Elvis Costello
A London songwriter, born Declan MacManus, who arrived in 1977 as a furious new wave singer, built a great band in the Attractions, and kept changing style for almost five decades.
- Origin
- London, England
- Years active
- 1970-present
- Genres
- rock, pop, new wave, power pop, punk rock, pub rock
- Labels
- Stiff, Radar, F-Beat, Demon, Columbia, Warner Bros., Mercury, Island, Deutsche Grammophon, Lost Highway, Verve, Hear Music, Rykodisc, Rhino, Hip-O, Concord
- Also known as
- Declan Patrick MacManus, Declan Costello, D.P. Costello, The Imposter, Napoleon Dynamite, Howard Coward, Elvis MacManus
Declan MacManus
Declan Patrick MacManus was born on 25 August 1954 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London. Before he became Elvis Costello he played in a group called Rusty around 1972 and 1973, then in the pub rock band Flip City from 1973 to 1975. He wrote songs while working as a computer programmer, and signed to the new label Stiff in 1976.
His debut, My Aim Is True, came out in July 1977. Nick Lowe produced it at Pathway Studios in Islington in six four-hour sessions, at a cost of about 2,000 pounds. The backing band was Clover, an American group left uncredited on the original release because of contractual difficulties. The single Alison did not chart, but Watching the Detectives reached number 15 in the UK that October and gave him his first top 40 hit.
The Attractions
In 1977 Costello formed the Attractions with the keyboard player Steve Nieve, the bassist Bruce Thomas and the drummer Pete Thomas. With Lowe still producing, they made three albums in about two years. This Year's Model (1978) was recorded in roughly eleven days at Eden Studios, mostly live, and reached number 4 in the UK. Its singles included (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea and Pump It Up. Armed Forces followed in January 1979, went to number 2, and carried Oliver's Army, his biggest UK single, as well as Accidents Will Happen.
Get Happy!! arrived in 1980 with twenty tracks, and Trust and Almost Blue followed in 1981. Then came Imperial Bedroom in 1982, his first album of originals not produced by Lowe. Geoff Emerick produced it at AIR Studios in London, and Nieve arranged strings, including a 40-piece orchestra on one song. Costello said the band gave itself the kind of scope he imagined the Beatles had enjoyed in the mid-1960s.
Changing course
Punch the Clock (1983), which includes his version of Shipbuilding, and Goodbye Cruel World (1984) followed. In 1984 Costello announced his retirement and the end of the band, though the break was short. In Los Angeles in 1985 he made King of America with T Bone Burnett and a group of session players called the Confederates, and it was released in February 1986. The Attractions had been sidelined on it, playing only on one song.
They regrouped later that year for Blood & Chocolate, produced by Lowe at Olympic Studios. Costello said the band set up and played as loud as it did on stage. It was Lowe's last album as his producer, and tension with Bruce Thomas meant the band did not record together again for eight years. Costello moved on to Spike (1989), Mighty Like a Rose (1991) and The Juliet Letters (1993), made with the Brodsky Quartet. The Attractions reunited for Brutal Youth in 1994, and All This Useless Beauty in 1996 was their last album. Their final tour ended in Seattle on 1 September 1996.
Since 1998
Painted from Memory, written with Burt Bacharach, appeared on Mercury in September 1998. Costello became artist-in-residence at UCLA in 2001, and Rhino began reissuing his catalogue in the United States. He recorded When I Was Cruel in 2002 and toured with the Imposters, a band built around Nieve and Pete Thomas with Davey Faragher on bass. Elvis Costello and the Attractions entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003.
Later projects included an orchestral work, Il Sogno (2004), The River in Reverse with Allen Toussaint (2006), Wise Up Ghost with the Roots (2013) and Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes (2014). His memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, reached number 7 on the New York Times best-seller list in 2015. Look Now (2018) won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and he received an OBE in 2019. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called him the most gifted songwriter since Bob Dylan, and Rolling Stone placed him 24th among the greatest songwriters in 2015.
Members
- Steve Nieve keyboards (1977-1986, 1994-1996, later the Imposters)
- Bruce Thomas bass (1977-1986, 1994-1996)
- Pete Thomas drums (1977-1986, 1994-1996, later the Imposters)
- Davey Faragher bass (from 2002, the Imposters)
Records
- My Aim Is True 1977 · Stiff (UK), Columbia (US)
The debut, cut quickly and cheaply with an American band, with Alison among its songs.
- This Year's Model 1978 · Radar (UK), Columbia (US)
The first album with the Attractions, made live in about eleven days and voted the best of 1978 by two major papers.
- Armed Forces 1979 · Radar (UK), Columbia (US)
Lush, political pop that reached number 2 in Britain and carried Oliver's Army.
- Get Happy!! 1980 · F-Beat (UK), Columbia (US)
Twenty songs in under fifty minutes, built on 1960s soul and ska, reaching number 2 in Britain.
- Trust 1981 · F-Beat (UK), Columbia (US)
Costello described it as the melody of Armed Forces crossed with the rhythm of Get Happy!!.
- Imperial Bedroom 1982 · F-Beat (UK), Columbia (US)
The ambitious studio record, with orchestrations by Nieve and Geoff Emerick producing.
- Punch the Clock 1983 · F-Beat (UK), Columbia (US)
A deliberately commercial record with horns, and his version of Shipbuilding.
- King of America 1986 · F-Beat (UK), Columbia (US)
Made in Los Angeles without the Attractions, with a band of session veterans and Costello credited under his real name.
- Blood & Chocolate 1986 · Demon (UK), Columbia (US)
The Attractions back together in one loud room, and the last album Lowe produced for Costello.
Songs
- Alison My Aim Is True · 1977
The ballad from the debut album, and the song Costello has played more often than any other.
- Watching the Detectives My Aim Is True · 1977
The single that gave him his first top 40 hit in Britain, recorded with a nineteen-year-old on piano.
- (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea This Year's Model · 1978
A tense single written while Costello still worked as a computer programmer, and absent from the US album.
- Pump It Up This Year's Model · 1978
A guitar and organ single from This Year's Model whose riff and drum beat later turned up in other people's songs.
- Oliver's Army Armed Forces · 1979
A bright piano hook over a song about the Troubles, and his biggest UK single.
- Accidents Will Happen Armed Forces · 1979
A late addition to Armed Forces, first sung at Hollywood High with Nieve's piano alone.
- Shipbuilding Punch the Clock · 1983
An anti-war song with lyrics by Costello and music by Clive Langer, first a hit for Robert Wyatt.
Related artists
Nick Lowe, Burt Bacharach, T Bone Burnett, Robert Wyatt
Where to go next
Official
- ElvisCostello.com News, writings, tour dates and store, with reissue news and press.
Reference
- Elvis Costello A full career narrative with extensive citations.
Discography and data
- MusicBrainz: Elvis Costello Canonical ids for the artist and the Attractions.
- Discogs: Get Happy!! master Tracklist with times.
- Discogs: King of America master Tracklist with times.
Writing and criticism
- Diffuser: Blood & Chocolate The sessions and the break with the Attractions.
- Classic Pop: making Imperial Bedroom The AIR sessions, Nieve's orchestration and George Martin.
- American Songwriter: Imperial Bedroom Arrangements and the choice of singles.
- Robert Christgau: Costello grades Capsule reviews of the albums.
- Louder: Costello albums guide An album-by-album buying guide.
- Guardian: The Boy Named If review Phil Mongredien reviews the 2022 album.
- Pitchfork review of the My Aim Is True anniversary edition Reported on the official site post; the review itself was not read directly.
Interviews
- Sound On Sound: Oliver's Army The Eden Studios gear list and a session account.
- Mix: Pump It Up A microphone-by-microphone account of the This Year's Model sound.
- Fresh Air archive Audio of Terry Gross interviews from 1989 and 1994.
Live performance archives
- setlist.fm song statistics Play counts for each song across thousands of shows.
- setlist.fm: the Confederates The 1986 and 1987 Confederates tours.
- Live at Hollywood High The 4 June 1978 concert in detail.
Sources
- Elvis Costello, Wikipedia
- ElvisCostello.com, Elvis Costello
- Elvis Costello, MusicBrainz
- Elvis Costello grades, Robert Christgau
- Elvis Costello albums guide, Louder (2025-01-13)
- Elvis Costello review, The Guardian (2022-01-23)