From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
—
|
Costello slowly crafts new image
J.D. Considine / Baltimore Sun
|
If first impressions really are the most lasting, Elvis Costello is probably still kicking himself for the way he barged into the American rock consciousness.
Even though his songwriting grows richer and more assured with every passing year, he still finds himself the victim of an image he outgrew shortly after his 1978 single "Alison." That might be part of the reason he presents himself in clownish face paint on the cover of Spike anything for a little distance.
But it will take more than makeup to undo the effects of Costello's old image.
It wasn't that he made a bad impression (though there are those who still refuse to forgive him for the drunken, racially inflammatory slurs he once voiced in a bar fight with Bonnie Bramlett).
In fact, it was quite the opposite. After almost a decade of fatuous arena rock blasted out by empty-headed rock stars, Costello's appearance as rock's Angry Young Twerp couldn't have been more timely. Costello was precisely the sort of cynical, sneering icon that new wave rock needed to beat back the mindless dinosaurs of the hard rock mainstream.
For countless fans, all it took was a single glance at his thrift-shop suit, Buddy Holly glasses
|
See COSTELLO H5
Remaining text and scanner-error corrections to come...
|
Clipping.
Page scan.
|
|
|
|
External links
