Radio Times, September 15, 1979: Difference between revisions

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Born in London. 25 year-old Elvis Costello worked for four years as a computer operator before releasing his first album, ''[[My Aim Is True]]'', in 1977.  That and two successive albums have established him as one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed performers in British rock.


His most recent album, ''[[Armed Forces]]'' became the first record by a British new Wave artist to penetrate the American top ten, and he was most recently in the British charts with the successful single '[[Accidents Will Happen]]’ Wherever Elvis Costello goes a portable cassette-player and a selection of tapes go with him. ‘ Not quite. he says, a vinyl junkie", It is presumably less withdrawal than a sort of audio night-starvation which causes him to be first up in the mornings when he and his group [[the Attractions]] are on tour, playing [[the Clash]] at full volume  in his hotel room. (Bathrooms.
he says, provide the best acoustics.) Costello sees it  as evangelism. I get very excited about records; new records that
I like I just bore people stupid with them. But I would rather records excited you than just go past you like wallpaper.’


Music is a family tradition. When Costello was young his father, Ross McManus (Costello’s given name is Declan
McManus), would bring home the hits of the day to learn as featured vocalist with the Joe Loss Orchestra. Costello was
given his first album, "With The Beatles’, when he was nine — a Christmas present; at 12 he was playing guitar, and at 15 writing songs himself. It Is music that has sustained him ever since, through the years when he worked as a computer operator. Playing  with semi-professional groups in the evening and trying unsuccessfully, to interest music publishers and record companies in his work, until his emergence in 1977 with a portmanteauful of songs and a belief in his own destiny strong enough to justify borrowing the name of the greatest rock singer of them all.


What Costello looks for in others’ music is what he endeavours to bring to his own: passion. an inherent discipline
and an unswerving sense of commitment, ' I like songs — records that have something to them, some point — be it a political point or an emotional point.’ In that respect, he says, [[Dusty Springfield]] and Linton Kwesi Johnson, [[Hank Williams]] and the Marvelettes, have more in common than might initially be supposed. Significantly. the records Costello, has selected for Star Special, with a few exceptions, are either vintage or highly contemporary, reflecting his belief that ‘rock music shut off dead around 1965 and didn't wake up again until 1976’, It was in that period. Costello says, that rock lost its way and he lost his faith — experiencing betrayal, you suspect. in the way ; that only one who was truly seduced
by the promise of rock and roll ¡n the first place could do. The era of rock at its most self conscious, of psychedelia.
the whispered confessions of singer-songwriters, selling their diaries for a fortune’, and flirtations with concertos and
symphony orchestras - Everything,’ says Costello, ‘seemed like a blind alley; you’d believe in somebody forty minutes
and then they’d let you down. The whole thing seemed like a ‘bunch of impostors: none of it appealed — perhaps a couple of
[[Grateful Dead]] albums that weren't so offensive that you had to take them off...’
Through it all, he says, only Motown and [[the Beatles]] held true. [[The Temptations]] may have flirted with the gimmickry
of psychedelia, but as late as 1971 could still deliver a song as exquisite as Just My Imagination’; while the Beatles,  whether as a group or as individuals, remained the Beatles, for which they have his undying respect and thanks, ‘I think all
the Beatles records have merit; .you can find faults with them,  but it’s very easy to make people into icons and then say They let us down”, but they’re only human beings’.
If it was through the emergence of punk rock in 1976 that the spirit of rock was reborn, Costello did not necessarily warm to the genre as a whole — once anything becomes a movement. he says, It is the beginning of the end — but its protagonists captured his imagination.  He describes ‘God Save The Queen’ by the Sex Pistols as ‘probably the best rock and roll  record ever  released’, as revolutionary in its own time as [[Elvis Presley]]’s  "[[Mystery Train]]",  and the Who’s 'My Generation ' were in theirs. Evangelism of a different sort — during the week of the Silver Jubilee Costello would throw open the  window and play the record at full volume. ‘It’s an Irritating-the neighbours sort of record, and one example of what a record stands  for being more important than what it sounds like. Its irrelevant whether it’s Note-perfect or even in tune; it's beyond music.
The first Clash album affected him equally strongly. Costello says he played the record non-stop for 36 hours when it was first released - not a great record by any accepted musical criteria but given of an indefinably heroic quality which makes it irresistible. They’re probably my favourite modern band, because I figure there is some heart in what they do, which is what separates them from other bands that affect that punk stance. It’s another case where bad production and bad singing
just don’t matter, Generally  speaking,  I could never see much merit in that idea of punk bands not being able to  their instruments. I still don’t regard myself as a musician as such — technically  I’m very much inferior to the other guys
in the band — but at the same time there Is no point in forcing yourself to listen to a record which is actually ugly to the
Ears. I like the idea of, say,  the Damned much more than I like actually listening to them.’
That the Clash are also lyrically naive is not, he says, important.  Political sophistication was never a criterion of good
rock music, and certainly no substitute for blind rage.
As much as politics has its place in rock. I think people are actually more concerned with their immediate life and a one
to one relationship than they are with their Greater Destiny. You don't wake up at 3.0 in the morning sweating about what
the government is doing. You wake up crying. Where’s my girlfriend, my wife or my husband?” Emotions are every bit as life-and-death at those moments as political issues'.
Costello believes that such sentiments reach their apotheosis in Country music, and fight a losing battle even to surface in the music of the new wave of British bands such as Tubeway Army and Gang of Four. His love for Country music was fostered by the Country-rock’ fusions of [[the Byrds]] and the Flying Burrito Brothers, and fully consummated on hearing [[George Jones]] and [[Hank Williams]],  Like the blues, the sentiments of Country music may be simple, even trite, but at its best expression triumphs over content. A singer like George Jones can invest even the moat mundane broken-heart cliche and make It sound  'like the end of the world’.  By comparison, the tendency of some of the newer British bands towards a remote, alienating and emotionally uninvolved music presents an affront to Costello’s belief that the best music confronts humanities, joy, despair and weaknesses. ‘I believe records should have some passion — should sound as of the people who made them really care.  It's not a question of going to extremes for extremities' sake, but it must go the length.  My criterion about any song of my own is that if it starts to bore me before I've finished writing or recording it, then why should I release it?'
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Revision as of 20:32, 15 January 2015

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Radio Times

Magazines
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Turns on the turntable


Mick Brown

Born in London. 25 year-old Elvis Costello worked for four years as a computer operator before releasing his first album, My Aim Is True, in 1977. That and two successive albums have established him as one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed performers in British rock.

His most recent album, Armed Forces became the first record by a British new Wave artist to penetrate the American top ten, and he was most recently in the British charts with the successful single 'Accidents Will Happen’ Wherever Elvis Costello goes a portable cassette-player and a selection of tapes go with him. ‘ Not quite. he says, a vinyl junkie", It is presumably less withdrawal than a sort of audio night-starvation which causes him to be first up in the mornings when he and his group the Attractions are on tour, playing the Clash at full volume in his hotel room. (Bathrooms. he says, provide the best acoustics.) Costello sees it as evangelism. I get very excited about records; new records that I like I just bore people stupid with them. But I would rather records excited you than just go past you like wallpaper.’

Music is a family tradition. When Costello was young his father, Ross McManus (Costello’s given name is Declan McManus), would bring home the hits of the day to learn as featured vocalist with the Joe Loss Orchestra. Costello was given his first album, "With The Beatles’, when he was nine — a Christmas present; at 12 he was playing guitar, and at 15 writing songs himself. It Is music that has sustained him ever since, through the years when he worked as a computer operator. Playing with semi-professional groups in the evening and trying unsuccessfully, to interest music publishers and record companies in his work, until his emergence in 1977 with a portmanteauful of songs and a belief in his own destiny strong enough to justify borrowing the name of the greatest rock singer of them all.

What Costello looks for in others’ music is what he endeavours to bring to his own: passion. an inherent discipline and an unswerving sense of commitment, ' I like songs — records that have something to them, some point — be it a political point or an emotional point.’ In that respect, he says, Dusty Springfield and Linton Kwesi Johnson, Hank Williams and the Marvelettes, have more in common than might initially be supposed. Significantly. the records Costello, has selected for Star Special, with a few exceptions, are either vintage or highly contemporary, reflecting his belief that ‘rock music shut off dead around 1965 and didn't wake up again until 1976’, It was in that period. Costello says, that rock lost its way and he lost his faith — experiencing betrayal, you suspect. in the way ; that only one who was truly seduced by the promise of rock and roll ¡n the first place could do. The era of rock at its most self conscious, of psychedelia. the whispered confessions of singer-songwriters, selling their diaries for a fortune’, and flirtations with concertos and symphony orchestras - Everything,’ says Costello, ‘seemed like a blind alley; you’d believe in somebody forty minutes and then they’d let you down. The whole thing seemed like a ‘bunch of impostors: none of it appealed — perhaps a couple of Grateful Dead albums that weren't so offensive that you had to take them off...’

Through it all, he says, only Motown and the Beatles held true. The Temptations may have flirted with the gimmickry of psychedelia, but as late as 1971 could still deliver a song as exquisite as Just My Imagination’; while the Beatles, whether as a group or as individuals, remained the Beatles, for which they have his undying respect and thanks, ‘I think all the Beatles records have merit; .you can find faults with them, but it’s very easy to make people into icons and then say They let us down”, but they’re only human beings’.

If it was through the emergence of punk rock in 1976 that the spirit of rock was reborn, Costello did not necessarily warm to the genre as a whole — once anything becomes a movement. he says, It is the beginning of the end — but its protagonists captured his imagination. He describes ‘God Save The Queen’ by the Sex Pistols as ‘probably the best rock and roll record ever released’, as revolutionary in its own time as Elvis Presley’s "Mystery Train", and the Who’s 'My Generation ' were in theirs. Evangelism of a different sort — during the week of the Silver Jubilee Costello would throw open the window and play the record at full volume. ‘It’s an Irritating-the neighbours sort of record, and one example of what a record stands for being more important than what it sounds like. Its irrelevant whether it’s Note-perfect or even in tune; it's beyond music.

The first Clash album affected him equally strongly. Costello says he played the record non-stop for 36 hours when it was first released - not a great record by any accepted musical criteria but given of an indefinably heroic quality which makes it irresistible. They’re probably my favourite modern band, because I figure there is some heart in what they do, which is what separates them from other bands that affect that punk stance. It’s another case where bad production and bad singing just don’t matter, Generally speaking, I could never see much merit in that idea of punk bands not being able to their instruments. I still don’t regard myself as a musician as such — technically I’m very much inferior to the other guys in the band — but at the same time there Is no point in forcing yourself to listen to a record which is actually ugly to the Ears. I like the idea of, say, the Damned much more than I like actually listening to them.’

That the Clash are also lyrically naive is not, he says, important. Political sophistication was never a criterion of good rock music, and certainly no substitute for blind rage.

As much as politics has its place in rock. I think people are actually more concerned with their immediate life and a one to one relationship than they are with their Greater Destiny. You don't wake up at 3.0 in the morning sweating about what the government is doing. You wake up crying. Where’s my girlfriend, my wife or my husband?” Emotions are every bit as life-and-death at those moments as political issues'.

Costello believes that such sentiments reach their apotheosis in Country music, and fight a losing battle even to surface in the music of the new wave of British bands such as Tubeway Army and Gang of Four. His love for Country music was fostered by the Country-rock’ fusions of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, and fully consummated on hearing George Jones and Hank Williams, Like the blues, the sentiments of Country music may be simple, even trite, but at its best expression triumphs over content. A singer like George Jones can invest even the moat mundane broken-heart cliche and make It sound 'like the end of the world’. By comparison, the tendency of some of the newer British bands towards a remote, alienating and emotionally uninvolved music presents an affront to Costello’s belief that the best music confronts humanities, joy, despair and weaknesses. ‘I believe records should have some passion — should sound as of the people who made them really care. It's not a question of going to extremes for extremities' sake, but it must go the length. My criterion about any song of my own is that if it starts to bore me before I've finished writing or recording it, then why should I release it?'

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Radio Times, September 15 - 21, 1979


Mick Brown profiles Elvis Costello.

Images

1979-09-15 Radio Times page 84.jpg 1979-09-15 Radio Times page 85.jpg
Page scans.

Photo by Keith Morris.
1979-09-15 Radio Times photo 01 km.jpg

1979-09-15 Radio Times cover.jpg
Cover.

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