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I have a memory of Elvis Costello. It is of the end of the Stiffs' live concert (which featured at least four other certified geniuses, namely Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Ian Dury and Wreckless Eric) at Bath University, England, last year. The concert had ended with everyone who had performed that evening joining Ian Dury and the Blockheads for an indescribable roaring of Dury's good times anthem, "Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll" which completely demolished both musicians and audience.
While the Stiffs had been whipping up a storm inside, ol' Ma Nature had been cooking up a pretty nifty one of her own outside, and as we emerged from the auditorium the rain was sheeting down and lightning was playing around the buildings. It didn't really matter — everyone was too exhausted and buzzing to want to do anything else much in a hurry. But as I was sitting on the flight of stairs leading to the upstairs bar, who should walk underneath me but the New King himself. I remember thinking at the time, if that man hadn't just given one of the most intense, powerful and exciting performances I had ever seen, I probably wouldn't have given him a second glance. Dressed in a shapeless old raincoat he certainly didn't look like a STAR. He didn't stay very long and no-one came up to talk to him while he stood and watched the lightning and rain. But the whole thing left me with the overriding impression of Elvis Costello, the ordinary person.
Now a lot has been written in the press, BY the press, about Elvis' anti-press attitude. Reports of Costello's manager, Jake Riviera, beating up journalists and throwing photographers down stairs have achieved wide circulation, usually without Riviera's side of the story, and it has also been widely publicised that Costello will have nothing to do with the press while he is on tour here. The reason for this attitude lies not I think with an anti press attitude per se, but with Elvis' anti-STAR stance. And if you adopt an anti-STAR attitude in the musik bizniz, then you are attacking the foundation of the present day industry. The industry thrives on Stars — they sell records, they sell magazines, T-shirts, badges, posters But the pressure on the person who is deemed the Star is intense, sometimes so intense that the person actually becomes the image that has been created for him or her.
It is obvious from things that Costello has said that he doesn't want to be a Star and doesn't see himself as such. He prefers to remain as much a person as possible.
Costello's career to date has been brilliantly managed by Jake Riviera co-founder of Stiff Records (with Dave Robinson) and now, with Andrew Lauder, in Radar Records, Costello's record company. A combination of superb media promotion (all of Costello's ads and film clips have had the stamp of Class on them) plus just a few selected interviews (two with Nick Kent of the New Musical Express, one with America's Creem music magazine and not many more) Riviera has managed to create a very strong public image of Costello (Mr Revenge and Guilt/Angry Young Man/The Mystery Man) without Costello having very much to do at all with the media. And if Riviera is sometimes zealous in his protection of his charge it is perhaps because he doesn't want his masterplan upset.
The masterplan (total world domination by 1980? — Riviera's management company is called Riviera Global Enterprises) is going very well indeed at the present moment. Costello is the only vaguely New Wave act to make any impression on the American market to date. Although the Sex Pistols gained a lot of press coverage on their U.S. tour, their album only made it to 108 on the Billboard Hot 200 and really most people saw them as a news item rather than a musical force. The approach with Costello has been a lot more subtle. As a result he has penetrated a lot deeper in the U.S. (and Australia for that matter).
In South Australia, for example, "Pump It Up" is currently the longest charting single in both the 5KA and 5AD top forties, having been in the charts for 20 weeks. The main reason for its longevity is that it has been picked up by the discos (the rapid rise of Plastic Bertrand's "Ca Plane Pour Moi" — top ten at the moment here in Adelaide — can be put down to the same reason). It's quite ironic in a way that Costello should ride the disco wave, seeing as he first came to prominence riding on the crest of the New Wave. But is shows that quality can win out, whatever the means.
The new single "Radio, Radio" shows that Costello is not about to abuse his new found success. He still wants to "bite the hand that feeds…" and it takes a brave person to assert that "Radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools / Trying to anesthetise the way that you feel." It won't make him any friends among the radio station programmers in this country, and I'm pretty sure it will have a negligible effect on the quality of the stations' output. BUT… if it gets played, and it is already getting airplay on the big commercial stations in Sydney, maybe it will set a few more people thinking about most of the sounds polluting the airwaves at the moment.
I've concentrated mainly in this piece on Costello's relationship with the industry that he is part of and devoted little space to his actual writing and music. I've done this because I think that relationship has much wider implications that one man and his music can have these days. But, of course, if Costello didn't have anything much to say, lyrically or musically, the attitude he has adopted would be much less interesting.
The most impressive thing about Costello's output is its sheer scope. The guy can write everything from wistful love songs, as with "Alison" and "Little Triggers" to anti-fascist songs like "Less Than Zero" and "Night Rally." Musically as well he covers some ground — from 60s' pastiche ("The Beat"), to reggae ("Watching The Detectives") to country and western ("Radio Sweetheart") to punk ("Mystery Dance").
Having certified wonderboy producer Nick Lowe on the team has obviously been a big factor in making two such excellent albums as My Aim Is True and This Year's Model, but El's backing band, The Attractions, have also done their bit. Bass guitarist Bruce Thomas, especially deserves mention for his thudding, looping bass lines while Steve Naive's quirky keyboarding and Pete Thomas' solid drumming round off what is really a very tight sound.
If the tape of Costello and the Attractions live in Toronto that I have is any indication at all of the band's live performance, then I think Australian concertgoers are in for a treat. Charlies Shaar Murray, reviewing the concert for the NME, called "The Concert — A Holocaust In Microcosm" (duh, dat means he liked it, I fink) and finished off saying that everyone else would have to double their speed just to choke on Elvis' dust.
It's rare indeed for an act on the up-and-up to grace Australia's shores. They are usually washed up has-beens (The Beach Boys) or crushing megagiants (Rod Stewart, ELO, Fleetwood Mac). I reckon the Costello concerts are going to be the best value concerts this year. Don't miss this year's model!
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