Melbourne Beat, October 1994: Difference between revisions
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{{Bibliography header}} | {{Bibliography header}} | ||
{{:Bibliography index}} | {{:Bibliography index}} | ||
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"We enjoy your films. Particularly the early funny ones." So said the aliens in ''Stardust Memories'' when Woody Allen started questioning them about the meaning of life. If Elvis Costello was to be visited by the same extra terrestrials, they would no doubt tell him, in unnerving vibrato voices, "We enjoy your album. Particularly the early angry ones." | "We enjoy your films. Particularly the early funny ones." So said the aliens in ''Stardust Memories'' when Woody Allen started questioning them about the meaning of life. If Elvis Costello was to be visited by the same extra terrestrials, they would no doubt tell him, in unnerving vibrato voices, "We enjoy your album. Particularly the early angry ones." | ||
Costello and Allen, apart from the fact they have looked like bespectacled geeks for much of their lives, share a lot of common ground. They're idiosyncratic in their chosen fields. People come to expect certain things from a Woody Allen film or an Elvis Costello album, yet they both doggedly follow their own must. There are the classic, defining pieces of work — ''Manhattan'', ''Annie Hall''/''This Year's | Costello and Allen, apart from the fact they have looked like bespectacled geeks for much of their lives, share a lot of common ground. They're idiosyncratic in their chosen fields. People come to expect certain things from a Woody Allen film or an Elvis Costello album, yet they both doggedly follow their own must. There are the classic, defining pieces of work — ''Manhattan'', ''Annie Hall'' / ''This Year's Model'', ''Get Happy!!'' There are the ambitious experiments which somehow turn them into something else altogether — ''Zelig'' / ''Imperial Bedroom''. And there are the ones which only their mothers would love — ''September'' / ''Goodbye Cruel World''. | ||
More importantly, the two of them are icons. And that means they have a problem. If they venture from the perceived norm, the critics maul them for being arty and pretentious. If they revisit old stomping ground, they're seen as treading the same territory and resting on their laurels. | More importantly, the two of them are icons. And that means they have a problem. If they venture from the perceived norm, the critics maul them for being arty and pretentious. If they revisit old stomping ground, they're seen as treading the same territory and resting on their laurels. | ||
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"I'm beginning to think that the audience is much more curious than the critics," says Costello, on the line from his home outside of Dublin. "Critics like me to stick to the script. and when I don't, I get beaten up for it. The public doesn't give a shit. They simply pick and choose what falls on their ear. They ignore one record and buy the next one. They're not watching it as part of some big master plan." | "I'm beginning to think that the audience is much more curious than the critics," says Costello, on the line from his home outside of Dublin. "Critics like me to stick to the script. and when I don't, I get beaten up for it. The public doesn't give a shit. They simply pick and choose what falls on their ear. They ignore one record and buy the next one. They're not watching it as part of some big master plan." | ||
He points out that ''Blood | He points out that ''Blood & Chocolate'', which was heralded as a raw, howling return to form in 1986, "didn't sell anything," whereas ''Spike'' which received lukewarm reviews as a muddled collection which stretched too far, is by far his best selling album in its initial period of release. | ||
For someone who doesn't look at the big master plan, he intimately knows his figures, his relationship with the media, and the perception afforded each stage of his career. He jokingly refers to the ''Mighty Like A Rose'' album as his "beard years," and is more than willing to pore over his past in minute detail. This is understandable, as he is progressively re-issuing his entire back catalogue, adding extra tracks and out-takes from the vaults, and writing sleeve notes about the songs, recording sessions and his frame of mind at the time. | For someone who doesn't look at the big master plan, he intimately knows his figures, his relationship with the media, and the perception afforded each stage of his career. He jokingly refers to the ''Mighty Like A Rose'' album as his "beard years," and is more than willing to pore over his past in minute detail. This is understandable, as he is progressively re-issuing his entire back catalogue, adding extra tracks and out-takes from the vaults, and writing sleeve notes about the songs, recording sessions and his frame of mind at the time. | ||
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{{Bibliography notes}} | {{Bibliography notes}} | ||
''' Beat, October 1994 - ''' exact date unknown | '''Beat, October 1994 - ''' <small> exact date unknown </small> | ||
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[[Barry Divola]] interviews Elvis Costello. | [[Barry Divola]] interviews Elvis Costello. | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/a-c/beat.a.html elviscostello.info] | |||
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Divola Wikipedia: Barry Divola] | *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Divola Wikipedia: Barry Divola] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beat 1994-10-00}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Melbourne Beat 1994-10-00}} | ||
[[Category:Bibliography]] | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1994]] | [[Category:Bibliography 1994]] | ||
[[Category:Beat| Beat 1994-10-00]] | [[Category:Melbourne Beat| Melbourne Beat 1994-10-00]] | ||
[[Category:Magazine articles]] | [[Category:Magazine articles]] |
Latest revision as of 09:14, 18 August 2020
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