Emerald City Chronicle, February 21, 1978: Difference between revisions
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<center><h3> Elvis Costello </h3></center> | <center><h3> Elvis Costello </h3></center> | ||
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<center> Steven Grant </center> | <center> Steven Grant </center> | ||
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'''"It wouldn't take my little finger to blow you away..." | |||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
Declan Patrick | Declan Patrick MacManus was born some twenty-odd years ago somewhere near London, and spent his childhood in London and Liverpool. The sole offspring of a broken marriage, MacManus was raised as a Catholic, married at an early age, had a child, became a computer technician for Elizabeth Arden beauty consultants, and, on weekends, followed in the footsteps of his musician father by playing in bluegrass bands in the London area. | ||
A photographer is trying to get a posed picture of Elvis Costello backstage at his Milwaukee gig. It's been an uphill fight just getting there, but now the photographer is being quizzed: is he the one who took the picture of Costello and a member of Cheap Trick backstage at a [[Concert 1977-11-29 Madison| | |||
A photographer is trying to get a posed picture of Elvis Costello backstage at his Milwaukee gig. It's been an uphill fight just getting there, but now the photographer is being quizzed: is he the one who took the picture of Costello and a member of Cheap Trick backstage at a Madison [[Concert 1977-11-29 Madison|concert]]? The photo in question appeared in an [[Creem, March 1978|issue]] of ''Creem''; apparently, it had not been intended for public release. | |||
"No," replies the photographer. Costello and company abruptly lose interest in him. "Don't I get a picture?," the photographer cries after them. | "No," replies the photographer. Costello and company abruptly lose interest in him. "Don't I get a picture?," the photographer cries after them. | ||
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Costello shakes his head. "Once bitten, twice shy," he says. | Costello shakes his head. "Once bitten, twice shy," he says. | ||
"Like, I went around for nearly a year with demo tapes before I came to Stiff, and it was always the same response. 'We can't hear the words.' | In the early portion of 1977, Elvis Costello made his first ripple on the British rock scene. Stiff Records, a new label created by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera (Costello's future manager), released "Less Than Zero" (backed with the first apocryphal Costello track, "Radio Sweetheart") as a single. It did little in the way of sales or airplay, but the critics, at least, began to pay attention. Not a few listeners suspected that Nick Lowe, an ex-member of Brinsley Schwarz, had actually done the record. Certainly the name was a joke — no one had ever heard of Elvis Costello. | ||
"Like, I went around for nearly a year with demo tapes before I came to Stiff, and it was always the same response. 'We can't hear the words.' 'It isn't commercial enough.' 'There aren't any singles.' Idiots. Those tapes were just voice and guitar demos. I didn't have enough money to do anything with a band. It was just a lack of imagination on the part of those people at the record companies. I felt as if I were bashing my head against a brick wall, those people just weren't prepared to listen to the songs. | |||
"But I never lost faith. I'm convinced in my own talent, yeah. Like I said, I wasn't going up to these people meekly and saying, 'Look, with your help and a bit of polishing up, and with all your expertise and knowledge of the world of music we might have a moderate success on our hands.' | "But I never lost faith. I'm convinced in my own talent, yeah. Like I said, I wasn't going up to these people meekly and saying, 'Look, with your help and a bit of polishing up, and with all your expertise and knowledge of the world of music we might have a moderate success on our hands.' | ||
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"Like, people used to live their lives by songs. They were like calendars or diaries. And they were ''pop'' songs. Not elaborate fucking pieces of music. You wouldn't say, like, 'Yeah, that's the time I went out with Janet, we went to see the LSO playing Mozart.' You'd remember you went out with Janet because they were playing 'Summer In The City' on the radio." | "Like, people used to live their lives by songs. They were like calendars or diaries. And they were ''pop'' songs. Not elaborate fucking pieces of music. You wouldn't say, like, 'Yeah, that's the time I went out with Janet, we went to see the LSO playing Mozart.' You'd remember you went out with Janet because they were playing 'Summer In The City' on the radio." | ||
Elvis Costello's songs are double personal, written, played and sung with unparalleled intensity. Consider "Alison," which at first listen sounds like a sympathetic love song: ''"Sometimes I wish I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say / I guess somebody better put out the big light, 'cause I can't stand to. see you this way / Alison, I know this world is killing you / Oh, Alison, | Elvis Costello's songs are double personal, written, played and sung with unparalleled intensity. Consider "Alison," which at first listen sounds like a sympathetic love song: ''"Sometimes I wish I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things that you say / I guess somebody better put out the big light, 'cause I can't stand to. see you this way / Alison, I know this world is killing you / Oh, Alison, my aim is true."'' His tunes are all based on personal experience, and so Costello is only interesting in expressing his own feelings;. songs may have wide application for people, but they are visions of Costello's condition, not humanity's. | ||
The themes to Costello's songs are ostensibly revenge and guilt, but closer listening renders the theme to be love (and by extension, the spirit) thwarted. In "No Dancing," he sings: ''"So now you see / how it can be / Why can she give him everything but sympathy?"''; in "I'm Not Angry": ''"You're upstairs with a boyfriend while I sit here to listen / I hear you calling his name, I hear the stutter of ignition."''; in "Miracle Man": ''"I was doing everything just trying to please her / even crawling round on all fours / I thought by now that it was going to be easy / but she still seems to want for more."'' | The themes to Costello's songs are ostensibly revenge and guilt, but closer listening renders the theme to be love (and by extension, the spirit) thwarted. In "No Dancing," he sings: ''"So now you see / how it can be / Why can she give him everything but sympathy?"''; in "I'm Not Angry": ''"You're upstairs with a boyfriend while I sit here to listen / I hear you calling his name, I hear the stutter of ignition."''; in "Miracle Man": ''"I was doing everything just trying to please her / even crawling round on all fours / I thought by now that it was going to be easy / but she still seems to want for more."'' | ||
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Anyway, Costello's biggest break occurred when Riviera sent him, with only his Jaguar and a portable amp, down to the London Hilton during the CBS Records convention. The hotel management promptly had Costello arrested, but not before he wowwed the CBS execs, who (on consideration of the heavy airplay the album was getting on East Coast FM stations) signed E.C. on for American distribution. | Anyway, Costello's biggest break occurred when Riviera sent him, with only his Jaguar and a portable amp, down to the London Hilton during the CBS Records convention. The hotel management promptly had Costello arrested, but not before he wowwed the CBS execs, who (on consideration of the heavy airplay the album was getting on East Coast FM stations) signed E.C. on for American distribution. | ||
Milwaukee, 15 February, 1978. Some 800 people have appeared at the Centre Stage to see Elvis and his band, The Attractions (composed of Bruce Thomas, bass; Steve Young, keyboards; and Pete Thomas, drummer). As if walking to a bubbler for a drink of water, Elvis plods onto the stage after the introduction, plugs in his guitar, and, without more than a couple words, erupts into ''"Waiting For the End..."'' | Milwaukee, 15 February, 1978. Some 800 people have appeared at the Centre Stage to see Elvis and his band, The Attractions (composed of Bruce Thomas, bass; Steve Young, keyboards; and Pete Thomas, drummer). As if walking to a bubbler for a drink of water, Elvis plods onto the stage after the introduction, plugs in his guitar, and, without more than a couple words, erupts into ''"Waiting For the End..."'' | ||
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Those familiar with the album understand this to be a rougher, more raw sound — there is no longer even the pretense of civility in the music. Also understood at this moment, only a few seconds into the concert, is why Elvis Costello is great: the total intensity of his performance. What was joke before is dead serious; not one person in the crowd could believe that Elvis does not personally feel what he sings. It's the intensity and the obsessiveness that make Elvis Costello. And the talent. | Those familiar with the album understand this to be a rougher, more raw sound — there is no longer even the pretense of civility in the music. Also understood at this moment, only a few seconds into the concert, is why Elvis Costello is great: the total intensity of his performance. What was joke before is dead serious; not one person in the crowd could believe that Elvis does not personally feel what he sings. It's the intensity and the obsessiveness that make Elvis Costello. And the talent. | ||
While the concert began with songs from ''My Aim Is True'' (most notably a new American version of "Less Than Zero," which features a woman watching on TV as John Kennedy is gunned down by Lee Harvey | While the concert began with songs from ''My Aim Is True'' (most notably a new American version of "Less Than Zero," which features a woman watching on TV as John Kennedy is gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald — the British version is about pre-WW2 British fascist Oswald Mosley), the bulk of the concert was composed of material scheduled for his next album, ''The King Of Belgium'', due out in Britain on Radar Records, April Fools' Day. | ||
With the force and thunder of an M-16, Costello and the Attractions plowed through a baker's dozen numbers, ranging from the sinister ("Little Triggers"), to the vicious ("Lost In The Lipstick Void"). While there was no room in the Centre Stage to dance, the crowd responded to each number with overwhelming applause. The band had tightened tremendously in the few months since they last passed through the area, and The Attractions gave a high polish to the playing without tarnishing in the slightest the savage edge of the music. | With the force and thunder of an M-16, Costello and the Attractions plowed through a baker's dozen numbers, ranging from the sinister ("Little Triggers"), to the vicious ("Lost In The Lipstick Void"). While there was no room in the Centre Stage to dance, the crowd responded to each number with overwhelming applause. The band had tightened tremendously in the few months since they last passed through the area, and The Attractions gave a high polish to the playing without tarnishing in the slightest the savage edge of the music. | ||
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[[Steven Grant]] profiles Elvis Costello and reports on his concert with [[The Attractions]], Wednesday, [[Concert 1978-02-15 Milwaukee|February 15, 1978]], Centre Stage, Milwaukee. | [[Steven Grant]] profiles Elvis Costello and reports on his concert with [[The Attractions]], Wednesday, [[Concert 1978-02-15 Milwaukee|February 15, 1978]], Centre Stage, Milwaukee. | ||
<span style="font-size:92%">(Most Costello quotations here come from the [[Melody Maker, June 25, 1977|''Melody Maker'' interview]], June 25, 1977.)</span> | |||
{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle page 10.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle page 10.jpg|x290px|border]][[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle page 11.jpg|x290px|border]] | ||
<br><small>Photos by [[Tom Giles]].</small> | <br><small>Photos by [[Tom Giles]].</small> | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle cover.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle cover.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
<br><small>Cover.</small> | <br><small>Cover.</small> | ||
<small>Photos by [[Tom Giles]].</small><br> | <small>Photos by [[Tom Giles]].</small><br> | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 02 tg.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 02 tg.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 03 tg.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 03 tg.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 04 tg.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 04 tg.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 05 tg.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 05 tg.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 01 tg.jpg| | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle photo 01 tg.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
<br><small>Photos by [[Tom Giles]].</small> | <br><small>Photos by [[Tom Giles]].</small> | ||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle page 02 clipping 01.jpg| | <small>Contents page clipping.</small><br> | ||
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<small>Illustration by M. Alroy.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle illustration.jpg|160px|border]] | |||
<small>Contents page.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle page 02.jpg|x120px|border]] | [[image:1978-02-21 Emerald City Chronicle page 02.jpg|x120px|border]] | ||
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[[Category:Bibliography 1978]] | [[Category:Bibliography 1978]] | ||
[[Category:Emerald City Chronicle| Emerald City Chronicle 1978-02-21]] | [[Category:Emerald City Chronicle| Emerald City Chronicle 1978-02-21]] | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Magazine articles]] | ||
[[Category:1978 concert reviews]] | [[Category:1978 concert reviews]] | ||
[[Category:2nd US Tour|~Emerald City Chronicle 1978-02-21]] | [[Category:2nd US Tour|~Emerald City Chronicle 1978-02-21]] |
Latest revision as of 15:22, 29 September 2020
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