Emerald City Chronicle, February 21, 1978: Difference between revisions
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Declan Patrick McManus was born some twenty-odd years ago somewhere near London, and spent his childhood in London and Liverpool. The sole offspring of a broken marriage, McManus was raised as a Catholic, married at an early age, had a child, became a computer technician for Elizabeth Arden beauty consultants, and, on weekends, followed in the footsteps of his musician father by playing in bluegrass bands in the London area. | Declan Patrick McManus was born some twenty-odd years ago somewhere near London, and spent his childhood in London and Liverpool. The sole offspring of a broken marriage, McManus was raised as a Catholic, married at an early age, had a child, became a computer technician for Elizabeth Arden beauty consultants, and, on weekends, followed in the footsteps of his musician father by playing in bluegrass bands in the London area. | ||
A photographer is trying to get a posed picture of Elvis Costello backstage at his Milwaukee gig. It's been an uphill fight just getting there, but now the photographer is being quizzed: is he the one who took the picture of Costello and a member of Cheap Trick backstage at a [[Concert 1977-11-29 Madison| | |||
A photographer is trying to get a posed picture of Elvis Costello backstage at his Milwaukee gig. It's been an uphill fight just getting there, but now the photographer is being quizzed: is he the one who took the picture of Costello and a member of Cheap Trick backstage at a Madison [[Concert 1977-11-29 Madison|concert]]? The photo in question appeared in an [[Creem, March 1978|issue]] of ''Creem''; apparently, it had not been intended for public release. | |||
"No," replies the photographer. Costello and company abruptly lose interest in him. "Don't I get a picture?," the photographer cries after them. | "No," replies the photographer. Costello and company abruptly lose interest in him. "Don't I get a picture?," the photographer cries after them. | ||
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Costello shakes his head. "Once bitten, twice shy," he says. | Costello shakes his head. "Once bitten, twice shy," he says. | ||
In the early portion of 1977, Elvis Costello made his first ripple on the British rock scene. Stiff Records, a new label created by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera (Costello's future manager), released "Less Than Zero" (backed with the first apocryphal Costello track, "Radio Sweetheart") as a single. It did little in the way of sales or airplay, but the critics, at least, began to pay attention. Not a few listeners suspected that Nick Lowe, an ex-member of Brinsley Schwarz, had actually done the record. Certainly the name was a | |||
In the early portion of 1977, Elvis Costello made his first ripple on the British rock scene. Stiff Records, a new label created by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera (Costello's future manager), released "Less Than Zero" (backed with the first apocryphal Costello track, "Radio Sweetheart") as a single. It did little in the way of sales or airplay, but the critics, at least, began to pay attention. Not a few listeners suspected that Nick Lowe, an ex-member of Brinsley Schwarz, had actually done the record. Certainly the name was a joke — no one had ever heard of Elvis Costello. | |||
"Like, I went around for nearly a year with demo tapes before I came to Stiff, and it was always the same response. 'We can't hear the words.' `It isn't commercial enough.' There aren't any singles.' Idiots. Those tapes were just voice and guitar demos. I didn't have enough money to do anything with a band. It was just a lack of imagination on the part of those people at the record companies. I felt as if I were bashing my head against a brick wall, those people just weren't prepared to listen to the songs. | "Like, I went around for nearly a year with demo tapes before I came to Stiff, and it was always the same response. 'We can't hear the words.' `It isn't commercial enough.' There aren't any singles.' Idiots. Those tapes were just voice and guitar demos. I didn't have enough money to do anything with a band. It was just a lack of imagination on the part of those people at the record companies. I felt as if I were bashing my head against a brick wall, those people just weren't prepared to listen to the songs. | ||
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Anyway, Costello's biggest break occurred when Riviera sent him, with only his Jaguar and a portable amp, down to the London Hilton during the CBS Records convention. The hotel management promptly had Costello arrested, but not before he wowwed the CBS execs, who (on consideration of the heavy airplay the album was getting on East Coast FM stations) signed E.C. on for American distribution. | Anyway, Costello's biggest break occurred when Riviera sent him, with only his Jaguar and a portable amp, down to the London Hilton during the CBS Records convention. The hotel management promptly had Costello arrested, but not before he wowwed the CBS execs, who (on consideration of the heavy airplay the album was getting on East Coast FM stations) signed E.C. on for American distribution. | ||
Milwaukee, 15 February, 1978. Some 800 people have appeared at the Centre Stage to see Elvis and his band, The Attractions (composed of Bruce Thomas, bass; Steve Young, keyboards; and Pete Thomas, drummer). As if walking to a bubbler for a drink of water, Elvis plods onto the stage after the introduction, plugs in his guitar, and, without more than a couple words, erupts into ''"Waiting For the End..."'' | Milwaukee, 15 February, 1978. Some 800 people have appeared at the Centre Stage to see Elvis and his band, The Attractions (composed of Bruce Thomas, bass; Steve Young, keyboards; and Pete Thomas, drummer). As if walking to a bubbler for a drink of water, Elvis plods onto the stage after the introduction, plugs in his guitar, and, without more than a couple words, erupts into ''"Waiting For the End..."'' | ||
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Those familiar with the album understand this to be a rougher, more raw sound — there is no longer even the pretense of civility in the music. Also understood at this moment, only a few seconds into the concert, is why Elvis Costello is great: the total intensity of his performance. What was joke before is dead serious; not one person in the crowd could believe that Elvis does not personally feel what he sings. It's the intensity and the obsessiveness that make Elvis Costello. And the talent. | Those familiar with the album understand this to be a rougher, more raw sound — there is no longer even the pretense of civility in the music. Also understood at this moment, only a few seconds into the concert, is why Elvis Costello is great: the total intensity of his performance. What was joke before is dead serious; not one person in the crowd could believe that Elvis does not personally feel what he sings. It's the intensity and the obsessiveness that make Elvis Costello. And the talent. | ||
While the concert began with songs from ''My Aim Is True'' (most notably a new American version of "Less Than Zero," which features a woman watching on TV as John Kennedy is gunned down by Lee Harvey | While the concert began with songs from ''My Aim Is True'' (most notably a new American version of "Less Than Zero," which features a woman watching on TV as John Kennedy is gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald — the British version is about pre-WW2 British fascist Oswald Mosley), the bulk of the concert was composed of material scheduled for his next album, ''The King Of Belgium'', due out in Britain on Radar Records, April Fools' Day. | ||
With the force and thunder of an M-16, Costello and the Attractions plowed through a baker's dozen numbers, ranging from the sinister ("Little Triggers"), to the vicious ("Lost In The Lipstick Void"). While there was no room in the Centre Stage to dance, the crowd responded to each number with overwhelming applause. The band had tightened tremendously in the few months since they last passed through the area, and The Attractions gave a high polish to the playing without tarnishing in the slightest the savage edge of the music. | With the force and thunder of an M-16, Costello and the Attractions plowed through a baker's dozen numbers, ranging from the sinister ("Little Triggers"), to the vicious ("Lost In The Lipstick Void"). While there was no room in the Centre Stage to dance, the crowd responded to each number with overwhelming applause. The band had tightened tremendously in the few months since they last passed through the area, and The Attractions gave a high polish to the playing without tarnishing in the slightest the savage edge of the music. |
Revision as of 17:16, 3 February 2018
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