New Year's Resolutions for EC

[cwr]

Presumptuous of me, I know, but I wrote some New Year's Resolutions for Elvis Costello:

http://connorratliff.tumblr.com/post/39 ... costello-i

Nothing I haven't posted on this forum before-- they're really just WISHES I have for things I wish Costello would do-- but maybe 2013 will be the year that some of them come true...

Happy New Year, everybody!

[History History]

Cwr, Elvis could do a lot worse than have you as his new manager!

[Jack of All Parades]

Second that suggestion as to management! Nothing presumptuous about your suggestions; as usual they are reasoned, passionately expressed and cogent. It is somewhat sad the way he 'moans in his cups' about the state of the record industry and the death of its old distribution models and seemingly refuses to embrace many of the basic new models you elaborate upon. He could do far worse than have you take him by his well tailored lapels and shake him up a bit as to the new electronic recording and information world we all need to be comfortable within [me in particular- hell, I could use some lessons from you]. Hope one of his aides or assistants is reading your suggestions and has the gumption to forceably pass them on.

[sulky lad]

This wont happen but I'd be grateful, particularly if Elvis isn't going to release any new material, for a resumption of either the reissues CDs with a second live disc included or the continuation of the stand alone live releases that ended abruptly with Hollywood High. I want to hear Guernsey 1980 with Otis whooping in a teenage frenzy

[Dr. Luther]

I agree about the reissues.
The deluxe edition of My Aim Is True was a spectacular item.

If they keep digging up demos and alternate takes, and couple them with a pertinent live disc, I'll keep buying albums of which I have multiple copies.

Sad, but true.

[FAVEHOUR]

I'll add another: if he won't do any of the things Connor suggests, how about some more episodes of Spectacle?

[Azmuda]

how about some more episodes of Spectacle?

Episode 3-01: Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... Graham Parker / The Rumour

• 01. "Don't Lose Your Grip On Love" - EC with Brinsley Schwarz, Bob Andrews, Davey Faragher, Pete Thomas
  02. "Watching The Detectives" - EC with Andrew Bodnar, Steve Goulding and Steve Nieve
  03. "Howlin' Wind" - GP & EC with The Rumour
  04. "I'm Not Angry" - EC & GP with The Imposters
  05. "Watch The Moon Come Down" - EC & GP with The Imposters & The Rumour
  06. "Fool's Gold" - EC & GP with The Imposters & The Rumour

[Dr. Luther]

...02. "Watching The Detectives" - EC with Andrew Bodnar, Steve Goulding and Steve Nieve...

[migdd]

how about some more episodes of Spectacle?

Episode 3-01: Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... Graham Parker / The Rumour

• 01. "Don't Lose Your Grip On Love" - EC with Brinsley Schwarz, Bob Andrews, Davey Faragher, Pete Thomas
  02. "Watching The Detectives" - EC with Andrew Bodnar, Steve Goulding and Steve Nieve
  03. "Howlin' Wind" - GP & EC with The Rumour
  04. "I'm Not Angry" - EC & GP with The Imposters
  05. "Watch The Moon Come Down" - EC & GP with The Imposters & The Rumour
  06. "Fool's Gold" - EC & GP with The Imposters & The Rumour

Yes!!! I'm getting a nut just daydreaming about this.

[cwr]

Of course, it goes without saying that these wishes of mine are purely selfish-- it may well be that Costello is having a blast touring with the Spinning Songbook and spending time with his wife and young kids.

He surely doesn't OWE any of us anything-- I have a feeling that were he to read my post in some form, he would think it was awfully demanding.

But it's more that I find it depressing on his behalf that he hasn't figured a way to embrace the Internet as a new way of getting music out all over the world. As someone who was super-innovative in the first 2 decades of his career-- putting out records in all kinds of fun and unpredictable ways-- and who has continued to make really good records over the past ten years, it's been hard to watch him struggle in the "marketplace" of the 2000s. Experiments like Momofuku ended up being just commercial failures, and the only move that really WORKED was selling SP&SC in Starbucks, a trick which got him his highest US chart debut in years.

I think he would ultimately find a lot of satisfaction in the latter stages of his career in being able to record a song, put it online, and suddenly have people all over the WORLD buying it immediately. He could write a song about something that happened this morning and have people on the other side of the planet buying it within the hour.

Granted, Costello was so busy from 1977 to 2010-- so many songs, so many recordings, so many concerts-- that he may well just be tired of the grind of it, especially as the act of making new records hasn't led to a great many record sales for him over the course of the past decade. I'd venture a guess that In Motion Pictures might be one of the lowest-selling releases of his entire career (for a lot of reasons), and has probably served to re-confirm his suspicion that it's just no longer worth the effort.

BUT... I still think if he ever really TRIES to do something ambitious via the Internet, and announces it in a big way-- "Elvis Costello To Release A New Song Every Week"-- he would get some attention and it would work. Big moves like that-- like when Stephin Merritt released 69 Love Songs, look how an ambitious act like that can grab people's attention, it put The Magnetic Fields on the map for a lot of people who'd never heard of them; or when Radiohead released In Rainbows with its audacious Pay What You Want scheme that made them more money than they'd ever made for a record via traditional record company releases-- could be the type of thing to make Costello relevant again in a way that none of his recent efforts have been. Costello got more attention for disowning the price of his Spinning Songbook live box set than he got when he was desperately trying to promote National Ransom, because it was a bold, audacious move.

I'd say that a "New Record Every Week" gambit would get a lot more notice than if he put out any new album.

[Heats101]

I am not particularly fussed about the ultimate format of any new compositions but what we need are new songs ! Post Spinning song book tours ( which are just about past their sell by date ?) will need such material to spice up any "normal" concerts he subsequently does. The majority of his performances (that I attended ) during the time of any new release strongly showcased the new stuff he had just written. So what is he going to do in his live performances to maintain his and our interest ? Re workings of old songs, rare album tracks and b sides ( and of course the crowd pleasers ) in concert can only go so far as to fill the void.

[Lester Burnham]

If you check the ASCAP site (https://www.ascap.com/Home/ace-title-search/index.aspx), there are a handful of titles since 'Sparkling Day' that have been registered. I'm sure a few of them are for TV shows or whatever, but here's what's new to me:

Am I Laying Tinder At My Own Stake?
For More Tears
Give Thy Soul To Me
I Can't Say Her Name
Lucky Dog
Mischievous Nights
Mister To You
Moon Is High
Sparkling Day
That's Me
The Uncrowned King
They're Not Laughing At Me Now
This Gift
Twist Of Barbwire
Under The Spreading Stanley Laurel
What Is It That I Need That I Don't Already Have
Wrong Wrong Wrong About Me

[Poor Deportee]

I like every one of cwr's suggestions.

It probably is the case that EC is a bit burnt-out; raising twins can be a challenge even for someone with his advantages, and the death of a parent, especially one to whom one is close, can be very hard to deal with. Like others, then, I don't fault him for silence. It's his life after all. But I also don't faulty cwr's wish-list. While EC would probably regard it with contempt, as some attempt to make him a slave to fans' whims, it is at root a heartfelt compliment to the artist.

I have a hard time believing that the up-and-coming Elvis of the 1970s would not have been all over the internet as an experimental medium for distributing his music. Just as he seems to have become more conservative regarding recording techniques (no longer using vocal distortion and generally minimizing sonic tricks, even interesting ones), so does he seem to have become rather hidebound in this respect - in effect lamenting the collapse of the old industry model he originally reviled. EC is in the rare, privileged and hard-earned position of having a significant audience for anything he does. A shame he declines to use it to full effect.

[Neil.]

That's great news about the newly-registered songs! Lots of the stuff on National Ransom are as good as anything he's ever written, so I'm looking forward to hearing 'em. It's always exciting to see his new song titles. I'll bet the Stan Laurel one is a continuation of his 1930s-style stuff, a la 'Josephine' and 'Jimmy's Standing in the Rain'.

I don't know the man, but he does sometimes come across as proud (quite rightly, given his talent!) so I don't know how he would take other people's suggestions about his career moves. But Connor's heartfelt piece does seem sensible.

[verbal gymnastics]

I loved these ideas.

We've all contributed to our frustration at Elvis' stance at times.

He's still not recording new material (or at least, nothing is coming out either in concert or commercially). His original marketing was terrific but to my memory recalls it started going downhill with the release of Green Shirt back in the day.

I agree that the release of a new song every week on the webbernet would generate interest - God knows, he could do this or a year and still have loads to spare. They wouldn't have to be new songs. He does some fabulous covers and I'd love to hear the full version of Dark End of the Street that came out on The Delivery Man 2 cd set.

[cwr]

I very much agree that Elvis would probably hate/resent my list, despite it being really just an expression of wishes for more of what he does best-- make records!

It is also true that his personal life has been especially busy of late, and it may be that he has simply reached a point where he no longer feels driven to make recordings or put them out-- he's done his fair share, and if it reaches a point where it's not as much fun, then why would he bother?

My only caveat to this is that I think he WOULD very quickly come to enjoy it if he started something and it got attention and acclaim. A song-a-week from Elvis Costello would generate buzz, just as Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour got a lot of buzz (and that was just Dylan playing DJ, not generating new material.) The technology has reached a point where EC can make his own recordings at home for almost no money (true, it won't be IbMePdErRoIoAmL, but he's tended to favor a more basic approach to making records in recent years anyway.)

If something like this ever happens, it will be a real thrill. But if it doesn't, there are plenty of Costello records to enjoy forever even if he never makes another peep outside of a Spinning Songbook concert...

[Poor Deportee]

I very much agree that Elvis would probably hate/resent my list, despite it being really just an expression of wishes for more of what he does best-- make records!

It is also true that his personal life has been especially busy of late, and it may be that he has simply reached a point where he no longer feels driven to make recordings or put them out-- he's done his fair share, and if it reaches a point where it's not as much fun, then why would he bother?

My only caveat to this is that I think he WOULD very quickly come to enjoy it if he started something and it got attention and acclaim. A song-a-week from Elvis Costello would generate buzz, just as Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour got a lot of buzz (and that was just Dylan playing DJ, not generating new material.) The technology has reached a point where EC can make his own recordings at home for almost no money (true, it won't be IbMePdErRoIoAmL, but he's tended to favor a more basic approach to making records in recent years anyway.)

If something like this ever happens, it will be a real thrill. But if it doesn't, there are plenty of Costello records to enjoy forever even if he never makes another peep outside of a Spinning Songbook concert...

I've boldfaced what I suspect is - emotional burnout aside - a key variable. While EC has sometimes spoken as though the intrinsic rewards (fun, artistic gratification) are what drives him, if you track his interviews over the years, you find a pretty gigantic ego that demands a pretty gigantic public stroking...not to mention a significant degree of hard graft (i.e., a desire to make money). His petulance about his lack of commercial success is vaguely reminiscent of Billy Corgan's melodramatic Quitting of the Music Business because his music was being massively outsold by crap. On some level, the guy wants to be a star and seems deeply ambivalent about being a revered but poor-selling boutique act. It's frustrating that he is such a drama queen, but I guess you don't get to be Elvis Costello without having that element to your personality. Contrast EC's rather ungracious approach to his current commercial position with Nick Lowe's impeccably classy view of his own place, and you get an instructive juxtaposition between petulance and graciousness.

[Jack of All Parades]

I On some level, the guy wants to be a star and seems deeply ambivalent about being a revered but poor-selling boutique act. It's frustrating that he is such a drama queen, but I guess you don't get to be Elvis Costello without having that element to your personality. Contrast EC's rather ungracious approach to his current commercial position with Nick Lowe's impeccably classy view of his own place, and you get an instructive juxtaposition between petulance and graciousness.

I have no problem with a big, healthy ego and a desire for success- just own up to it. Ironically, it was Nick Lowe who many years ago cited EC's love of the trappings of fame in an interview noting how he loved to hang with the Elton John's of this world. You rightly offer Mr. Lowe as an 'impeccable' example of how to age gracefully as a performer. I like that example very much.

[Poor Deportee]

I On some level, the guy wants to be a star and seems deeply ambivalent about being a revered but poor-selling boutique act. It's frustrating that he is such a drama queen, but I guess you don't get to be Elvis Costello without having that element to your personality. Contrast EC's rather ungracious approach to his current commercial position with Nick Lowe's impeccably classy view of his own place, and you get an instructive juxtaposition between petulance and graciousness.

I have no problem with a big, healthy ego and a desire for success- just own up to it. Ironically, it was Nick Lowe who many years ago cited EC's love of the trappings of fame in an interview noting how he loved to hang with the Elton John's of this world. You rightly offer Mr. Lowe as an 'impeccable' example of how to age gracefully as a performer. I like that example very much.

Indeed! Unlike some music fans, I'm 100% fine with performers having massive commercial ambitions (provided they do not compromise their artistic integrity in order to fulfill them, something EC has never done). I think it's a tragedy that someone as gifted as Kurt Cobain suffered enormous anxiety over whether his own success somehow meant he had compromised his ideals. By contrast, one great thing about U2 - a band about which I'm deeply ambivalent - was their determination to be the biggest game in town, to have their music blaring from radios and TVs. The Beatles and Dylan were the same way at their peaks. And I never blame anyone for wanting to make money. I was poor for enough years to know that it utterly sucks.

So as you say, it's not that that's the problem, it's the melodramatic bitching about it! EC has a little too much about him of the kid who takes his ball and goes home when he starts losing. You had years of commercial clout, now they're over, you're still in an unusually privileged position. That's showbiz, get over it.

[The imposter]

Well if David Bowie can make another record after a 10 year absence, anything is possible.. Hope we don't have to wait till 2010 for the next EC long player.

[verbal gymnastics]

Well if David Bowie can make another record after a 10 year absence, anything is possible.. Hope we don't have to wait till 2010 for the next EC long player.

We won't have to unless a Tin Machine - I mean Time Machine - is invented

[Jack of All Parades]

Well if David Bowie can make another record after a 10 year absence, anything is possible.. Hope we don't have to wait till 2010 for the next EC long player.

We won't have to unless a Tin Machine - I mean Time Machine - is invented

Let us hope he doesn't have a 'tin ear' by that time!1

[migdd]

Well if David Bowie can make another record after a 10 year absence, anything is possible.. Hope we don't have to wait till 2010 for the next EC long player.

We won't have to unless a Tin Machine - I mean Time Machine - is invented

Let us hope he doesn't have a 'tin ear' by that time!1

I expect more songs in the style of Tin Pan Alley will emerge before 10 years have elapsed.

[veronicacostello]

I think a really excellent resolution for Elvis would be to play a show in Minneapolis and then have a couple of free hours reserved specifically to hang out with me after the show.

How's that for selfish?

[veronicacostello]

I see Elvis as being fairly busy as-is, for someone with young kids. As the mom of a boy who's just turned 7, I am shocked at how quickly these years are flying by. The hours I am away from my son are hours I'll never get back, and I find myself being more and more aware of it the older he gets.

I think all parents probably go through this to some extent, and my hunch is that Elvis might be prioritizing family time as much as he possibly can.