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In 1976, English computer programmer Declan MacManus picked the stage name Elvis Costello as a joke.
Less than a year later, the original Elvis was dead, and the new one, Costello, was being heralded as a leader in rock's new wave.
He was angry at the world, and his shows were super-amplified exorcisms for Costello as he seemed to pull all his frustrations from within and hurl them through his songs.
Poised on the brink of stardom, an album near the top of the charts, two years ago Costello outraged his Bay Area fans by charging top dollar for seats and giving a show barely more than a half-hour long.
Three months later he was in hot water after getting drunk and dropping insults on black American musicians (totally out of character for a man who had performed at Rock Against Racism benefit concerts in England).
He went into seclusion, offering more albums, letting Linda Ronstadt record his songs, appearing in a film (Americathon) and little else, until last night.
Less than a week into his first U.S. tour in two years, Costello last night appeared at the first of two long ago sold-out shows at the Warfield Theater.
He still carries a chip on his shoulder, but the 1981-model Elvis Costello is a warmer, friendlier rocker. He smiled a lot. And he did a few slower tunes.
He also performed 20 songs in an hour with nary a beat missed from the end of one piece into the next. He followed them with five encore numbers, including a powerful rendition of Sonny Boy Williamson's blues, "Help Me," a rave-up version of Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster" sandwiched into the middle of "Watching the Detectives," and a healthy dose of new tunes from his next album due to hit the record stores at the end of the month.
There was more than a bit of anticipation in the audience. In those two years, rock had turned completely around. New wave, disco and just about every other style has been integrated into mainstream pop. Most of the new rock bands have disappeared, to say nothing of progressive radio programming that helped them flourish.
Costello dedicated "Radio, Radio" to the memory of KSAN-FM, the original San Francisco progressive rock station that had given his career an early boost (it's now a country music station).
But mainly Costello demonstrated that he and his band, the Attractions, are still at the forefront of rock. The new songs differ little from the style of the past material. There is a bit more country flavor in some, an abundance of Booker T. & the M.G.'s instrumental riffs worked into several others, especially "Temptation."
But the very oldies (clear back to 1977) and the new tunes blend together as a cohesive whole, from "You'll Never Be A Man" to "Black and White World" to "Accidents Will Happen" and "Clubland."
His band remains unchanged from its 1977 beginning: Bruce Thomas on bass, drummer Pete Thomas and combo organ player Steve Nasson (until this tour, he had used the stage name Steve Naive).
Elvis stood, in gray tuxedo jacket (with gray electric guitar to match), vest and tie, looking sharp behind pink-tinted glasses and blow-dried hairdo. Still enigmatic, mysterious, yet less so than in the past.
As with most great rock, Costello's music seems new while also sounding as if every line and note were always here, just waiting to be reinterpreted in a context that makes sense today.
Especially when compared to what else is going on in rock.
Most of the big rock shows coming up in the next two months will feature heavy metal and hard rock guitar bands with roots in the late '60s, from old-timers Alvin Lee, Blackmore's Rainbow and Whitesnake to their latter-day counterparts Pat Travers, Molly Hatchet and the Rockets.
Using political, social and personal experiences as backdrops for his lyrics, Costello the man is still an original and important rock artist. The newly revised Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll devotes its final chapter to Costello.
Five years ago Costello left his day job to make a country single in the tradition of his idol George Jones. After being rejected by the major labels, he got a contract with fledgling Stiff Records.
Through constant touring (he performed here four times in little more than a year) and a series of excellent albums, Costello went from an unknown entity to a Top 10 artist.
Judging from last night's performance (the audience was on its feet throughout, cheering and dancing), Costello has lost none of his bite, and will continue to set the pace for the future of rock.
Opening act Squeeze, formerly U.K. Squeeze, is another English new wave band that has been around for several years but never clicked with the public the way Costello did.
They started slow, but put on a good show that would have been far better in a dance hall.
With Squeeze, everything depends on the music. They have no stage personality, but they are excellent musicians whose biggest trouble is a tendency to write complex and subtle pop songs. Often the tunes border on boredom.
But some songs, especially the hit "How Long Has This Been Going on?" the rockabilly "Messed Around" and "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" are the best of pure pop.
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