Philadelphia Daily News, August 20, 1982: Difference between revisions
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In 1977, Elvis Costello emerged in London as one of the unquestioned originals of modern pop music. Just twenty-two when he released his first album, ''My Aim Is True'', he seemed master of every rock 'n' roll move. No punk in terms of craft, he rode the punk wave because he communicated a more authentic bitterness. | In 1977, Elvis Costello emerged in London as one of the unquestioned originals of modern pop music. Just twenty-two when he released his first album, ''My Aim Is True'', he seemed master of every rock 'n' roll move. No punk in terms of craft, he rode the punk wave because he communicated a more authentic bitterness. | ||
In 1982, Costello remains known almost solely through his music - and the scandalous "Ray Charles" incident. Aside from a 1981 appearance on Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" show, Costello has not sat down for a comprehensive interview with an American journalist until this summer. With the release of his eighth album, "Imperial Bedroom," Costello and his band the Attractions, opened an American tour this July 14 at Santa Cruz. Four days later we met for a conversation. Costello was serious about the situation, but very much at ease. (Elvis Costello appears tomorrow at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium.)<br> | |||
'''Q.''' Declan McManus was born in London in 1955 and grew up there. For his last two years of secondary school he moved to Liverpool to live with his mother, by that time divorced from his father, Ross McManus, a big-band singer and solo performer.<br> | |||
'''A.''' I graduated from secondary school in 1973. It was the first year of 1 million unemployed in England. I was very lucky to get a job. I got a job as a computer operator. | |||
I had something of an ambition to be a professional musician. I was writing my own songs - dreadful songs. | |||
I stuck out the first computer job for about six months; as the same time, I got into a job in Liverpool - that's where I met Nick Lowe, just before I came to London in '74.<br> | |||
'''Q.''' What was the beginning of your life as a fan?<br> | |||
'''A.''' My father was with Joe Loss - the English Glenn Miller. He was with him from about 1953 to 1968, and then he went solo; his instrument is trumpet but he's a singer. | |||
The first records I ever owned were "Please Please Me," and "The Folksinger" by John Leyton. | |||
I was just into singles - the Kinks, the Who, Motown. The one kind of music I didn't like was rock'n'roll - as a distinct (classic) form. | |||
I was never very taken with psychedelic music. When I went to live in Liverpooll I discovered everyone was still into acid rock - and I used to hide my Otis Redding records when friends came round. | |||
I actually "saw the light" when I was already playing - coming back to London, seeing a lot of groups, Nick Lowe and the Brinsleys, pub-rock groups. In London I discovered all the music I liked secretly was what was great fun in a bar. | |||
In England, now, there's a prejudice against that era, the pre-punk era; I'd much rather go and see NRBQ playing in a bar than I would the most illustrious of our punk groups, because I don't think they have anything to do with anything. They're horrible - and ''phony'', and ''dishonest''.<br> | |||
'''Q.''' McManus made a guitar-and-vocal demo and hawked his songs to record companies. The one that responded was Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson's Stiff label.<br> | |||
'''A.''' On the first demo tape I sent to Stiff there were only two or three songs that ended up on ''My Aim Is True''. There were a lot of raw songs with a lot of chords. They came out convoluted. | |||
That exactly coincided with punk. But I was working - I didn't have the money to go to the Roxy and see what the bands were doing: The Clash, the Pistols. | |||
Then I started listening to the records that were coming out, because I'd got this snobbish attitude: so ''little'' of any worth had come out for a few years. When the first punk records came out, I suddenly started thinking: | |||
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{{tags}}[[My Aim Is True]] {{-}} [[Tom Snyder]] {{-}} [[Imperial Bedroom]] {{-}} [[The Attractions]] {{-}} [[Concert 1982-07-14 Santa Cruz|Santa Cruz]] {{-}} [[Concert 1982-08-21 Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] {{-}} [[Ross MacManus]] {{-}} [[Nick Lowe]] {{-}} [[The Kinks]] {{-}} [[The Who]] {{-}} [[Otis Redding]] {{-}} [[Brinsley Schwarz]] {{-}} [[NRBQ]] {{-}} [[Jake Riviera]] {{-}} [[Dave Robinson]] {{-}} [[Stiff Records]] {{-}} [[The Clash]] {{-}} [[Sex Pistols]] {{-}} | |||
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Revision as of 17:24, 23 March 2020
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