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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 his 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. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello No. 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
The son of British bandleader, Costello (born Declan McManus) worked as a computer programmer during the early '70s, performing under the name D.P. Costello in various folk clubs. The singer/songwriter adopted the name Elvis Costello around this time, taking his first name from Elvis Presley and his last name from his mother's maiden name. 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 1977. The single failed to chart, as did its follow-up, "Alison," which was released the following month.
Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in the summer of 1977 to positive reviews; the album climbed to No. 14 on the British charts but it wasn't released on his American label until later in 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 No. 4 in Britain and No. 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, cracking the top 10 in the U.S. and featured one of his most successful singles "Oliver's Army."
In February 1980, the soul-influenced Get Happy!! was released. Later that year, a collection 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 Costello's fifth album in a row produced by Nick Lowe. 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 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. 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 No. 3 in the U.K. 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, King of America was essentially a country-folk album and it received the best reviews of any album he had recorded since Imperial Bedroom.
In 1989, he released Spike, the most musically diverse collection he had ever recorded. Spike featured the first appearance of songs written by Costello and Paul McCartney, including the single "Veronica." "Veronica" became his biggest American hit, peaking at No. 19. Two years later, he released Mighty Like a Rose, which echoed Spike in its diversity, yet it was a darker, more challenging record.
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. 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. 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, when both Notting Hill and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me featured significant contributions from Costello.
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, which 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 'n' roll record cut with the Imposters.
Since Costello's melodic instincts were as sure as his gifts as a lyricist, his musical experiments generally drew praise, enhancing his reputation as a quintessential critics' favorite. Granted, some members of the pop intelligentsia never forgave Costello for moving beyond the brazen minimalist urgency of his early seminal albums; but its just this progress that has allowed the singer to remain a relevant, respected artist.
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