Unicorn Times, January 1978: Difference between revisions
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Live, Costello seemed physically possessed and driven by his themes of rejection and revenge and, in that sense, shared more with Johnny Rotten than Southside Johnny. The power of his music owes more, however, to his ability to graft those themes onto classic rock (at its toughest and most economical) and to hold a teetering balance between rage and humor (''"Oh I used to be disgusted / Now I try to be amused"''), between contempt and passion. If this ugly duckling is finally paying the world back, he is using the double-edged sword of the satirist and surrealist, not the broad hatchet of the British punks. | Live, Costello seemed physically possessed and driven by his themes of rejection and revenge and, in that sense, shared more with Johnny Rotten than Southside Johnny. The power of his music owes more, however, to his ability to graft those themes onto classic rock (at its toughest and most economical) and to hold a teetering balance between rage and humor (''"Oh I used to be disgusted / Now I try to be amused"''), between contempt and passion. If this ugly duckling is finally paying the world back, he is using the double-edged sword of the satirist and surrealist, not the broad hatchet of the British punks. | ||
The rejection theme that seems endless in Costello's songs ("''I know that she has made a fool of him / Like girls have done so many nights before, time and time again"'') extends to the record industry and the rock press. Costello is openly bitter about his earlier problems getting record companies interested in his songs. He described his experiences in a ''Melody Maker'' [[Melody Maker, June 25, 1977|interview]]: "I went around for nearly a year before I came to Stiff and it was the same response. ' We can't hear the words. | The rejection theme that seems endless in Costello's songs ("''I know that she has made a fool of him / Like girls have done so many nights before, time and time again"'') extends to the record industry and the rock press. Costello is openly bitter about his earlier problems getting record companies interested in his songs. He described his experiences in a ''Melody Maker'' [[Melody Maker, June 25, 1977|interview]]: "I went around for nearly a year before I came to Stiff and it was the same response. 'We can't hear the words.' 'It isn't commercial enough.' 'There aren't any singles.' Idiots... No, it didn't make me bitter. I was ''already'' bitter." With his recent success, it is Elvis' turn to reject and he has given the rock press only the barest tidbits on his life, and the sources and meanings of his songs. | ||
With the critics in tow, Columbia behind him, and some of the best songs of the decade, Costello has become the target of the big questions — will he be the next big whatever? how far will he go? how many will he attract? how much will he sell? If new wave has any meaning — if there is a point of reference for the likes of Costello, the Ramones, Graham Parker, the Sex Pistols — it's that those are the terms of the record industry, not the artists and their fans. Any of the above can do what Costello did in the Hot Club — fill a rock club with uncompromising, occasionally brilliant and idiosyncratic rock art and share that experience, up close, with their audience. That is enough; that is everything worth demanding and receiving. | With the critics in tow, Columbia behind him, and some of the best songs of the decade, Costello has become the target of the big questions — will he be the next big whatever? how far will he go? how many will he attract? how much will he sell? If new wave has any meaning — if there is a point of reference for the likes of Costello, the Ramones, Graham Parker, the Sex Pistols — it's that those are the terms of the record industry, not the artists and their fans. Any of the above can do what Costello did in the Hot Club — fill a rock club with uncompromising, occasionally brilliant and idiosyncratic rock art and share that experience, up close, with their audience. That is enough; that is everything worth demanding and receiving. |
Revision as of 17:19, 5 December 2016
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