Unicorn Times, January 1978: Difference between revisions
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Live, Costello was not selling his album so much as himself as a songwriter. I counted eleven new songs (some titles: "Little Triggers," "No Action," "The Beat," "Pump it Up," "Lipstick Vogue," and "Let's Slow Dance"). All of them were the same blend of lyrical snap, barbed wit, and pop accessibility that made his album as cryptic as it was instantly engaging. He introduced a new song, "Radio Radio," that was both a put-down of American radio and a claim that radio was, by rock 'n' roll birthright, his territory. The use of the. organ gave credence to that claim as it brought out AM echoes of the Mysterians, the Strangeloves, and the Kingsmen. Throughout the new material were shreds of rock 'n' roll archetypes like "Gloria," "Hang On Sloopy," and "My Generation." | Live, Costello was not selling his album so much as himself as a songwriter. I counted eleven new songs (some titles: "Little Triggers," "No Action," "The Beat," "Pump it Up," "Lipstick Vogue," and "Let's Slow Dance"). All of them were the same blend of lyrical snap, barbed wit, and pop accessibility that made his album as cryptic as it was instantly engaging. He introduced a new song, "Radio Radio," that was both a put-down of American radio and a claim that radio was, by rock 'n' roll birthright, his territory. The use of the. organ gave credence to that claim as it brought out AM echoes of the Mysterians, the Strangeloves, and the Kingsmen. Throughout the new material were shreds of rock 'n' roll archetypes like "Gloria," "Hang On Sloopy," and "My Generation." | ||
Throughout the evening, Costello rushed from song to song with almost no pause for breath or talk. He interjected one note of humor in the second show when he told the audience, "This one's for all the people who stood out in the cold waiting for us." The band then broke into the wonderfully choppy intro to "Less Than Zero." Interestingly, it was not the encore — a furious, bulging veins performance of "I'm Not Angry" — that provided the evening's musical climax. Rather it was Costello's TV mystery, "Watching the Detectives," that riveted the audience. There was something spellbinding and creepy about Costello's dramatic phrasing ("you know it took my little fingers to blow you away") and ominous guitar playing that transform this organ-based reggae ditty into a tale of the macabre. | Throughout the evening, Costello rushed from song to song with almost no pause for breath or talk. He interjected one note of humor in the second show when he told the audience, "This one's for all the people who stood out in the cold waiting for us." The band then broke into the wonderfully choppy intro to "Less Than Zero." Interestingly, it was not the encore — a furious, bulging veins performance of "I'm Not Angry" — that provided the evening's musical climax. Rather it was Costello's TV mystery, "Watching the Detectives," that riveted the audience. There was something spellbinding and creepy about Costello's dramatic phrasing (''"you know it ''took'' my little fingers to blow you away"'') and ominous guitar playing that transform this organ-based reggae ditty into a tale of the macabre. | ||
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.' '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. | 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. |
Revision as of 17:21, 5 December 2016
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