Melody Maker, May 13, 1989: Difference between revisions
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We talk late into the afternoon, too tired almost to quit. Drinks keep arriving. Pretty soon, I'm getting drunk again. We try to remember when either of us last felt quite so bad, and Costello remembers when it was always like this for him — endless tours, fuelled by drugs and too much booze, every day a hangover, a stumbling through entire seasons, strung out on alcohol and narcotics; hell, after the novelty had worn off, leaving only the habit and the debris. | We talk late into the afternoon, too tired almost to quit. Drinks keep arriving. Pretty soon, I'm getting drunk again. We try to remember when either of us last felt quite so bad, and Costello remembers when it was always like this for him — endless tours, fuelled by drugs and too much booze, every day a hangover, a stumbling through entire seasons, strung out on alcohol and narcotics; hell, after the novelty had worn off, leaving only the habit and the debris. | ||
"I really thought all that nonsense had reached a kind of peak when we were in Holland doing ''Get Happy!!''," Costello says, his voice chipped at the edges with exhaustion, "when we were literally writing songs on the way to the studio from the bar. But later, it was just as bad. Probably worse. When we were in Nashville for ''Almost Blue'', there was a film crew with us, making that ''South Bank Show'' documentary. While they were filming, it was all very serious, and I'd be making all these ponderous statements about why I was making this country album, which everyone seemed to think was a completely lunatic thing to be doing. But as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, it was 'Right — more drugs, where's the f***in' drinks?' Screaming our bloody heads off, because we were just so completely f***in' out of it. | "I really thought all that nonsense had reached a kind of peak when we were in Holland doing ''[[Get Happy!!]]''," Costello says, his voice chipped at the edges with exhaustion, "when we were literally writing songs on the way to the studio from the bar. But later, it was just as bad. Probably worse. When we were in Nashville for ''[[Almost Blue]]'', there was a film crew with us, making that ''South Bank Show'' documentary. While they were filming, it was all very serious, and I'd be making all these ponderous statements about why I was making this country album, which everyone seemed to think was a completely lunatic thing to be doing. But as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, it was 'Right — more drugs, where's the f***in' drinks?' Screaming our bloody heads off, because we were just so completely f***in' out of it. | ||
"A lot of people think that album sounds so depressed because I was drinking so much at the time. But there were other things that contributed to that, things were happening in my private life that! don't really want to talk about. It wasn't just drinking. I mean, I was drinking a lot in f***in' '78. But I was having a better time then. It's when you're drinking and you're not happy, that's when you've got to worry. That's when it's gonna affect the way you look at things, because you're probably drinking for the wrong reasons. And that's when things start to get warped and you don't think anything through. | "A lot of people think that album sounds so depressed because I was drinking so much at the time. But there were other things that contributed to that, things were happening in my private life that! don't really want to talk about. It wasn't just drinking. I mean, I was drinking a lot in f***in' '78. But I was having a better time then. It's when you're drinking and you're not happy, that's when you've got to worry. That's when it's gonna affect the way you look at things, because you're probably drinking for the wrong reasons. And that's when things start to get warped and you don't think anything through. | ||
"I remember Nick Lowe once said to me, he said, 'You know, I just don't understand you. You fight every drink or any drugs you take. You fight them all the time. You're trying to stay straight all the way through it.' And I still do it. I'll never admit that I'm drunk. But we all drink. And sometimes it's for the right reasons... to let your mind off the leash for a while, and have a bit of fun, and then you don't mind if you make a bit of a prat of yourself, like last night. And it doesn't matter if you end up shouting at people, or have a punch up or whatever, as long as you wake up the same person. It's when you don't want to wake up the same person that you've got a problem. "And I think I maybe went through that for a while. There were times when I'd feel every moment as bad I do this morning. Times when you'd wake up, feeling like you were knocking on heaven's f***in' door and there'd be nobody there to f***in' answer you. Those were the worse times..." | "I remember [[Nick Lowe]] once said to me, he said, 'You know, I just don't understand you. You fight every drink or any drugs you take. You fight them all the time. You're trying to stay straight all the way through it.' And I still do it. I'll never admit that I'm drunk. But we all drink. And sometimes it's for the right reasons... to let your mind off the leash for a while, and have a bit of fun, and then you don't mind if you make a bit of a prat of yourself, like last night. And it doesn't matter if you end up shouting at people, or have a punch up or whatever, as long as you wake up the same person. It's when you don't want to wake up the same person that you've got a problem. "And I think I maybe went through that for a while. There were times when I'd feel every moment as bad I do this morning. Times when you'd wake up, feeling like you were knocking on heaven's f***in' door and there'd be nobody there to f***in' answer you. Those were the worse times..." | ||
THERE was a general feeling back then that you were purposely f""ing up your life to give you material for your songs. | THERE was a general feeling back then that you were purposely f""ing up your life to give you material for your songs. | ||
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"Like I say, it's all in the past... none of it means a damn. You can't go digging around forever in the past. It's history. Let it go. It's what I'm doing now that counts. That's what I want people to realise." | "Like I say, it's all in the past... none of it means a damn. You can't go digging around forever in the past. It's history. Let it go. It's what I'm doing now that counts. That's what I want people to realise." | ||
WE were in Dublin to talk about ''Spike'', as if it hadn't been talked about enough already. The album arrived in February, in a blizzard of promotional activity unprecedented in Costello's career. For the first couple of weeks of the album's release, he was everywhere. You couldn't pick up a magazine, turn on the radio or television without finding Costello waxing lyrical about the record. | WE were in Dublin to talk about ''[[Spike]]'', as if it hadn't been talked about enough already. The album arrived in February, in a blizzard of promotional activity unprecedented in Costello's career. For the first couple of weeks of the album's release, he was everywhere. You couldn't pick up a magazine, turn on the radio or television without finding Costello waxing lyrical about the record. | ||
It got to the point eventually where all this public salesmanship seemed evidence almost of a desperate attempt by Costello to revive an interest in himself and his work, increasingly marginalised in the Eighties, and to recapture the commercial ground he'd lost after the enormous commercial success of "Armed Forces" in | It got to the point eventually where all this public salesmanship seemed evidence almost of a desperate attempt by Costello to revive an interest in himself and his work, increasingly marginalised in the Eighties, and to recapture the commercial ground he'd lost after the enormous commercial success of "[[Armed Forces]]" in 1979. There were times, though, when his cheerful bluster seemed positively ingratiating. | ||
"I certainly didn't feel that way," Costello bristles when this is brought up. "I think it's important to remember that the last 10 years with Columbia in America were often really frustrating. They just didn't know how to promote us. They'd run out of ideas. And by the end, I think they'd just given up, especially after ''King Of America'', which they didn't have a f***in' clue what to do with, and ''Blood And Chocolate'', which they hated and subsequently just f"'in' buried. | |||
"I certainly didn't feel that way," Costello bristles when this is brought up. "I think it's important to remember that the last 10 years with Columbia in America were often really frustrating. They just didn't know how to promote us. They'd run out of ideas. And by the end, I think they'd just given up, especially after ''[[King Of America]]'', which they didn't have a f***in' clue what to do with, and ''[[Blood And Chocolate]]'', which they hated and subsequently just f"'in' buried. | |||
"So this was our first one with Warner Brothers, and obviously you've got to accept the fact that the record company has nothing but horror stories from the past about you, and I simply didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with them and end up having to go through the same old f***in' battles just to get a f***in' record in the shops. | "So this was our first one with Warner Brothers, and obviously you've got to accept the fact that the record company has nothing but horror stories from the past about you, and I simply didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with them and end up having to go through the same old f***in' battles just to get a f***in' record in the shops. | ||
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"But it amazed me, the ease which on the one hand you can come back and command the centre stage, just by saying you're there, and secondly still be regarded as somewhat outrageous. But what else is happening? In England, there's a cult a week for some band that's gonna save us all, and then you never f***in' hear of them again. It's very easy and I suppose attractive to get excited and emotional about The Darling Buds or somebody. But after a while, you can't keep up with who's the latest flame. | "But it amazed me, the ease which on the one hand you can come back and command the centre stage, just by saying you're there, and secondly still be regarded as somewhat outrageous. But what else is happening? In England, there's a cult a week for some band that's gonna save us all, and then you never f***in' hear of them again. It's very easy and I suppose attractive to get excited and emotional about The Darling Buds or somebody. But after a while, you can't keep up with who's the latest flame. | ||
"And who's outrageous anymore? Like I was just in a radio station somewhere in America, in the south, quite a mainstream station. And this guy said, quite a mainstream station. And this guy said, 'Sometimes I just have to let my hair down and get outta here, go over to my old college station and play as much Nick Heyward as | "And who's outrageous anymore? Like I was just in a radio station somewhere in America, in the south, quite a mainstream station. And this guy said, quite a mainstream station. And this guy said, 'Sometimes I just have to let my hair down and get outta here, go over to my old college station and play as much Nick Heyward as I like!' And with all due respect to Nick, he's no Jimmy Reed. I mean, I think Nick Heyward's made a couple of nice records, but he's not the wild man of rock'n'roIl. But he was this guy's definition of outrageous... And if that's indicative of the present climate, it's maybe not so curious that I still get some attention. And it's maybe why anything I do, not so much in England, but particularly in the States, seems to them to be effortlessly weird. | ||
"So to get over to them the fact that the record isn't all that strange, you sometimes have to fill in a little of the background. You know, I've run into this a lot. People build up such preconceptions or they just associate you with one thing and they can't hear anything else you do. It's like they're looking at a painting you've done, upside down. Unless you can change their point of view, they're never gonna see what that picture is. That's another reason I thought talking about the album was worthwhile. | "So to get over to them the fact that the record isn't all that strange, you sometimes have to fill in a little of the background. You know, I've run into this a lot. People build up such preconceptions or they just associate you with one thing and they can't hear anything else you do. It's like they're looking at a painting you've done, upside down. Unless you can change their point of view, they're never gonna see what that picture is. That's another reason I thought talking about the album was worthwhile. | ||
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IT took a while for ''Spike'' to sink in. I still have to leave the room whenever "Veronica" comes on, but over the last couple of months, as the musical climate deteriorates and the rediscovery of the f***ing wah wah pedal is about the only thing that gets the young braves excited, the record's become increasingly indispensible. | IT took a while for ''Spike'' to sink in. I still have to leave the room whenever "Veronica" comes on, but over the last couple of months, as the musical climate deteriorates and the rediscovery of the f***ing wah wah pedal is about the only thing that gets the young braves excited, the record's become increasingly indispensible. | ||
Beyond the crafted excellence of songs like"... This Town., "Let Him Dangle" | Beyond the crafted excellence of songs like "[[...This Town..]]," "[[Let Him Dangle]]," "[[God's Comic]]," "[[Satellite]]," "[[Any King's Shilling]]," "[[Miss Macbeth]]" and "[[Last Boat Leaving]]," the album would be worth the price of admission for one track alone. I'm thinking, of course, of "[[Tramp The Dirt Down]]", Costello's furious indictment of 10 years of Conservative government and Margaret Thatcher specifically, in which Costello wishes the dragon dead and imagines dancing on her grave. It's a vicious tirade, all the more brutal for the absence of melodrama, breast beating self-righteousness and political posturing. The clear-sightedness of its venom is chilling. | ||
As [[Special:WhatLinksHere/Greil_Marcus|Greil Marcus]] observed in ''Village Voice'': "To make true political music, you have to say what decent people don't want to hear; that's something that people fit for satellite benefit concerts will never understand, and that Costello understood before anyone heard his name." It's this terrific disinclination to pander to liberalistic, simple minded humanistic self-righteousness that separates Costello so profoundly from the simpering conceits, the bland admonishments, the reek of moral attitudinizing that marks the worried global concerns of Bono and Jim Kerr and Sting... | As [[Special:WhatLinksHere/Greil_Marcus|Greil Marcus]] observed in ''Village Voice'': "To make true political music, you have to say what decent people don't want to hear; that's something that people fit for satellite benefit concerts will never understand, and that Costello understood before anyone heard his name." It's this terrific disinclination to pander to liberalistic, simple minded humanistic self-righteousness that separates Costello so profoundly from the simpering conceits, the bland admonishments, the reek of moral attitudinizing that marks the worried global concerns of [[Bono]] and Jim Kerr and [[Sting]]... | ||
"...Sting," Costello laughs. He knows what I'm talking about. "I always try to avoid slandering Sting because he's such an easy target," he continues. "And he's so pompous at times, but I think he's basically a decent guy... We had a very funny conversation at that Clapham anti-apartheid thing that Dammers put together, the one that lost all the money. And he came into my dressing room, because he always seems to sort of seek me out if we're ever anywhere together, to take me to task for the last horrible thing I've said about him. | "...Sting," Costello laughs. He knows what I'm talking about. "I always try to avoid slandering Sting because he's such an easy target," he continues. "And he's so pompous at times, but I think he's basically a decent guy... We had a very funny conversation at that Clapham anti-apartheid thing that [[Jerry Dammers|Dammers]] put together, the one that lost all the money. And he came into my dressing room, because he always seems to sort of seek me out if we're ever anywhere together, to take me to task for the last horrible thing I've said about him. | ||
"And he said, 'I really don't know what I'm going to do next, What topics are there left for me to discuss?' And I said, 'That's the f***in' trouble with you.' I said, 'You've been a bloody pop star for 10 years — now you want to be a serious f***in artist. Don't come around here with your serious artist shit. And by the way, fire that f***in' piano player.' He seemed to take it quite well. And I think it's good for people like that to hove people like me around to take the piss out of them... It's almost like they need people who aren't afraid to take the piss out of them so they can sharpen their act up a bit. Because he's pretty good, Sting, when you get in a little fencing match with him. He's a pretty sharp guy. He's not quite as pompous and idiotic as he might appear in a few of the announcements he makes in the papers." | "And he said, 'I really don't know what I'm going to do next, What topics are there left for me to discuss?' And I said, 'That's the f***in' trouble with you.' I said, 'You've been a bloody pop star for 10 years — now you want to be a serious f***in artist. Don't come around here with your serious artist shit. And by the way, fire that f***in' piano player.' He seemed to take it quite well. And I think it's good for people like that to hove people like me around to take the piss out of them... It's almost like they need people who aren't afraid to take the piss out of them so they can sharpen their act up a bit. Because he's pretty good, Sting, when you get in a little fencing match with him. He's a pretty sharp guy. He's not quite as pompous and idiotic as he might appear in a few of the announcements he makes in the papers." | ||
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[[Category:Melody Maker| Melody Maker 1989-05-13]] | [[Category:Melody Maker| Melody Maker 1989-05-13]] | ||
[[Category:Magazine articles|Melody Maker 1989-05-13]] | [[Category:Magazine articles|Melody Maker 1989-05-13]] | ||
[[Category:Interviews|Melody Maker 1989-05-13]] |
Revision as of 16:36, 19 July 2013
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