On The Street, January 18, 1989: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> | <center><h3> Elvis lives!!! </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Andrew Mueller </center> | <center> Andrew Mueller </center> | ||
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No as in No Interview. Elvis Costello would be talking about his forthcoming album, ''Spike'', but not to us. | No as in No Interview. Elvis Costello would be talking about his forthcoming album, ''Spike'', but not to us. | ||
And Lo, there was much weeping, wailing and gnashing of bared teeth at OTS HQ, where the prodigious works of the bespectacled one had been venerated most highly for many a full moon. | And Lo, there was much weeping, wailing and gnashing of bared teeth at ''OTS'' HQ, where the prodigious works of the bespectacled one had been venerated most highly for many a full moon. | ||
And so it came to pass that the seething hack thundered in one sunny Friday to collect his ludicrously overstuffed pay slip to be greeted not with ashes and sackcloth, but with a triumphal cry of "WE GOT IT!!" | And so it came to pass that the seething hack thundered in one sunny Friday to collect his ludicrously overstuffed pay slip to be greeted not with ashes and sackcloth, but with a triumphal cry of "WE GOT IT!!" | ||
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''Why Spike? | |||
"That's best if I show you the sleeve, when Cait (O'Riordan, Costello's wife, occasional songwriting collaborator and former Pogue) comes up. It's more to do with the picture and everything, it'll explain it — there's no particular significance to the title or anything. It's more a graphic thing than anything else. I'd say flippantly it's named after Spike Jones, but that's not really true either. There's something of Spike Jones about the record, I think sometimes, but..." | "That's best if I show you the sleeve, when Cait (O'Riordan, Costello's wife, occasional songwriting collaborator and former Pogue) comes up. It's more to do with the picture and everything, it'll explain it — there's no particular significance to the title or anything. It's more a graphic thing than anything else. I'd say flippantly it's named after Spike Jones, but that's not really true either. There's something of Spike Jones about the record, I think sometimes, but..." | ||
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"Yeah, well one of the things that holds those records together is the way in which they were recorded more than the way they were written, I think. If you look at this new record now, you could take those songs and do them in the acoustic way ''King Of America'' was, and just arrange the instruments very kind of simply, playing very simple supportive roles. Or you could — not all of the songs — but a few of them you could amp them up a bit more, have a few more drums. But I'd done that, both those things." | "Yeah, well one of the things that holds those records together is the way in which they were recorded more than the way they were written, I think. If you look at this new record now, you could take those songs and do them in the acoustic way ''King Of America'' was, and just arrange the instruments very kind of simply, playing very simple supportive roles. Or you could — not all of the songs — but a few of them you could amp them up a bit more, have a few more drums. But I'd done that, both those things." | ||
''Have you ever thought of making a purely acoustic-guitar-and-voice album? | |||
"Um, yeah, I think so. Yeah, it's crossed my mind. The difficulty with that is that when you get actually in the studio, you see the red light, you know — you get red light fever, and you do a couple of takes on a song (waves hand in a manner that suggests that it's very difficult to resist embellishing on the basics) ... I've done some demos that I'm quite proud of, that I think capture something about the song just as well as maybe the more arranged version that I've done later, but there's always that nakedness about it, that you'd feel uneasy about a whole album of that, whether anyone would really want to hear it." | "Um, yeah, I think so. Yeah, it's crossed my mind. The difficulty with that is that when you get actually in the studio, you see the red light, you know — you get red light fever, and you do a couple of takes on a song (waves hand in a manner that suggests that it's very difficult to resist embellishing on the basics) ... I've done some demos that I'm quite proud of, that I think capture something about the song just as well as maybe the more arranged version that I've done later, but there's always that nakedness about it, that you'd feel uneasy about a whole album of that, whether anyone would really want to hear it." | ||
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Getting specific, then. "Tramp The Dirty Down," without doubt one of Costello's most vicious vignettes yet closes side one of ''Spike''. More or less an open letter to Britain's thoroughly unlovable PM, the chorus snarlingly threatens ''"And when they finally put you in the ground / I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down..."'' | Getting specific, then. "Tramp The Dirty Down," without doubt one of Costello's most vicious vignettes yet closes side one of ''Spike''. More or less an open letter to Britain's thoroughly unlovable PM, the chorus snarlingly threatens ''"And when they finally put you in the ground / I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down..."'' | ||
''You'd dance on someone's grave? | |||
"Well, the thing about it is the song was written at that extreme point, where that's what you feel. I kind of almost scrapped it a couple of times, I thought, that's not really the way I think, I'm more balanced than that. The arguments carried through the song are not balanced, they're not reasonable, they blame the wrong people for the wrong things, but ... you don't want like the social worker song, you know the person who understands everything. Writing the song is only a little bit better than kicking the television in when the news is on ... The song is only a little bit short of mindless violence, isn't it?" | "Well, the thing about it is the song was written at that extreme point, where that's what you feel. I kind of almost scrapped it a couple of times, I thought, that's not really the way I think, I'm more balanced than that. The arguments carried through the song are not balanced, they're not reasonable, they blame the wrong people for the wrong things, but ... you don't want like the social worker song, you know the person who understands everything. Writing the song is only a little bit better than kicking the television in when the news is on ... The song is only a little bit short of mindless violence, isn't it?" | ||
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"I think a lot of the songs on ''King Of America'' are very straightforward." | "I think a lot of the songs on ''King Of America'' are very straightforward." | ||
''What about songs like "Tokyo Storm Warning" from ''Blood & Chocolate''? | |||
"Well, I think it's very easy to understand ... it's just a series of snapshots. A football hooligan's view of the world. Songs like that, people look at them and they expect them to make sense. The point of them is they do not make sense. The world doesn't make sense." | "Well, I think it's very easy to understand ... it's just a series of snapshots. A football hooligan's view of the world. Songs like that, people look at them and they expect them to make sense. The point of them is they do not make sense. The world doesn't make sense." | ||
But from that album, "Tokyo" ... and "I Want You" are both really tense, really overloading experiences. People are stunned by "I Want You" live... | ''But from that album, "Tokyo" ... and "I Want You" are both really tense, really overloading experiences. People are stunned by "I Want You" live... | ||
"It's a funny song. It does seem to have quite an effect on people." | "It's a funny song. It does seem to have quite an effect on people." | ||
''Are you really that angry? | |||
"Er... no. I mean, you put things ''into'' songs. Not every song can be that kind of intense. People have asked me the obvious question 'Why don't you write more happy songs?', but really when you're being happy, you don't think to write, you're just enjoying yourself." | "Er... no. I mean, you put things ''into'' songs. Not every song can be that kind of intense. People have asked me the obvious question 'Why don't you write more happy songs?', but really when you're being happy, you don't think to write, you're just enjoying yourself." | ||
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"You could go anywhere, and you'd find someone who had that opinion already, about anyone really. When I say they're (SAW) irrelevant, they're not what they ''think'' they are. I don't think I'm anything, therefore I can't not be it. I get a little resentful sometimes when I pick up a paper and I get lumped in with this resume of the current scene, and some young (a glance at the acne-kissed youth of your reporter), well not necessarily young, but some very cynical person decides to write me off in a couple of lines because I'm past my Use By Date, in their view." | "You could go anywhere, and you'd find someone who had that opinion already, about anyone really. When I say they're (SAW) irrelevant, they're not what they ''think'' they are. I don't think I'm anything, therefore I can't not be it. I get a little resentful sometimes when I pick up a paper and I get lumped in with this resume of the current scene, and some young (a glance at the acne-kissed youth of your reporter), well not necessarily young, but some very cynical person decides to write me off in a couple of lines because I'm past my Use By Date, in their view." | ||
It speaks volumes for Costello's confidence in his own viability that even after such memorable descriptions as "A twisted runt with a voice like a can-opener" by Melody Maker's normally together Steve Sutherland, he can still bear some sympathy for the lot of the journalist, in a backhanded kind of way... | It speaks volumes for Costello's confidence in his own viability that even after such memorable descriptions as "A twisted runt with a voice like a can-opener" by ''Melody Maker'''s normally together Steve Sutherland, he can still bear some sympathy for the lot of the journalist, in a backhanded kind of way... | ||
"I suppose if you were somebody working in a factory who checked to see whether the bolts were on the wheel of the car, you'd probably go a bit screwy (laugh at accidental pun) after a while. But a journalist is like the same thing, you're checking these records coming down the line and you're expected to be equally enthusiastic and open about every one." | "I suppose if you were somebody working in a factory who checked to see whether the bolts were on the wheel of the car, you'd probably go a bit screwy (laugh at accidental pun) after a while. But a journalist is like the same thing, you're checking these records coming down the line and you're expected to be equally enthusiastic and open about every one." | ||
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The interview trails off on one of its many tangents, this time in hot pursuit of the theory, practice and limitation of the pop song and rock music. | The interview trails off on one of its many tangents, this time in hot pursuit of the theory, practice and limitation of the pop song and rock music. | ||
''Have you ever felt limited, constrained by it? Have you ever, as Nick Cave has done, thought of branching out into prose, poetry or film? | |||
"I have written a few stories, but I haven't published them or anything, or put them to a publisher. But usually I do do that to get something down on the page that I can't get down in lyric form." | "I have written a few stories, but I haven't published them or anything, or put them to a publisher. But usually I do do that to get something down on the page that I can't get down in lyric form." | ||
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"Miss MacBeth," the cut from ''Spike'' that starts out as a folky "Mercy Seat" is such a song. Costello says it's just a matter of "finding a way to trick the song out of your head." | "Miss MacBeth," the cut from ''Spike'' that starts out as a folky "Mercy Seat" is such a song. Costello says it's just a matter of "finding a way to trick the song out of your head." | ||
''Why be a songwriter? | |||
"It's better than working for a living. It is. The only other job where you get to travel round the world like this, you have to shoot people to do it, and wear a uniform. No, I really can't answer that sensibly." | "It's better than working for a living. It is. The only other job where you get to travel round the world like this, you have to shoot people to do it, and wear a uniform. No, I really can't answer that sensibly." | ||
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We've by now taken up an hour and more of what was supposed to be a day off for Elvis before he flew to Melbourne to work on the video for "Veronica," his hookiest pop single since "Oliver's Army." I think of the corniest Interview-rounding-up question I can possibly imagine, and for the first time, Costello sounds entirely perplexed... | We've by now taken up an hour and more of what was supposed to be a day off for Elvis before he flew to Melbourne to work on the video for "Veronica," his hookiest pop single since "Oliver's Army." I think of the corniest Interview-rounding-up question I can possibly imagine, and for the first time, Costello sounds entirely perplexed... | ||
''If you could be remembered for one song, or one album, which would it be? | |||
"Um... 'White Christmas'? That I wrote... I've no idea, er.." | "Um... 'White Christmas'? That I wrote... I've no idea, er.." | ||
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{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
''Spike'' will be available at Record Stores late February/early March through WEA. | '''''Spike'' will be available at Record Stores late February/early March through WEA. | ||
{{Bibliography notes header}} | {{Bibliography notes header}} | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1989-01-18 On The Street | [[image:1989-01-18 On The Street cover.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
<br><small> | <br><small>Cover.</small> | ||
[[image:1989-01-18 On The Street photo 01 tm.jpg|210px]] | <small>Photos by [[Tom Mott]].</small><br> | ||
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{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/o-q/on_the_street.890118a.html elviscostello.info] | *[http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/o-q/on_the_street.890118a.html elviscostello.info] | ||
*[http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/elvis-costello-elvis-lives rocksbackpages.com] | *[http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/elvis-costello-elvis-lives rocksbackpages.com] | ||
*[https://www.facebook.com/OTSmagazine/photos/a.347029065327301/355840077779533/?type=3&theater Facebook: On The Street] | |||
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[[Category:Bibliography 1989 | [[Category:Bibliography]] | ||
[[Category:Bibliography 1989]] | |||
[[Category:On The Street| On The Street 1989-01-18]] | [[Category:On The Street| On The Street 1989-01-18]] | ||
[[Category:Magazine articles | [[Category:Magazine articles]] | ||
[[Category:Interviews | [[Category:Interviews]] | ||
[[Category:1989 interviews]] |
Latest revision as of 04:33, 24 October 2020
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