Elvis Costello

Declan McManus' father was a jazz bandleader, and he was often given copies of the popular records of the day, which he passed on to his son. It was these recordings by the Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, and the stars of Motown that instilled in McManus a love of rock and roll and laid the foundation for his own musical style. When he graduated from high school in Liverpool, he found a day job as a computer operator (a profession that placed such a strain on his eyes that he began wearing his now signature glasses) and played clubs at night. In 1974, he moved to London and became front man for a country-rock group called Flip City. As the group's songwriter, he was soon recording demos, which he began sending to British record companies in hopes of landing a deal for himself. The only taker was Stiff Records, an emerging label in the punk and new wave scene. There he met Nick Lowe, who would become his longtime collaborator, and Jake Riviera, who would later become his manager. It was Riviera who gave McManus the idea to change his name: "Elvis" was chosen as a challenge to the rock establishment, and "Costello" was McManus's mother's maiden name.

Costello was given only twenty-four hours of studio time to record his first album, and was backed by an American country-western bar band named Clover (their lead singer at the time, who didn't participate in the sessions, was Huey Lewis). Two singles, "Less Than Zero" and "Alison," were released with little fanfare. In a desperate attempt to secure a distribution deal, Costello strapped a Pignose amplifier on his back and played in front of the Hilton in London, where a CBS Records international convention was taking place. He was soon arrested, but he signed with the label.

His first album, titled My Aim Is True, was released in 1977 on Columbia, and was immediately hailed as one of the finest debuts in rock history. It was embraced by the new wave and punk underground scene for its energy and scathing, cynical observations on relationships and sexual misadventures (Costello said at the time his motivation came from "revenge and guilt"); critics loved it for its literacy and eclectic musical ideas, and went so far as to vote it "Album of the Year" in Rolling Stone's annual poll. Costello assembled a backing band called the Attractions and began touring America, where he managed to anger the staff of Saturday Night Live by replacing "Less Than Zero" with "Radio, Radio" (the band played the opening strains of the former and without stopping, launched into the latter, a scathing indictment of radio, the music industry, and for that moment, U.S. network television).

My Aim Is True was followed by the harder-edged and higher-charting This Year's Model (the Attractions' studio debut), which included the radio staple "Pump It Up." His next album, Armed Forces, was originally titled Emotional Fascism, which neatly summed up the album's content — it dealt with the fascism of both politics and love, and, caustic as it was, it reached the Top 10. Soon after the album's release, Costello, in a drunken stupor at a bar in Columbus, Ohio, made racial slurs about two of America's greatest black musicians, Ray Charles and James Brown, in an effort to bring to a swift conclusion an argument with members of another act. The incident was bandied about in the press and continued to haunt him for years: after almost two decades, his profuse apologies, and repeated efforts to explain the context of his remarks, it has slowly receded into the background.

The band returned to England not knowing if they could ever tour America again, and as a reaction to the whole debacle, they ironically titled their new album Get Happy!! In quick succession, Costello released Almost Blue, a "country record" of Nashville standards, and Trust, in which he returned, somewhat unsuccessfully, to pop. His next album, Imperial Bedroom, was hailed by the critics as a pop masterpiece in the same vein as the Beatles' and Beach Boys' best work, but follow-ups Punch the Clock, with its single "Everyday I Write The Book," and Goodbye Cruel World, with the Daryl Hall duet "The Only Flame in Town," were less ambitious, and Costello seemed in disarray.

By 1986, both his marriage and his band had begun to disintegrate. He recorded King of America with the Confederates, a group of accomplished session musicians, a few of whom had at one time backed the other Elvis. Costello turned his confusion into an advantage for the tour that followed, performing with the Confederates, the Attractions, and as a solo performer. He and the Attractions were able to hang together through Blood and Chocolate, but after that, he abruptly left the band to pursue a solo career. He also left his wife and married Caitlin O'Riordan, former bassist of the Pogues. In 1991, he released Mighty Like a Rose, which completed his break with the past; he sported a new look and performed songs that Rolling Stone called (ambitious and adventurous.

Costello was even more adventurous on his next album, The Juliet Letters (1993): he worked with the Brodsky Quartet in a collaboration that mixed pop with chamber music — an interesting effort, but a commercial dud. In 1994, he reunited with the Attractions and released Brutal Youth, which hearkened back to his more rocking pop roots. His latest album, All This Useless Beauty, a combination of new songs and tunes he wrote and gave to other artists, was released in 1996, as was Costello & Nieve, a five-CD set culled from a series of small-club concerts.

When Elvis Costello's first record was released in 1977, his bristling cynicism and anger linked him with the punk and new wave explosion. A cursory listen to My Aim Is True proves that the main connection that Costello had with the punks was his unbridled passion; he tore through rock's back pages taking whatever he wanted, as well as borrowing from country, Tin Pan Alley pop, reggae, and many other musical genres. Over his career, that musical eclecticism distinguished Costello's records as much as his fiercely literate lyrics. Because he supported his lyrics with his richly diverse music, Costello emerged as one of the most innovative, influential, and best songwriters since Bob Dylan.

The son of British bandleader Ross McManus, Costello (born Declan McManus) worked as a computer programmer during the early '70s, performing under the name D.P. Costello in various folk clubs. In 1976, he became the leader of country-rock group Flip City. During this time, he recorded several demo tapes of his original material with the intention of landing a record contract. A copy of these tapes made its way to Jake Riviera, one of the heads of the fledgling independent record label Stiff. Riviera signed Costello to Stiff as a solo artist in 1977; the singer/songwriter adopted the name Elvis Costello at this time, taking his first name from Elvis Presley and his last name from his mother's maiden name.

With former Brinsley Schwarz bassist Nick Lowe producing, Costello began recording his debut album with the American band Clover providing support. "Less Than Zero," the first single released from these sessions, appeared in April of 1977. The single failed to chart, as did its follow-up, "Alison," which was released the following month. By the summer of 1977, Costello's permanent backing band had been assembled. Featuring bassist Bruce Thomas, keyboardist Steve Nieve, and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation to Bruce), the group was named the Attractions; they made their live debut in July of 1977.

My Aim Is True, his debut album, was released in the summer of 1977 to positive reviews; the album climbed to number 14 on the British charts but it wasn't released on his American label, Columbia Records, until later in the year. Along with Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, and Wreckless Eric, Costello participated in the Stiffs Live package tour in the fall. At the end of the year, Jake Riviera split from Stiff Records to form Radar Records, taking Costello and Lowe with him. Costello's last single for Stiff, the reggae-inflected "Watching the Detectives," became his first hit, climbing to number 15 at the end of the year.

This Year's Model, Costello's first album recorded with the Attractions, was released in the spring of 1978. A rawer, harder-rocking record than My Aim Is True, This Year's Model was also a bigger hit, reaching number four in Britain and number 30 in America. Released the following year, Armed Forces was a more ambitious and musically diverse album than either of his previous records. It was another hit, reaching number two in the U.K. and cracking the Top Ten in the U.S. "Oliver's Army," the first single from the album, also peaked at number two in Britain; none of the singles from Armed Forces charted in America. In the summer of 1979, he produced the self-titled debut album by the Specials, the leaders of the ska revival movement.

In February of 1980, the soul-influenced Get Happy!! was released; it was the first record on Riviera's new record label, F-Beat. Get Happy!! was another hit, peaking at number two in Britain and number 11 in America. Later that year, two collections of B-sides, singles, and outtakes called Taking Liberties was released in America; in Britain, a similar album called Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers appeared as a cassette-only release, complete with different tracks than the American version.

Costello and the Attractions released Trust in early 1981; it was his fifth album in a row produced by Nick Lowe. Trust debuted at number nine in the British charts and worked its way into the Top 30 in the U.S. During the spring of 1981, Costello and the Attractions began recording an album of country covers with famed Nashville producer Billy Sherrill, who recorded hit records for George Jones and Charlie Rich, among others. The resulting album, Almost Blue, was released at the end of the year to mixed reviews, although the single "A Good Year for the Roses" was a British Top Ten hit.

Costello's next album, Imperial Bedroom (1982), was an ambitious set of lushly arranged pop produced by Geoff Emerick, who engineered several of the Beatles' most acclaimed albums. Imperial Bedroom received some of his best reviews, yet it failed to yield a Top 40 hit in either England or America; the album did debut at number six in the U.K. For 1983's Punch the Clock, Costello worked with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who were responsible for several of the biggest British hits in the early '80s. The collaboration proved commercially successful, as the album peaked at number three in the U.K. (number 24 in the U.S.) and the single "Everyday I Write the Book" cracked the Top 40 in both Britain and America. Costello tried to replicate the success of Punch the Clock with his next record, 1984's Goodbye Cruel World, but the album was a commercial and critical failure.

After the release of Goodbye Cruel World, Costello embarked on his first solo tour in the summer of 1984. Costello was relatively inactive during 1985, releasing only one new single ("The People's Limousine," a collaboration with singer/songwriter T-Bone Burnett released under the name the Coward Brothers) and producing Rum Sodomy and the Lash, the second album by the punk-folk band the Pogues. Both projects were indications that he was moving toward a stripped-down, folky approach and 1986's King of America confirmed that suspicion. Recorded without the Attractions and released under the name the Costello Show, King of America was essentially a country-folk album and it received the best reviews of any album he had recorded since Imperial Bedroom. It was followed at the end of the year by the edgy Blood and Chocolate, a reunion with the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe. Costello would not record another album with the Attractions until 1994.

During 1987, Costello negotiated a new worldwide record contract with Warner Bros. Records and began a songwriting collaboration with Paul McCartney. Two years later, he released Spike, the most musically diverse collection he had ever recorded. Spike featured the first appearance of songs written by Costello and McCartney, including the single "Veronica." "Veronica" became his biggest American hit, peaking at number 19. Two years later, he released Mighty Like a Rose, which echoed Spike in its diversity, yet it was a darker, more challenging record. In 1993, Costello collaborated with the Brodsky Quartet on The Juliet Letters, a song cycle that was the songwriter's first attempt at classical music; he also wrote an entire album for former Transvision Vamp singer Wendy James called Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears. That same year, Costello licensed the rights to his pre-1987 catalog (My Aim Is True to Blood and Chocolate) to Rykodisc in America.

Costello reunited with the Attractions to record the majority of 1994's Brutal Youth, the most straightforward and pop-oriented album he had recorded since Goodbye Cruel World. The Attractions backed Costello on a worldwide tour in 1994 and played concerts with him throughout 1995. In 1995, he released his long-shelved collection of covers, Kojak Variety. In the spring of 1996, Costello released All This Useless Beauty, which featured a number of original songs he had given to other artists, but never recorded himself. Painted from Memory, a collaboration with the legendary Burt Bacharach, followed in 1998.

The album was a success critically, but it only succeeded in foreign markets, outside of their home countries of the United States and Britain. A jazz version of the record made with Bill Frisell was put on hold when Costello's label began to freeze up due to political maneuvering. Undaunted, Costello and Bacharach hit the road and performed in the States and Europe. Then after Bacharach left Costello added Steve Nieve to the tour and traveled around the world on what they dubbed the "Lonely World Tour." This took them into 1999, where both Notting Hill and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me featured significant contributions from Costello. In fact, he appeared with Bacharach in the latter as a pair of Carnaby Street musicians, albeit street musicians with a gorgeous grand piano at their disposal.

Continuing his tour with Nieve, he began singing the last song with a microphone, forcing the audience to sit in complete silence as he usually performed "Couldn't Call It Unexpected, No. 4" with nothing but his dulcet baritone filling the auditorium. After the record company's various mergers ended, Costello found himself on Universal Records and tested their promotional abilities with a second "greatest-hits" record (The Very Best of Elvis Costello). The label promoted the album strongly, making it a hit in his native Britain. Unfortunately, they also made it clear that they had no intention of giving a new album the same promotional push, leaving him to venture into other fields as he awaited the end of his record contract. His first project was an album of pop standards performed with Anne Sofie Von Otter, which included a few songs originally written by Costello. The album was released in March 2001 on the Deutsche Grammophon label, neatly coinciding with the extensive re-release of his entire catalog up to 1996 under Rhino Records. Each disc included an extra CD of rare material and liner notes written by Costello himself, making them incredible treats for fans.

In 2001, he found himself with a residency at UCLA, where he performed several concerts and was instrumental in teaching music during the year. He also began work on a self-produced album that featured Pete Thomas and Nieve -- now billed as a band called the Imposters -- entitled When I Was Cruel, and the album finally found release via Island Records in the spring of 2002; at the end of the year, he released a collection of B-sides and leftovers from the album's sessions entitled Cruel Smile.

When I Was Cruel kicked off another productive era for the ever prolific Costello. In 2003, he returned with North, a collection of classically styled pop songs pitched halfway between Gershwin and Sondheim. The next year, he collaborated with his new wife, Diana Krall, on her first collection of original material, The Girl in the Other Room. That fall, Costello released two albums of his own original material: a classical work entitled Il Sogno and the concept album The Delivery Man, a rock & roll record cut with the Imposters. 2006's My Flame Burns Blue was a live album with Costello fronting the 52-piece jazz orchestra the Metropole Orkest; the release featured classic Costello songs (with new orchestral arrangements) alongside new compositions and a performance of the entire Il Sogno. The River in Reverse, a collaboration with R&B legend Allen Toussaint, arrived in 2006, followed by Momofuku, another effort credited to Elvis Costello & the Imposters, in 2008. That same year, Costello teamed up with veteran producer T-Bone Burnett for a series of recording sessions, the results of which were compiled into Secret, the Profane and Sugar Cane and readied for release in early 2009. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide