Sold on Song...promo for North, London, September 2003

Pretty self-explanatory
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Jackson Doofster
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Sold on Song...promo for North, London, September 2003

Post by Jackson Doofster »

Ok. It was a great night and I've lots to tell you. The Cafe de Paris was some venue and I met loads of luvvies and other famous types (well one or two anyway....Clare Grogan is very FIT.....Janice Long is coolish). Elvis was on top form...he is clearly a frustrated acTOR type. However...I'm knackered and I'm off to bed as I have to be in Ipswich for 11 . Verbal or I will fill you in 2 morrow. Did John Foyle get in???

Peace and Love
JD
"But they can't hold a candle to the reciprical war crimes which have plagued our policy of foriegn affairs."
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oily slick
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Post by oily slick »

nice teaser, mr knacKER.
I'm not concerned about the very poor.
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

Sadly the BBC lady with clipboard at the Cafe de Paris wasn`t having any of my Blarney and I didn`t get into see Elvis and co. . I got to the venue at about 6. The queue out front - in baking heat - didn`t have anyone I recognised. I approached a few of the many people with tags with the North sleeve on it and gave them my sob story. Nothing doing. I hung back as the line was admitted. More people arrived , all seeming to be on the most intimate terms with the clipboard lady. Steve Nieve arrived - alone , holdall in hand - at about 6.45. Movie guy David Putnamm and friend arrived in out a taxi. BBC presenter`s Jeremy Vine and Mark Lamarr arrived on foot. I tried to catch Clipboard Lady`s eye again - she studiously ignored me. I soon realised that it was hopeless and moved on.

Whatever - I had got cheap airline tickets ( c.40 euro return) so wasn`t too much out of pocket. I headed over to Leicester Sq. and watched to beautiful people arriving for the U.K. premiere of the remake of The Italian Job. I was just in time to see Charlize Theron ( see
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/entertain ... 20Standard for the treat that was)
arriving. She glad handed the crowd . She even came to the barrier I was behind. Our eyes met - and she promptly moved on . Probably something to do with my mouth-agape-bug-eyed-sweaty-brow look , I daresay.
I went on to do some CD shopping ( a few Dylan SACDs , a great new Jackson C Franks compilation etc. ) , walked by the Cafe de Paris at around 8.30 where assorted BBC types were having a smoke , laughed my way through the awful Tears Of The Sun ( Bruce Willis Sorts Out Africa etc) , had a pizza on Charing Cross Road and retired to my hotel.

And then back to Dublin today .

By the way the following appeared on Costellonews.com

Sold On Song
By the end of tomorrow (Tuesday 16th) you can go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/soldonsong and watch excerpts from tonight's launch party/ concert with Elvis at the Café de Paris in London.

Then on 18th October Radio 2 will be broadcasting the concert. Fans not based in the UK can listen online, and don’t forget about the BBC Radio Player, which lets you listen to programmes online for a week after broadcast.

(Submitted by John Everingham of http://www.elviscostello.info)
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BlueChair
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Post by BlueChair »

Did anybody else notice that John E signed up for our beloved board. Go on John E, say hello :)
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Post by johnfoyle »

From Costello-l listserv-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on behalf of Richard Arthur:

What an evening with the Radio 2 luvvies!

Café de Paris is a swanky little niteclub, on Coventry Street (nowhere
near Covent Garden as the Radio 2 website would have it). The guest
list ran to several pages, far outnumbering the 50 lucky competition
winners and their guests.

Stood in line for a few minutes before being ushered in at 6:60pm
prompt.

Missed out on the first round of champagne being offered, so we raced
to
one of the few unreserved tables on the ground floor. We were swiftly
joined by Janice Long and friends who kindly included us in their
conversation for the evening. Janice was star spotting for her mum;
Phil Jupitus, Mark Lamarr, Jeremy Vine, Richard Allinson, (all Radio
2),
Sue McGregor (Radio 4), Alan Yentob ("he knows loads about art") and
many more BBC Radio managers and tecchies. David Puttnam (Film
producer) and Steve Levine (Record producer) were also present. There
were also a couple of minor acting celebs; including one lady who
Janice
wasn't sure if she was, "a nurse in 'Casualty' or the psycho from
'Hollyoaks'" ...

Free canapes, champagne and beer were server up until showtime and in
the interval.

EC's set started at around 7:30pm and went on until the interval at
8:45pm. After the interval the show ran from 9:00pm to ~10:15pm.

Husky voiced Mariella Frostrup acted as compere and interviewer and
popped up frequently between songs. She seemed to have done her
homework and got on well with a very talkative EC.

For all songs, except those with the Brodskys and those marked, EC
played his Gibson semi-acoustic (with the now rather tatty yellow
"Elvis" label). Steve played piano except with the Brodskys (I think!)
and for the final two encore numbers.

1. Accidents
2. 45
Conversation with Mariella
3. Shot With His Own Gun (no guitar)
Conversation with Mariella
4. Someone Took The Words Away (no guitar)
5. Fallen (no guitar)
Conversation with Mariella
6. In The Darkest Place
7. Indoor Fireworks
Conversation with Mariella
8. Shipbuilding
Interval
9. Pills & Soap (w/ Brodskys)
10. My Mood Swings (w/ Brodskys)
Conversation with Mariella
11. Real Emotional Girl [Randy Newman] (w/ Brodskys)
Conversation with Mariella
12. Still (w/ Brodskys)
["first performance w/ Brodskys" as they recorded their contribution in
London whilst North was being made]
13. The Birds Will Still Be Singing (w/ Brodskys)
Conversation with Mariella
14. Either Side Of Town
[co-written with Jerry Ragavoy for Howard Tate]
Conversation with Mariella
15. Man Out Of Time
16. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror / You Really Got A Hold On Me
Encore #1
Milo hides Mariellas mic.
17. Peace Love & Understanding
18. Almost Blue
[for the coda EC moves onto the piano whilst SN plays a little plastic
piano-harmonica to Parisian effect]
Encore #2
19.I Still Miss Someone [?provenance?] (EC solo on piano)
20. I'm In The Mood Again (EC solo on piano)

And that's it. "Fantastic" as Janice would say!

A free "promo" CD was handed out to punters as they left;
Card sleeve, with the "North" cover on the front and a Radio 2 style
rear cover including details of "Sold On Song" producers and the Café
de
Paris event. "This CD is one of a special edition of 500 produced to
mark the launch of Radio 2's Sold On Song, celebrating great songs &
great songwriters on air, on line & on the road". The CD itself looks
like a CD-R with a simple "Elvis Costello 4 track promotional CD"
printed in black lettering on the label side. Tracklist;

1. Still
2. Fallen
3. Someone Took The Words Away
4. When It Sings

The whole evening was well worth the TV Licence payers money!

While I was driving home to Leicester, the stand-in presenter (Mark
Wright?) on the Richard Allinson show on Radio 2 played 'I'm In The
Mood
Again' as recorded at the Café de Paris and said the full concert would
be broadcast sometime in the next two weeks, probably during the
Richard
Allinson slot. Janice appeared during the latter stages of the show
saying what a great time she had had - didn't mention her new friends
though :-)

Janice was still raving as she started her show towards the end of my
journey.

Me, I was so excited I forgot to pay the London Congestion fee before
midnight ... Oh, well 40 quid down the drain.

Richard A
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Post by johnfoyle »

Financial Times review of Sold On Song

see

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServe ... 9479875716


By Richard Milne
Published: September 16 2003 18:26 | Last Updated:
September 16 2003 18:26

Elvis Costello's first word was not "Mama" or "Daddy"
like normal mortals, but rather "skin". As in Frank
Sinatra's I've Got You Under My Skin. This tale was
just one of a series of nuggets served up by Costello
in this intimate nightclub show for BBC Radio 2's Sold
on Song programme.


Interspersing songs from throughout his career and
from beyond with mini-interviews with the husky-voiced
Mariella Frostrup about songwriting, Costello
demonstrated just how literate and eclectic a
performer he is. Those expecting an academic exercise
in quiet torch songs were swiftly disappointed as he
launched into "Accidents Will Happen" and a crunching
"45". Even his sartorial concession to the upmarket
venue - a rather dapper suit and shirt combo - was
soon broken as he loosened his tie.

As befits a man who has tackled everything from punk
to classical, the mood changed swiftly and often as
Costello flitted from one period to another. The songs
were all beautifully arranged, with classical
flourishes from Steve Nieve on the piano and the
Brodsky Quartet, but most revealing were the
dialogues.

"Songs will come to you, wake you up and tap you on
the shoulder," he said explaining the often late-night
genesis of his latest album North. This is among his
most emotionally honest, using sparse piano and his
own hushed baritone vocals to catalogue his
relationship with Canadian singer Diana Krall.
"Someone Took The Words Away" and "Fallen" sounded
particularly fine, with the latter being perhaps the
most romantic song ever written in Oldham.

But Costello also gave deep insights into his writing
in earlier times. The influence of narcotics - good
for songs, bad for life, it seems - was touched upon,
as was his use of the piano to surprise himself
melodically.

Ultimately, it was the strength of what came out of
this process that impressed, whether it was the highly
topical "Shipbuilding", written at the time of the
Falklands conflict, or a rollicking "Either Side Of
The Same Town". "Musical unfaithfulness", as Frostrup
described his career, has never sounded so appealing.

Café de Paris, London 'North' was released on Monday
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verbal gymnastics
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

Richard's review is very good - I'm not him by the way.

There's a few things I would add:-

I was at the very front table and only 5 feet from Elvis. Both Elvis and Steve acknowledged me on more than one occasion 8) On the table is a piece of paper that reads in bold face "Ladies and Gentlemen due to the intimate nature of tonights performance Mr Costello kindly requests no smoking please" Intimate it is; 20 or so table which hold four people with people scattered around the sides and upstairs. I only notice one reserved table which was in front of Steve.

Elvis wore a dark blue/black suit (hard to tell in the light) with a lilac shirt and purple and grey tie for the first set. He changed his shirt to a dark purple one with a different purple tie for the second set.

Plaything/Pip: Steve wore a black suit with a black shirt for the first set and then came out without the suit jacket for the second set. He had the first three buttons on his shirt undone (told you I was close!).

I believe Diana Krall was there - she was certainly on the "Reserved" list. I kept looking a leggy blonde who looked like her (purely for research purposes and to keep you all happy - that's my excuse anyway!).

After Fallen, Mariella Frostrup asked Elvis some questions. One of them was along the lines of saying North was a straight album with no lyrical twists. She said Elvis left himself open and asked him if he was worried about this. Elvis just smiled and answered "No". I thought that this is a man unashamedly in love. He then did In the Darkest Place in which he fluffed some of the lyrics.

Pills and Soap had some different lyrics - one of the lines mentioned "German spite". My Mood Swings was arranged by Paul Cassidy and was really good. Elvis pulled a face and laughed as he sang "Marsh-mall-ow"! This was the first time I'd ever been able to listen to the words as it was played at a lot slower pace.

There was also some chat about Elvis' songs in films and we got the usual ET/Godfather 3/Austin Powers tales as well as the R Whites advert tale.

Elvis sang Randy Newman's Real Emotional Girl reading from handwritten lyrics taped to his monitor. I know because I nabbed it! Unfortunately it's not Elvis' writing. :cry: I also got Steve's setlist 8)

Elvis also spoke about the Vanity Fair lists. He said his favourite lyricists were George Gershwin and Lorenz Hart. He also spoke a bit about Randy Newman's effect on him, about Joni Mitchell and Cole Porter.

After Almost Blue Elvis says, shall I do one more. No surprises that the answer was Yes. He stays at the piano and does a solo I Still Miss Someone after which he raises his left hand and says "That's for Big John".

Elvis actually departed from the set list on a couple of occasions.

Track 4 is written as Fallen/Someone Took the Words Away (he actually did both) and in reverse order.

After The Birds Will Still Be Singing he was going to do either So Like Candy or either side of the Same Town. He chose the latter which was a fantastic choice.

After the encore he was due to do When It Sings but he did an unscheduled I Still Miss Someone and then I'm in the Mood Again.

I have to say that Elvis was very relaxed and chatty and very funny. I was going to ask for something unamplified but it didn't feel right to do so (and despite the free bar I didn't drink too much. EVERYBODY would have seen me if I needed to go to the toilet!!!

As if this wasn't enough we got the free CD! What a night!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Post by Danny »

Yeah, fab gig! Obviously some of the songs were on the sensitive side, with quiet bits - and the accompaniment wasn't too welcome.

I'm not talking about Steve, who was of course magnificent as ever.

Neither am I talking about the Brodskys, who were superb.

No, I'm talking about those bloody fridges behind the bar!!!!

This was a small venue, and I was stood down the front by the bar - don't know if you guys heard from the main floor, but those fridges were buzzing on and off all night! Drove me bananas - dunno if Elvis noticed. Did you guys notice out on the main floor? Hope it doesn't come out on the radio broadcast.

Also, Elvis stood way away from the mike on the interview bits - they'll have to ramp it well up in the mix.

But apart from that - a stunning gig. Storming version of "Either Side...", "Deep Dark..." and I loved that Randy Newman song. What a voice!!! Hope they include 'em all on the radio edit.

Before gig, Steve passed by me and I was too chicken to blurt how I love his work etc. After, having downed loads of free beer, I managed to stagger over to the Brodskys and told them they were brilliant (alright, I slurred 'you were fuckin' brilliant' - the shame of it!) and the guy with the white hair (is that Michael Cassidy?) said they'd be playing at the Royal Festival Hall. Asked if they'll rework old Elvis numbers that we haven't heard before for that gig he said 'I dunno - we'll have to see what The Man says.'
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

Nice one Danny - the evening needed that touch of class :lol:

Were the fridges playing Watching the Detectives as per the Richard & Judy thread?!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Jackson Doofster
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Post by Jackson Doofster »

....oh yes...those bloody fridges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Danny - you and I must have been standing right next to each other. I was near the front by the bar! I had a bit of a problem with the damn speaker which was right in my line of vision. A very nice chap and his lady moved over and allowed me to see. Was that you??? Or maybe you were the man who was as drunk as me by the end, and who went down to the changing rooms and tried to find Elvis - he'd gone!

I had an embarrassing moment at the end, when a little blurred with alcohol, I approached Ian Belton from the Brodskys as he was leaving and said " you're Paul Cassiday, right ?" He looked at me oddly and said "No, Ian Belton". The I looked at him with an obvious confused look on my face and he smiled, shook his head and walked off. :oops:

The boys above have summed up the gig nicely. I'll just say that The Birds Will Still Be Singing, Still and Almost Blue were the highlights for me. Oh, and of course Jacqueline Thomas. As she left, I moved aside for her and she smiled at me........ I nearly passed out. God she is gorgeous!!

I'm off to feed the kids' hamsters, clip my toenails and then I'm gonna write a love song to her.
Last edited by Jackson Doofster on Wed Sep 17, 2003 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Gilbert »

The BBC have now kindly posted the videos of five songs on their website:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/ ... lvis.shtml
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Post by ReadyToHearTheWorst »

johnfoyle wrote: ... the full concert would be broadcast sometime in the next two weeks, probably during the RichardAllinson slot
That show doesn't seem to get archived, so we had better be on our toes.
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Jackson....

Post by Danny »

....I wasn't the bloke with his girlfriend - I was with my mate and, yes, pretty sozzled by the end of it. If you were that pissed, were you the bloke with the green check shirt? He was the most pissed bloke I came across! Free booze though - it was bound to happen!
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Jackson Doofster
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Post by Jackson Doofster »

No....the check shirt bloke was the one who went down to the changing rooms....I thought that he was going to be ejected. I wasn't that drunk...just a little merry. :D
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

Jackson Doofster wrote:I wasn't that drunk...just a little merry. :D
At least you weren't THAT drunk that you'd go up to Jacqueline Thomas and declare your undying love for her...

...or did you?

Or are you saving that for Birmingham?! :lol:
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
selfmademug

Post by selfmademug »

Wow. I've barely had time to read this properly, but it sounds so cool, dammit. I am very jealous. But glad for y'all.
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Post by Danny »

Phew, thank God it wasn't you! He was slaughtered - my mate got talking to him and had to extricate himself.

Oops - hope it wasn't anyone else on here!

I was the one with a white cardy and an attempted Justin Timberlake beard, next to the lovely dovey couple. Musta been on the other side from you.
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Jackson Doofster
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Post by Jackson Doofster »

Is Jacqueline Thomas still married to Paul Cassidy ? :wink:
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Re: Just back from Sold on Song...

Post by johnfoyle »

The Still video posted elsewhere -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... oQPtXheTSo


- reminded me of my desperate efforts to see this, another North promo effort from around the same time. I've since found put that Verbal 'n Sulky were there that night, something they casually remind me about most times we meet-up - grrrrr!
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Re: Just back from Sold on Song...

Post by sulky lad »

On the very front table, inches away from Elvis and still safely recorded- to coin a phrase sometime I amaze even myself !! :roll: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Just back from Sold on Song...

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