknowledging his talent earlier. Like much of Dylan's material, Costello's songs frequently unleashed anger and aggression. Many of the tunes seemed to be almost obsessive attempts to avenge past slights and injustices. But he also seemed to be striking out at the potential weaknesses in his own character. The key to Costello's promise was his range. "Alison," for instance, was a splendidly designed tale of romantic disillusionment. Later recorded by Linda Ronstadt, the ballad exhibited a naked tenderness rare in any areas of pop, much less the high assault of rock. Plus, there was the disarming humor Remaining text and scanner-error corrections to come... Copyright 1982 Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1982 Robert Hilburn interviews Elvis Costello. Images Calendar section cover. Page scans. Photos by Gary Friedman. Table of contents and advertisement page.

External links

• LATimes.com
• Wikipedia: Los Angeles Times