Strange that there has been no word this year from talented wordsmith Elvis Costello, After last year's excellent offerings, King Of America and Blood And Chocolate, will there now be any new product from the man Ian McCulloch once described as someone who would rather write a song than wash his hair? — Mark Perry, West Didsbury, Manchester,
Mark Perry? Where have I heard that name before? The scam is that Elvis will not be releasing a "normal" Costello album during '87. But he has now completed the soundtrack for the film The Courier and this is likely to have an album release, though Jake Riviera, Elvis' manager, claims he has no idea on which the album might appear:
"That's all down to the people at Palace Pictures. But Elvis has put in a lot of work on the soundtrack, which is virtually all instrumental. There is one song (performed by Costello) but don't know how that's going to fit in now because Elvis wrote it with the original end of the film in mind — and now they've gone and changed the ending!"
With the movie out of the way, Costello is now set to appear on a Roy Orbison TV Special, produced by T Bone Burnette — and he's penned the final brace of songs for Rueben Blades' first all-English album. Again, producer Burnette is involved while Costello will be appearing on the album.
Adds Riviera: "Rueben, who, by the way, is a nice bloke as well as a fine musician, has finished the album apart from these two final tracks, which Elvis is going to America to complete in time for October release. Then, Elvis sets out on a Japanese tour, starting November 16, after which he plays a two-week tour of America's southern states in the company of The Confederates. Finally, he heads for Australia. where he plays dates from December 1 through to December 15."
So could there be an Elvis album early in '88? Riviera remains non-commital: "There are no plans to release anything at present. Elvis will just put things together as he goes and when the time comes when he thinks he's got something worth putting out, he'll do it. That's the way he works."
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