| Elvis Costello News: |
| DECLAN MCMANUS'S father was a jazz bandleader, and he was often given copies of the popular records of the day, which he passed on to his son. It was these recordings by the Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, and the stars of Motown that instilled in McManus a love of rock and roll and laid the foundation for his own musical style. When he graduated from high school in Liverpool, he found a day job as a computer operator (a profession that placed such a strain on his eyes that he began wearing his now signature glasses) and played clubs at night. In 1974, he moved to London and became front man for a country-rock group called Flip City. As the group's songwriter, he was soon recording demos, which he began sending to British record companies in hopes of landing a deal for himself. The only taker was Stiff Records, an emerging label in the punk and new wave scene. There he met Nick Lowe, who would become his longtime collaborator, and Jake Riviera, who would later become his manager. It was Riviera who gave McManus the idea to change his name: "Elvis" was chosen as a challenge to the rock establishment, and "Costello" was McManus's mother's maiden name. |
| Event | Date | Tickets | Venue |
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Marcus Amphitheater
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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DTE Energy Music Center
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Post Gazette Pavilion At Star Lake
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Comcast Center - MA
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Saratoga Performing Arts Ctr
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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PNC Bank Center
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
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The Police
vs. Elvis Costello
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7:30 pm
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Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
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| More Elvis Costello News: |
| Costello was given only twenty-four hours of studio time to record his first album, and was backed by an American country-western bar band named Clover (their lead singer at the time, who didn't participate in the sessions, was Huey Lewis). Two singles, "Less Than Zero" and "Alison," were released with little fanfare. In a desperate attempt to secure a distribution deal, Costello strapped a Pignose amplifier on his back and played in front of the Hilton in London, where a CBS Records international convention was taking place. He was soon arrested, but he signed with the label.
His first album, titled My Aim Is True, was released in 1977 on Columbia, and was immediately hailed as one of the finest debuts in rock history. It was embraced by the new wave and punk underground scene for its energy and scathing, cynical observations on relationships and sexual misadventures (Costello said at the time his motivation came from "revenge and guilt"); critics loved it for its literacy and eclectic musical ideas, and went so far as to vote it "Album of the Year" in Rolling Stone's annual poll. Costello assembled a backing band called the Attractions and began touring America, where he managed to anger the staff of Saturday Night Live by replacing "Less Than Zero" with "Radio, Radio" (the band played the opening strains of the former and without stopping, launched into the latter, a scathing indictment of radio, the music industry, and for that moment, U.S. network television). |