The Big Issue, May 7, 2018: Difference between revisions
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From the start I knew my band was way better than all of our contemporaries. We could play them off the stage. So if we were on a bill with someone else, we'd say, "OK, you can close the show, we'll go on before you. Let's see what happens." That was childish. But we took a delight in doing that. And that was the closest we ever were as a band, as a four-man gang. But in the end, it was always me writing the songs and me saying where it was going to go next. By the mid-Eighties, it was clear the group wouldn't stay together much longer. | From the start I knew my band was way better than all of our contemporaries. We could play them off the stage. So if we were on a bill with someone else, we'd say, "OK, you can close the show, we'll go on before you. Let's see what happens." That was childish. But we took a delight in doing that. And that was the closest we ever were as a band, as a four-man gang. But in the end, it was always me writing the songs and me saying where it was going to go next. By the mid-Eighties, it was clear the group wouldn't stay together much longer. | ||
I didn't hear Elvis Presley until about 1962 when a neighbour brought over It's Now or Never. I thought it was fucking terrible. Can you imagine how square that sounds to a nine-year-old? I can't stand country music anymore. Are you kidding me? Mainstream country music is the worst music I've ever heard in my life. These people are ludicrous. And I really hate rock music now, it's so boring. The difference between rock and rock 'n' roll is the absence of swing in the former. It just doesn't swing at all. Not like Jerry Lee and Little Richard. I'm not making rock music, regardless of what iTunes tell you. I'm making pop music with swing. | I didn't hear Elvis Presley until about 1962 when a neighbour brought over "It's Now or Never." I thought it was fucking terrible. Can you imagine how square that sounds to a nine-year-old? I can't stand country music anymore. Are you kidding me? Mainstream country music is the worst music I've ever heard in my life. These people are ludicrous. And I really hate rock music now, it's so boring. The difference between rock and rock 'n' roll is the absence of swing in the former. It just doesn't swing at all. Not like Jerry Lee and Little Richard. I'm not making rock music, regardless of what iTunes tell you. I'm making pop music with swing. | ||
I'd love to go back and tell my 16-year-old self that one day he'd collaborate with Paul McCartney. Can you imagine? I've also written for Georgie Fame which would really excite the 11 or 12-year-old me. Georgie was as least as influential on me growing up as The Beatles. Georgie Fame was a 21-year-old kid from Lancashire, an organ player – only 10 years older than me – and he was making the hippest music you ever heard, with elements of jazz, calypso and ska. Before I even knew the name of these types of music, I was learning about them through Georgie Fame. | I'd love to go back and tell my 16-year-old self that one day he'd collaborate with Paul McCartney. Can you imagine? I've also written for Georgie Fame which would really excite the 11 or 12-year-old me. Georgie was as least as influential on me growing up as The Beatles. Georgie Fame was a 21-year-old kid from Lancashire, an organ player – only 10 years older than me – and he was making the hippest music you ever heard, with elements of jazz, calypso and ska. Before I even knew the name of these types of music, I was learning about them through Georgie Fame. | ||
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If I could go back to any moment in my life… it sounds sentimental but I'd probably be in the back of a small car with my parents driving north to visit my grandmother. This was before my parents separated. I suppose it's about security. The three of us safely contained inside that little box, going somewhere we wanted to go. Me with people I completely trusted and no one else. Drinking warm tomato soup out of a flask. I remember the feeling of having everything I could ever possibly want. And no other soup in my life has ever tasted as good to me as that soup. | If I could go back to any moment in my life… it sounds sentimental but I'd probably be in the back of a small car with my parents driving north to visit my grandmother. This was before my parents separated. I suppose it's about security. The three of us safely contained inside that little box, going somewhere we wanted to go. Me with people I completely trusted and no one else. Drinking warm tomato soup out of a flask. I remember the feeling of having everything I could ever possibly want. And no other soup in my life has ever tasted as good to me as that soup. | ||
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'''Elvis Costello and The Imposters play shows in Nottingham (June 15), Cardiff for Festival of Voice (June 17) and Edinburgh (June 24) as part of a summer European tour. | |||
'''Elvis Costello and The Imposters play shows in Nottingham ([[Concert 2018-06-15 Nottingham|June 15]]), Cardiff for Festival of Voice ([[Concert 2018-06-17 Cardiff|June 17]]) and Edinburgh ([[Concert 2018-06-24 Edinburgh|June 24]]) as part of a summer European tour. | |||
{{Bibliography notes header}} | {{Bibliography notes header}} | ||
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{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:2018-05-07 The Big Issue page 16.jpg| | [[image:2018-05-07 The Big Issue page 16.jpg|x280px|border]][[image:2018-05-07 The Big Issue page 17.jpg|x280px|border]] | ||
<br><small> | <br><small>Photo by [[Andy Gotts]].</small> | ||
<small>Cover.</small><br> | |||
[[image:2018-05-07 The Big Issue cover.jpg|x120px|border]] | [[image:2018-05-07 The Big Issue cover.jpg|x120px|border]] | ||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
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*[https://www.bigissue.com/interviews/letter-to-my-younger-self/elvis-costello-i-knew-my-band-was-way-better-than-our-contemporaries/ Bigissue.org.uk] | *[https://www.bigissue.com/interviews/letter-to-my-younger-self/elvis-costello-i-knew-my-band-was-way-better-than-our-contemporaries/ Bigissue.org.uk] | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Issue Wikipedia: The Big Issue] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Issue Wikipedia: The Big Issue] | ||
*[http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11141 Elvis Costello Fan Forum] | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Issue 2018-05-07}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Issue 2018-05-07}} |
Latest revision as of 22:37, 31 March 2020
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