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My Aim Is True
1. Welcome To The Working Week
2. Miracle Man
3. No Dancing
4. Blame It On Cain
5. Alison
6. Sneaky Feelings
7. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoe
8. Less Than Zero
9. Mystery Dance
10. Pay It Back
11. I'm Not Angry
12. Waiting For The End Of The World
13. Watching The Detectives
This Year's Model
1. No Action
2. This Year's Girl
3. Beat, The
4. Pump It Up
5. Little Triggers
6. You Belong to Me
7. Hand in Hand
8. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
9. Lip Service
10. Living in Paradise
11. Lipstick Vogue
12. Night Rally
13. Radio, Radio
14. Big Tears - (with Elvis Costello)
15. Crawling to the U.S.A. - (with Elvis Costello)
16. Tiny Steps - (with Elvis Costello)
17. Running Out of Angels - (demo, with Elvis Costello)
18. Greenshirt - (demo, with Elvis Costello)
19. Big Boys - (demo, with Elvis Costello)
20. Neat Neat Neat - (live, with Elvis Costello)
21. Roadette Song - (live, with Elvis Costello)
22. This Year's Girl - (alternate take, Alternate Basing Street Studios Version, with Elvis Costello)
23. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea - (alternate take, with Elvis Costello)
DISC 2: LIVE AT THE WARNER THEATER:
1. Pump It Up - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
2. Waiting For the End of the World - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
3. No Action - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
4. Less Than Zero - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
5. Beat, The - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
6. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
7. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
8. Hand in Hand - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
9. Little Triggers - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
10. Radio, Radio - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
11. You Belong to Me - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
12. Lipstick Vogue - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
13. Watching the Detectives - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
14. Mystery Dance - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
15. Miracle Man - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
16. Blame It on Cain - (previously unreleased, live, with Elvis Costello)
17. Chemistry Class - (live, with Elvis Costello)
Armed Forces
1. Accidents Will Happen - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Senior Service - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. Oliver's Army - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. Big Boys - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. Green Shirt - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Party Girl - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. Goon Squad - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. Busy Bodies - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. Sunday's Best - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. Moods For Moderns - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. Chemistry Class - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. Two Little Hitlers - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
13. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding? - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Get Happy!!
1. Love For Tender - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Opportunity - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. Imposter, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. Secondary Modern - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. King Horse - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Possesion - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. Men Called Uncle - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. Clowntime Is Over - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. New Amsterdam - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. High Fidelity - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. I Can't Stand up For Falling Down - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. Black and White World - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
13. 5ive Gears in Reverse - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
14. B Movie - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
15. Motel Matches - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
16. Human Touch - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
17. Beaten to the Punch - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
18. Temptation - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
19. I Stand Accused - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
20. Riot Act - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Almost Blue
1. Why Don't You Love Me (Like You Used to Do?) - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Sweet Dreams - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. Success - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. I'm Your Toy - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Brown to Blue - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. Good Year For the Roses - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. Sittin' and Thinkin' - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. Colour of the Blues - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. Too Far Gone - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. Honey Hush - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. How Much I've Lied - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Trust
1. Clubland - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Lovers Walk - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. You'll Never Be a Man - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. Pretty Words - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. Strict Time - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Luxembourg - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. Watch Your Step - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. New Lace Sleeves - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. From a Whisper to a Scream - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. Different Finger - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. White Knuckles - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. Shot With His Own Gun - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
13. Fish 'N' Chip Paper - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
14. Big Sister's Clothes - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Imperial Bedroom
1. Beyond Belief - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Tears Before Bedtime - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. Shabby Doll - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. Long Honeymoon, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. Man Out of Time - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Almost Blue - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. ...And in Every Home - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. Loved Ones, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. Human Hands - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. Kid About It - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. Little Savage - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. Boy With a Problem - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
13. Pidgin English - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
14. You Little Fool - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
15. Town Cryer - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Punch the Clock
1. Let Them All Talk - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Everyday I Write the Book - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. Greatest Thing, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. Element Within Her, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. Love Went Mad - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Shipbuilding - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. World and His Wife, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. TKO (Boxing Day) - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. Charm School - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. Invisible Man, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. Mouth Almighty - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. King of Thieves - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
13. Pills and Soap - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Goodbye Cruel World
. Only Flame in Town, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
2. Home Truth - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
3. Room With No Number - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
4. Inch by Inch - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
5. Worthless Thing - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
6. Love Field - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
7. I Wanna Be Loved - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
8. Comedians, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
9. Joe Porterhouse - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
10. Sour Milk-Cow Blues - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
11. Great Unknown, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
12. Deportees Club, The - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
13. Peace in Our Time - (with Elvis Costello & The Attractions)
Blood & Chocolate
1. Uncomplicated
2. I Hope You're Happy Now
3. Tokyo Storm Warning
4. Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head
5. I Want You
6. Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?
7. Blue Chair
8. Battered Old Bird
9. Crimes of Paris
10. Poor Napoleon
11. Next Time Round
Brilliant Mistake
1. Brilliant Mistake
2. Lovable
3. Our Little Angel
4. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
5. Glitter Gulch
6. Indoor Fireworks
7. Little Palaces
8. I'll Wear It Proudly
9. American Without Tears
10. Eisenhower Blues
11. Poisoned Rose
12. Big Light, The
13. Jack Of All Parades
14. Suit Of Lights
15. Sleep Of The Jus
Spike
Mighty Like a Rose
The Juliet Letters
1. Deliver Us
2.For Other Eyes
3.Who Do You Think You Are?
4.I Almost Had A Weakness
5.Why?
7.6Dear Sweet Filthy World
8.Monk and Rowe
9.I Thought I'd Write To Juliet
10.Last Post
11.The First To Leave
12.Taking My Life In Your Hands
13.The Birds Will Still Be Singing
14.Swine
Brutal Youth
Pony St.
Kinder Murder
13 Steps Lead Down
This Is Hell
Clown Strike
You Tripped At Every Step
Still Too Soon To Know
20% Amnesia
Sulky Girl
London's Brilliant Parade
My Science Fiction Twin
Rocking Horse Road
Just About Glad
All The Rage
Favourite Hour
Kojak Variety
1. Strange
2. Hidden Charms
3. Remove This Doubt
4. I Threw It All Away
5. Leave My Kitten Alone
6. Everybody's Crying Mercy
7. I've Been Wrong Before
8. Bama Lama Bama Loo
9. Must You Throw Dirt In My Face
10. Pouring Water On A Drowning Man
11. Very Thought Of You, The
12. Payday
14. Running Out Of Fools
15. Days
All This Useless Beauty
DISC 1:
1. Other End of the Telescope, The
2. Little Atoms
3. All This Useless Beauty
4. Complicated Shadows
5. Why Can't a Man Stand Alone?
6. Distorted Angel
7. Shallow Grave
8. Poor Fractured Atlas
9. Starting to Come to Me
10. You Bowed Down
11. It's Time
12. I Want to Vanish
DISC 2:
1. Almost Ideal Eyes
2. My Dark Life - (with Brian Eno)
3. That Day Is Done - (with The Fairfield Four)
4. What Do I Do Now?
5. Bridge I Burned, The
6. It's Time - (demo)
7. Complicated Shadows - (demo)
8. You Bowed Down - (demo)
9. Mistress and Maid - (demo)
10. Distorted Angel - (demo)
11. World's Great Optimist - (demo)
12. Only Flame in Town, The - (demo)
13. Comedians, The - (demo)
14. Days Take Care of Everything, The - (demo)
15. Hidden Shame - (demo)
16. Why Can't a Man Stand Alone? - (demo)
17. Distorted Angel - (Tricky remix)
Painted from Memory
1. In The Darkest Place
2. Toledo
3. I Still Have That Other Girl
4. This House Is Empty Now
5. Tears At The Birthday Party
6. Such Unlikely Lovers
7. My Thief
8. Long Division, The
9. Painted From Memory
10. Sweetest Punch, The
11. What's Her Name Today?
12. God Give Me Strength
The Sweetest Punch: The Songs of Costello and Bacharach
1. Sweetest Punch, The
2. Toledo
3. Such Unlikely Lovers
4. This House Is Empty Now
5. Painted From Memory - (featuring Cassandra Wilson)
6. What's Her Name Today?
7. In the Darkest Place
8. Vamp Dolice
9. My Thief
10. I Still Have That Other Girl - (featuring Cassandra Wilson)
11. Painted From Memory - (reprise)
12. Long Division, The
13. Tears at the Birthday Party
14. I Still Have That Other Girl - (reprise)
15. God Give Me Strength
When I Was Cruel
1. 45
2. Spooky Girlfriend
3. Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)
4. When I Was Cruel No. 2
5. Soul For Hire
6. 15 Petals
7. Tart
8. Dust 2...
9. Dissolve
10. Alibi
11. Dust, ...
12. Daddy Can I Turn This?
13. My Little Blue Window
14. Episode Of Blonde
15. Radio Silence
North
1. You Left Me In The Dark
2. Someone Took The Words Away
3. When Did I Stop Dreaming?
4. You Turned To Me
5. Fallen
6. When It Sings
7. Still
8. Let Me Tell You About Her
9. Can You Be True?
10. When Green Eyes Turn Blue
11. I'm In The Mood Again
Cleveland Agora 12.5.77
Elvis Costello arrived as part of a late-'70s new wave of singer/songwriters, who reinvigorated the literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk. Early in his career, Costello listed "revenge and guilt" as his primary motivations, but what really counted was the construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplays in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles. Since Costello's melodic instincts were as sure as his gifts as a lyricist, his musical experiments generally drew kudos, enhancing his reputation as a quintessential critics' favorite. (Rock singer David Lee Roth once remarked that critics liked the bespectacled, nerdy Costello so much because they all looked liked him.) Granted, some members of the pop intelligentsia never forgave Costello for moving beyond the brash minimalist urgency of his first few albums; but it’s just this progress that has allowed the singer to remain a relevant, respected artist.
Costello’s father was a successful big-band singer and trumpet player. While attending Catholic school in working-class London, Costello tried playing violin and several other instruments before discovering the guitar at 15, at which point he was already interested in songwriting. Soon after, he moved to Liverpool to live with his mother, who’d divorced his father. In the early ’70s, he and his high school sweetheart married and had a son, settling in London. There, Costello continued to write, record demos, and perform (sometimes under the name D.C. Costello, his mother’s maiden name), while supporting his family as a computer operator. In 1975 he quit his job, became a roadie for Brinsley Schwarz, and got friendly with their bass player, Nick Lowe. Stiff Records signed Costello in 1976 on the advice of staff producer Lowe; one of the label’s owners, Jake Riviera, became his manager and rechristened him Elvis Costello.
Costello’s debut single, “Less Than Zero,” was released in April 1977 and was included on My Aim Is True, which Lowe produced. Soon Top 20 in England, Aim (#32 U.S.) made Costello a major British cult star and attracted critical kudos in the U.S. Costello then assembled the Attractions: keyboardist Steve “Nieve” Nason, drummer Pete Thomas, and bassist Bruce Thomas. Bolstered by his new cohorts on This Year’s Model (#30, 1978), he rocked harder, while maintaining his distinctively wounded, clipped vocal delivery. Meanwhile, his “angry young man” image was amplified by punk-friendly habits like onstage rudeness, brief sets, and an aversion to the press. In late 1978 Costello left his wife and young son, only to return to them a year later. His next release, the Top 10 Armed Forces (originally titled Emotional Facism), repeatedly equated love affairs with military maneuvers (“Oliver’s Army”). By then Costello’s style encompassed lush, Beatlesque arrangements and more diverse influences.
While he toured the U.S. to promote Armed Forces in 1979, Costello’s onstage contrariness and dark moods - sometimes induced by drinking - reached alarming proportions. In Columbus, Ohio, that March, a minor but much-publicized conflict with American singers Bonnie Bramlett and Stephen Stills occurred in a hotel bar after Costello reportedly referred to Ray Charles as a “blind, ignorant nigger.” Besides tainting his work with the Rock Against Racism organization, this outburst brought the wrath of the previously supportive press. Costello lay low for a while, producing the Specials’ 1979 debut and appearing at the Concert for Kampuchea.
Trust (#28, 1981) brought Costello back to frontline duty, and his subsequent American tour revealed an uncharacteristically polite and reserved stage manner, as if experience had mellowed the performer, who was still in his mid-20s. His touring partners were Squeeze, a critically acclaimed pop band whose 1981 LP East Side Story Costello coproduced. Later that same year Costello released Almost Blue (#50), an album of country & western covers recorded in Nashville that got mixed reviews. (A C&W aficionado, Costello later re-covered a version of his “Stranger in the House” with George Jones, while Costello’s own songs have been covered by Dave Edmunds and Linda Ronstadt.)
Imperial Bedroom (#30, 1982), in contrast, earned raves. Full of wry, elegant, haunted ballads, the album marked Costello’s most sophisticated pop craftsmanship yet, garnering comparisons to such prerock bards as Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart. With 1983’s Punch the Clock (#24), Costello continued to move beyond the punk minimalism of his early work, serving up soulful, accessible pop (“Everyday I Write the Book,” a Top 40 U.S. hit) and serious balladry (the politically astute “Shipbuilding”). While less consistent, 1984’s Goodbye Cruel World (#35) also found him diversifying in this vein. Costello’s personal life was also undergoing changes. Estranged again from his wife, he struck up a relationship with the Pogues’ bassist Caitlin O’Riordan while the Irish band toured with him in the fall of 1984. (Costello also produced the Pogues’ 1985 album, Rum, Sodomy & the Lash.) Costello divorced his wife in 1985 and married O’Riordan in 1986. Also in 1986, Costello temporarily traded in the Attractions for a pickup band he called the Confederates - former Elvis Presley musicians guitarist James Burton, drummer Ronnie Tutt, and bassist Jerry Scheff - who appeared with him on all but one cut (on which the Attractions appeared) on the lushly melodic King of America (#39). Later that year, Costello reenlisted the Attractions for the more raucous Blood and Chocolate (#84). The tour to promote both these albums alternated between sets featuring the Attractions, the Confederates, and Costello performing solo, acoustically. In addition, Costello designed the Spinning Songbook, a device through which audience members could “choose,” by luck of the draw, songs from his vast repertoire.
In 1987 Costello cowrote a bunch of songs with Paul McCartney, several of which materialized two years later on Spike (#32). Costello’s 1989 album - which also included support from Roger McGuinn, Chrissie Hynde, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band - produced a Top 20 hit in the McCartney-Costello collaboration “Veronica” (#19, 1989) and went gold. Some critics found Spike inconsistent, though, preferring the subsequent collection Girls Girls Girls, on which Costello chronicled his career thus far with his own favorite material.
Like Spike, 1991’s Mighty Like a Rose (#55) was made without the Attractions, and was perceived as lacking focus. In 1993, though, Costello found a new sense of direction in perhaps his most ambitious project yet: The Juliet Letters (#125), a song cycle he wrote and performed with the string players in England’s Brodsky Quartet, inspired by an article about letters sent to Shakespeare’s character Juliet Capulet, received by a Veronese academic. The album and subsequent tour drew wild praise from some, while baffling or putting off others. Meanwhile, in the ’90s, Rykodisc began releasing the early Costello albums on compact disc, with extra tracks consisting of live and previously unreleased recordings.
In 1994 Costello reunited with the Attractions for Brutal Youth (which also featured Nick Lowe); the maturely rocking results garnered almost unanimous acclaim, and the album climbed to #34. That summer, Costello began touring with the Attractions, marking a reconciliation between Costello and bassist Bruce Thomas, whose published memoirs had enraged the singer. In 1995 Costello was back on his own (with some help from Attractions drummer Pete Thomas and a handful of studio musicians) with Kojak Variety (#102), a cover album featuring songs by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Bob Dylan, among others. The following year he covered himself on All This Useless Beauty (#53), which highlighted several original Costello songs that had been recorded by other artists. Also in 1996 the cynical Costello surprised critics and fans by collaborating with ’60s love-song composer Burt Bacharach for the soundtrack to the film Grace of My Heart. Their cowritten effort, “God Give Me Strength,” was featured in the movie, nominated for a Grammy, and paved the way for the duo to write enough songs to record their own album, Painted From Memory (1998). A track from that album, “I Still Have That Other Girl,” won the pair a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. Costello and Bacharach became so well known as artistic partners that they appeared together in a cameo as themselves in the comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999. Costello lightened up enough to appear as himself in the Spice Girls movie Spice World (1997) and the ’80s nostalgia flick 200 Cigarettes (1999). The artist continues to tour, sometimes as a duo with Attractions keyboardist Nieve. He has recorded with his son Matthew and Supergrass drummer Danny Goffrey. In the late ’90s and 2000, he contributed original songs to movie soundtracks and returned to dabbling in classical music: He played on classical saxophonist John Harle’s 1997 album Terror & Magnificence and in 2000 produced songs for Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.
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