Elvis Costello Fan Forum

I think Justin Timberlake's record "Justified" is better than The Delivery Man, there I said it. I also like that Alicia Keys song "I Ain't Got You" or something. And every time that Kelly Clarkson chick comes on the radio my foot starts a-tapping and I ask my daughter "Hone...

Welcome,Meg. I have been very crazy about EC since 1980. Where you born then? On the assumption that you were not, here's some unsolicited advice (the crazies in this Forum do this all the time): first, don't ever skip school just to hear some rock and roll record. There will be plenty of time to li...

Who Shot Sam, it's an RIP thread. It's not meant as a thread for general discussion. In the two years that I have been checking this site out on a regular basis I can't recall one RIP thread where this kind of venom was injected. And in this case the thread was started by a Polish individual, for wh...

I am not religious, and myself made a wisecrack as to his slow death in another thread, but I think I get IP's point. We are all free to say whatever we want in this forum (well, there are limits as WHAR found), but IP started this as a RIP thread, and his point is that those of us who do not treat ...

I don't mean to offend, but his protracted exit is starting to remind me of Generalisimo Francisco Franco's long goodbye.

What up Dog-- Was (not Was). This is my favorite title and name of band in one.

Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places--- Kid Creole and the Cocoanuts. My second favorite title and name of band in one.

VG, I just find the record boring, and the guitar attack and general clatter of this record is not my cup of tea. To me, it's noisy without being melodic. Records like This Year's Model (to which WIWC has been compared, to EC's chagrin) had hooks. I don't hear any in WIWC, or at least none that last...

It's my least-listened to EC album, and the one I most dislike. I just don't hear any memorable melodies, and find the sound jarring. By contrast, North (its Evil Twin) is a favorite. Go figure.

Annie Hall Manhattan Take the Money and Run Love and Death Play it Again Sam Can I go into a Woody rant here? Woody Allen is one of those artists for whom time has done a major disservice. Back in the 70s and early 80s, for me and my friends his every movie was a major event. We lined up around the ...

Normabuel, the Central Park Summerstage is both beach blanket and seating. During the summer, most concerts are free, but the Elvis one will (as his past ones have been) be one for which tickets will be required. I just bring some friends and a blanket and find a comfy spot and listen to the concert...

Mr. A, with all due respect, I disagre with your entire assessment. You give this pompous ass far too much credit. I understand that he makes much of the fact that his interview takes place in a "class" format, and he endeavors to show his "class" that technical points about acti...

Speaking of horrible interviewers, the guy on Bravo, who does the Actor's Studio crap, is positively the most pompous and inane dunce ever put on TV to do a "serious" talk show. I go on record as saying that any actor who goes on that show and does a straight interview with that fawning id...

I'll blame it on my daughter who forced me to watch the damn thing on a daily basis. After a while, the Elton songs just took over. Hakuna Matata, Bobster.

Forget the personality, or the fact that he has not aged gracefully, the guy made great pop music, for a long time. Great car riding music. Nothing wrong with that. I guarantee you that EC would give up all the critical acclaim he's gotten for a chance to write and sing the melodies on songs like &q...

You can interpret these lyrics many ways, as EC endlessly points out. My take on the Toledo lines is that the song is about betrayal but also about the lovers' failure to connect with each other, so that it's difficult for the betrayed one to know about the betrayal. They don't connect, and the line...

John, check out the recent thread in the Annex which features another Waits list from a Guardian blog, and my humble two cents about Waits' list-making.

I have his "Symphony or Damn" CD, and even though it's full of pretentiousness, a few of the songs are tremendous: "She Kissed Me"; "Do you love me like you say"; "Delicate"; "penelope please"; "Are you happy"; and the pinnacle of that reco...

9/17/57 (born one day before El Vez, 22 years earlier, ouch)

I like Tom, and think he's got taste, but his list, like some of EC's prior lists is one of those instances where friends are thrown in and just don't fit. I like Sam Phillips, but an "all time favorite record"? Alongside Leadbelly, Ray? I think Tom has better taste than that. I suspect th...

John, are the liner notes that EC wrote for the great "George Jones Salutes Hank Williams" record available on the Net? I had the vynil record at one time but can't locate it.

At the risk of upsetting the more "judeochristially" (is that a word?) inclined on the Board, I have always believed that the whole seven deadly sins was something that respectfully dissenting individuals could overlook, at their own risks. Sloth and gluttony are two perfect examples of &q...

People interested in The Gates should know that, although the exhibition has been described as officially closed, about half of it is still on dispay in the Park, and the whole thing won't be taken down until Friday.

I work near the park and walk through it almost every day. The Gates made no artistic impression for me at all. I found it to be a PR stunt whose main positive effect was that it got a lot of people walking through our beautiful park. What was more amusing was that a lot of these people were your ty...

In Free Associating order:

dylan
van morrison
marshall cranshaw
nrbq
squeeze
gram parsons
juan luis guerra
benny moret
pedro luis ferrer
howling wolf
big joe turner
charles brown
mercedes sosa
joe henderson
al cohn
joe lovano
freedy johnston
dwight yoakam

I always loved the joyfulness of the tune, but I think this is one of the songs where Nick Lowe's criticism that EC is not a good editor really hits home. This may be sacrilege, but please indulge me. What if he had omitted the "But I won't be told..." verse in its entirety? It's jarring, ...