Elvis Costello

• Born: August 25, 1954
• Place of Birth: Liverpool, England

ENGLISH ROCK SINGER, GUITARIST, AND SONGWRITER

Leader of the British Third Wave of the late 1970’s, Costello infused pop punk with a multitude of influences, from soul to big band to reggae.

MEMBER OF Elvis Costello and the Attractions; Elvis Costello and the Imposters

The Life

Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus on August 25, 1954, to musician-bandleader Ronald MacManus and record-store manager Lillian MacManus. The family moved to many different locations in and around West London during the first years of Declan’s life. When his parents separated in 1962, Declan and his mother relocated to Liverpool. With the early musical training provided by his father and the relocation to Liverpool, Declan explored many genres of music.

By the early 1970’s, Declan was writing and singing. Soon he and musician-producer Nick Lowe started a band called Flip City. While the band was not commercially successful, it provided Declan with valuable performance experience and the ability to formulate his own musical voice based on his many songwriting influences (Rick Danko of the Band, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Randy Newman). After Flip City dissolved, Declan needed work in order to support his wife Mary Burgoyne, whom he had married in 1974, and their child, Matthew. Declan recorded acoustic demos in his bedroom and presented them to record labels. He turned down an offer from Island Records and, on the recommendation of Lowe, accepted one from Stiff Records. It was around this time that Declan adopted the last name of his paternal great-grandmother, Costello, and at first used an abbreviation of his first and middle names, forming D. P. Costello. D. P. soon transformed into Elvis, and with his new name, wide-rimmed glasses, and record contract in hand, Elvis Costello launched his musical career.

After forming the Attractions for his second record, This Year’s Model, the band quickly received attention for its aggressive, cynical attitudes and controversial live shows that often featured Costello berating the audience or performing for only twenty-five minutes before leaving the stage. Raw and unpredictable, the Attractions had a certain appeal that was complemented by Costello’s mature songwriting and the band members’ fine musicianship. The aggressive nature of Costello and the band dissipated, however, on March 15, 1979, when an intoxicated Costello joked about singers James Brown and Ray Charles in a bar with fellow musician Stephen Stills. Stills’s backup singer relayed the comments to the press, and soon Costello was apologizing on national television and declaring he was not a racist. This unfortunate incident stalled Costello’s career and cooled the punk fervor for the Attractions.

In 1984 Burgoyne filed for divorce, after a long struggle to keep afloat a marriage that had gone through rough times, including Costello’s affair with model Bebe Buell. In 1986, Costello married Caitlin O’Riordan of the Pogues, and they divorced in 2002. In 2003, Costello married jazz pianist and vocalist Diana Krall.

The Music

My Aim Is True. Costello’s debut, My Aim Is True, was recorded at Pathway Studios in Islington, England, in late 1976 and early 1977. The core backing band was Clover, which, with the addition of Huey Lewis, would later become Huey Lewis and the News. The Lowe-produced record is filled with a wide array of energetic tunes: the Motown-girl-group-inspired “No Dancing”; the popular ballad “Alison”; the humorously crude, punk-inspired “Mystery Dance”; the pop “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes”; the politically charged “Less than Zero”; and the reggae-infused “Watching the Detectives.” The album was universally well received, and it introduced to the world stage a skilled songwriter with a penchant for controversy.

This Year’s Model. This Year’s Model was Costello’s first with the Attractions, with Steve Nieve on keyboards, Bruce Thomas on bass and backing vocals, and Pete Thomas on drums. Here the Attractions managed to create a sound all their own, with a blend of punk, rock, and soul. The interesting interplay between Bruce Thomas, a rhythmically minded bass player, and Pete Thomas, a melodically driven, composition-conscious drummer, is complemented by the driving Farfisa organ of Nieve. “No Action,” the first track, displays the band’s raw energy and cohesiveness. The funky, soul-inspired songs “This Year’s Girl,” “The Beat,” “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea,” and “Living in Paradise” contrast with the energetic arena rockers “Lipstick Vogue,” “Radio Radio,” and “Pump It Up.”

Armed Forces. Armed Forces is more musically sophisticated than its predecessors, incorporating a wider variety of keyboards and other electronics, presaging the band’s 1980’s new wave direction and leaving behind the furious punk elements. Some of the more experimental new wave-influenced tunes (“Goon Squad,” “Green Shirt,” “Moods for Moderns”) along with the new wave pop classics (“Accidents Will Happen,” “Oliver’s Army,” “Party Girl,” “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?”) resulted in a successful union of musical sophistication and pop success within the new wave format.

Get Happy!! Get Happy!!, Trust, Almost Blue, and Imperial Bedroom developed the interplay between the Attractions and Costello’s songwriting style. Get Happy!! was heavily soul-inspired, with James Jamerson-inspired bass lines (featured prominently in the album’s mix) and layered soul harmonies. Representative songs include “Love for Tender,” “High Fidelity,” and “I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down,” a Sam and Dave B-side written by Homer Banks and Alan Jones.

Trust. Trust retains some soul elements from Get Happy!!, but it largely returns to the new wave-inspired pop punk songwriting with “Clubland,” “New Lace Sleeves,” and “From a Whisper to a Dream,” a collaboration with Glenn Tillbrook and Martin Belmont of Squeeze.

Almost Blue. Almost Blue represents the band’s foray into country-influenced music, with “I’m Your Toy” the sole hit from this album, which met with mixed critical reviews.

Imperial Bedroom. Imperial Bedroom, a concept album produced by Geoff Emerick (the first Costello album not produced by Lowe), was deemed Costello’s masterpiece and most cohesive album by countless critics and fans. Whether or not the music compares favorably to the initial Attractions’ releases, most reviews commented on the elaborate literary lyrical content and overall musical progression from start to finish. “Beyond Belief,” “Shabby Doll,” “Man out of Time,” “Almost Blue,” and “Kid About It” are representative of the sound and content of the 1982 tour de force.

Internal Conflicts. Internal tensions, mostly between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas, led to some of the harshly reviewed records of Costello’s career with the Attractions. Punch the Clock featured the hit “Everyday I Write the Book,” but the album failed to reach the level of consistency of previous Attractions’ records. Goodbye Cruel World, created amid countless studio squabbles, was a weak project, and the Attractions disbanded soon after its release.

King of America. Costello took the hiatus from the Attractions to experiment with different musical styles and musicians. He formed the Confederates, a touring band, which featured many of the musicians who performed on his country-roots rock solo record King of America (Jim Keltner on drums, Jerry Scheff on bass, and James Burton on guitar; Scheff and Burton played frequently with Elvis Presley). The T-Bone Burnett-produced record is a complete departure from the Attractions’ sound, featuring far more acoustic instrumentation. “Brilliant Mistake,” “Indoor Fireworks,” and “I’ll Wear It Proudly” are among the representative tracks.

All This Useless Beauty. The Attractions reunited for a record in 1986, Blood and Chocolate; a second reunion in 1996 produced All This Useless Beauty. Both records had fine moments, from “Uncomplicated” and “Battered Old Bird” from Blood and Chocolate to “All This Useless Beauty” and “Complicated Shadows” from All This Useless Beauty. The quality of and critical praise for All This Useless Beauty sparked rumors of a permanent reunion, but it ultimately marked the final album billed as Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Costello reformed the Attractions with Davey Faragher (formerly of Cracker and John Hiatt) on bass, Nieve, and Pete Thomas as Elvis Costello and the Imposters. In 2004, they released the critically acclaimed The Delivery Man, Costello’s second concept album, with highlights including “Country Darkness,” “Either Side of the Same Town,” and “Monkey to Man.”

Solo Work. Between the demise of the Attractions and the rise of the Imposters, Costello released albums under his own name. Spike featured collaborations with Paul McCartney and a career-revitalizing hit with “Veronica.” Mighty Like a Rose began a two-record collaboration with musician-producer Mitchell Froom. In 1994, the two collaborated on Brutal Youth, regarded by critics as Costello’s finest solo work. Although billed as a solo record, it featured Nieve, Pete Thomas, Lowe, and Bruce Thomas. In 1993, Costello collaborated with the Brodsky Quartet for a chamber-music-inspired release, The Juliet Letters. Kojak Variety was a collection of mostly rhythm-and-blues covers, featuring many of the musicians from the King of America sessions and Nieve and Pete Thomas. In 2003, Costello released North, a collection of jazz-adult contemporary songs backed by a small big band, allowing him to return to his roots by way of his father’s long-standing career as a big band vocalist. Costello co-wrote the song "Scarlet Tide" with T-Bone Burnett for the film Cold Mountain (2003); the song earned Costello and Burnett an Academy Award nomination for best original song and a Grammy Award nomination for best song written for visual media.

Costello's first orchestral work, the ballet Il Sogno, debuted in New York in 2004 and received acclaim from classical music critics. The recording of Il Sogno was released the same day as Costello's rock/country album The Delivery Man, which was also well received. In 2005, he released Piano Jazz, a collaboration with jazz pianist and composer Marian McPartland. The following year he released a collaboration with R & B musician Allen Toussaint, The River in Reverse, which earned a Grammy nomination for best pop vocal album. Costello and Toussaint performed together at a series of benefit concerts in 2006 to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Costello released the album Momofuku in 2008; the album contained some collaborations with Jenny Lewis of the band Rilo Kiley. Momofuku was initially released on vinyl only, though it was eventually made available as a CD and digital download. Critical response was generally favorable. Costello's next album, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (2009), was also praised by critics, and peaked at number thirteen on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 2013, Costello released Wise Up Ghosts, a collaboration with the Roots, which was also well reviewed and peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard 200. Costello published a memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, in 2015.

Costello released his thirtieth studio album, Look Now, in 2018. The album earned Costello his second Grammy Award, for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. He followed that up with Hey Clockface in 2020 and The Boy Named If in 2022. The Boy Named If earned Costello a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.

Musical Legacy

Costello fused punk, rock, and soul music with the lyrical and musical sophistication of a music historian. His knowledge of doo-wop, big band, folk-rock, blues, and classical music (apart from the punk, rock and roll, and soul that were apparent in his own music) provided him with the freedom to experiment stylistically on his records. With the gifted musicians in the Attractions, he created memorable songs in dynamic performances and influenced the punk and rock bands that followed. At the end of the 1970’s and in the early 1980’s, when disco was on the decline, Costello and the Attractions arrived from England with their innovative lyrics, music, and live performances, reinvigorating the American music scene. Along with Sting and the Police, they embodied the third-wave attitude that inspired many bands to follow in their footsteps.

Elvis Costello and the Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Costello has twice received the Igor Novello Award for Outstanding Songwriting, and he won a Grammy Award in 1998 for “I Still Have That Other Girl,” a collaboration with songwriter Burt Bacharach.

Principal Recordings

ALBUMS (solo): My Aim Is True, 1977; Spike, 1989; Mighty Like a Rose, 1991; The Juliet Letters, 1993 (with the Brodsky Quartet); Brutal Youth, 1994; G. B. H., 1994 (with Richard Harvey); Kojak Variety, 1995; Costello and Nieve, 1996 (with Steve Nieve); Jake’s Progress (Original Music from the Channel Four Series), 1996 (with Harvey); Terror and Magnificence, 1997 (with John Harle); Painted from Memory, 1998 (with Burt Bacharach); The Sweetest Punch: The Songs of Costello and Bacharach, 1999 (with Burt Bacharach and Bill Frisell); For the Stars, 2001 (with Anne Sofie von Otter); North, 2003; Il Songo, 2004 (with the London Symphony Orchestra); Piano Jazz, 2005 (with Marian McPartland); The River in Reverse, 2006 (with Allen Toussaint).

ALBUMS (with the Attractions): This Year’s Model, 1978; Armed Forces, 1979; Get Happy!!, 1980; Almost Blue, 1981; Trust, 1981; Imperial Bedroom, 1982; Punch the Clock, 1983; Goodbye Cruel World, 1984; Blood and Chocolate, 1986; King of America, 1986; All This Useless Beauty, 1996.

ALBUMS (with the Imposters): Cruel Smile, 2002; When I Was Cruel, 2002; The Delivery Man, 2004; Momofuku, 2008.

SINGLES (solo): “Radio Radio,” 1979; “Veronica,” 1989; “Thirteen Steps Lead Down,” 1994.

Bibliography

Costello, Elvis. Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. Blue Rider Press, 2015.

Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Elvis Costello." All Music, 2024, www.allmusic.com/artist/elvis-costello-mn0000058549. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

Hinton, Brian. Let Them All Talk: The Music of Elvis Costello. Sanctuary, 1999.

Jamieson, Wendell. "Elvis Costello's New York Soul." The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/arts/music/elvis-costellos-new-york-soul.html. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

Perone, James E. Elvis Costello: A Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press, 1998.

Sheppard, David. Elvis Costello. Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2000.

Slate, Jeff. "How Elvis Costello Helped Paul McCartney Get His Mojo Back." Esquire, 22 Mar. 2017, www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a54015/elvis-costello-interview-paul-mccartney-flowers-in-the-dirt. www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/arts/music/elvis-costellos-new-york-soul.html

Smith, Larry David. Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the Torch Song Tradition. Praeger, 2004.

Thomson, Graeme. Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello. Canongate, 2004.