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With the release of his debut album My Aim Is True in 1977, Elvis Costello drew critical praise and comparisons to Buddy Holly. The album was named album of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine, and launched a career that would produce many albums filled with different styles, with each album bringing different levels of success for Costello.
Elvis Costello's second release, This Years Model, brought more critical approval along with comparisons to Bob Dylan.
Elvis Costello, long absent from the playlists of top-40 radio and all commercial radio in general, sang in the song “Radio, Radio’’ from 1978's This Years Model, “I want to bite the hand that feeds me, | want to bite that hand so badly.”
After twelve years and as many albums, Costello, long neglected by American radio finally received fortuitous, if not overdue, airplay on top-40 radio with the single, ‘Veronica’ from his 1989 release Spike.
Elvis Costello, A.K.A. Mac Manus, has never been one to follow this week's music trend in order to gain airplay on the often homogenous American radio stations. The exposure Costello's music has received on the airwaves has been sporadic.
“Everyday I Write the Book,’ from Costello's 1983 album Punch the Clock, is a song which received limited airplay when it was released and featured a video clip which failed to bolster album sales.
1982 saw the release of Imperial Bedroom, an album which many critics applauded, this time comparing Costello to George Gershwin.
In 1981, tracks from his LP Trust, received play on album oriented radio stations. That same year Costello recorded an album of country standards. with his band, The Attractions in Nashville:
“I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down” from the 20 song LP Get Happy released in 1980, also received limited radio airplay. Prior to that, “Green Shirt’ a song from the 1978 album Armed Forces, was covered by a member of the Monkees, Peter Noone.
Throughout his career there have been many recording artists anxious to record Costello's songs. Linda Rondstadt covered songs by Costello, not only because they were good songs, but because of the idea of doing songs written by Elvis Costello.
On his latest release, Spike, Elvis Costello had the opportunity to work with a songwriter’s songwriter, Paul McCartney. Their collaborative efforts resulted in the single, ““Veronica’’, and the album cut, “Pads, Paws and Claws.’
Costello recorded material for Spike in studios in Dublin, New Orleans, London and Los Angeles.
Included in the recording sessions were McCartney, Roger McGuinn, Chrissie Hynde, Marc Ribot, Benmont Tench, Mitchell Froom, Donal Lunny, Steve Wickam, Allen Toussaint, T Bone Burnett and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
The songs range from the radio-ready “Veronica” to the instrumental jazz-rave “Stalin Malone," performed by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
Elvis Costello has at times been praised by critics and fans, while at other times he has been written off as a quirky artist. Elvis Costello is either liked a lot for his music, or not given a second chance to win over the timid listener. With the amount of material he has recorded in the past and the songs he will likely record in the future, sooner or later Elvis Costello will have recorded something to satisfy even the most discerning listener's individual musical preference.
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