Declan Patrick MacManus, known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television presenter. According to Rolling Stone, Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical traditions of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison with the raw energy and sass that were principal ethics of punk", noting the "construction of his songs, which set densely layered wordplay in an ever-expanding repertoire of styles." His first album, My Aim Is True (1977), is widely regarded as one of the best debuts in popular music history. It spawned no hit singles, but contains some of Costello's best-known songs, including the ballad "Alison". Costello's next two albums, This Year's Model (1978) and Armed Forces (1979), recorded with his backing band the Attractions, helped define the new wave genre. From late 1977 through early 1980, each of the eight singles he released reached the UK Top 30. His biggest hit single, "Oliver's Army" (1979), sold more than 400,000 copies in Britain. He has had more modest commercial success in the US, but has earned much critical praise. From 1977 through the early 2000s, Costello's albums regularly ranked high on the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll, with This Year's Model and Imperial Bedroom (1982) voted the best album of their respective years. His biggest US hit single, "Veronica" (1989), reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
David Kent Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requinto jarocho, percussion, drums and guitar as a session musician on other artists' releases.
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night is a 1988 Cinemax television special originally broadcast on January 3, 1988, presenting a performance by singer/songwriter Roy Orbison and the TCB Band with special guests including Bruce Springsteen, k.d. lang and others. The special was filmed entirely in black and white. After the broadcast, the concert was released on VHS and Laserdisc, and a live album was released in 1989.
Imperial Bedroom is the seventh studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his sixth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas. It was released on 2 July 1982 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Recording took place at AIR Studios in London from late 1981 to early 1982 with production handled by Geoff Emerick. Placing an emphasis on studio experimentation, the album saw the group use unusual instruments, including harpsichord, accordion and strings arranged by Nieve. Songs were rewritten constantly while Costello tinkered with the recordings, adding numerous overdubs.
Mighty Like a Rose is the 13th studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1991 on compact disc as Warner Brothers 26575. The title is presumably a reference to the pop standard "Mighty Lak' a Rose", and although that song does not appear on the album, the words of its first stanza are quoted in the booklet of the 2002 reissue. It peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, and at No. 55 on the Billboard 200.
Spike is the 12th studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1989 by Warner Bros. Records. It was his first album for the label and first release since My Aim Is True without the Attractions. It peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and also reached the Billboard 200 at No. 32, thanks to the single and his most notable American hit, "Veronica", which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the US Modern Rock chart. In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, Spike finished at No. 7.
Blood & Chocolate is the eleventh studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1986 through Demon Records (UK) and Columbia Records (US). It is his ninth album with his long-standing backing band the Attractions. After his previous album King of America (1986) with producer T-Bone Burnett had largely featured different musicians, this album reunited him with producer Nick Lowe and his usual backing group the Attractions.
King of America is the tenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 21 February 1986. Co-produced by Costello and T Bone Burnett, the album originated following a series of tours the two made under the name "the Coward Brothers". Recording took place in mid-1985 at various studios in Los Angeles, California, with a group of American session musicians dubbed "the Confederates". Selected by Burnett, they included Ray Brown, Earl Palmer and former members of Elvis Presley's TCB Band. Costello's regular backing band, the Attractions, were intended to appear on half of the album before poor sessions led to them appearing on only one track, "Suit of Lights".
A Black & White Night Live is a Roy Orbison music album made posthumously by Virgin Records from the HBO television special, Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night, which was filmed in 1987 and broadcast in 1988. According to the authorised Roy Orbison biography, the album was released in October 1989 and included the song "Blue Bayou" which because of time constraints had been deleted from the televised broadcast. However, it did not include the songs "Claudette" and "Blue Angel", which were also cut from the original broadcast for the same reason.
Goodbye Cruel World is the ninth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his eighth with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas. It was released on 18 June 1984 through F-Beat Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. Produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who returned from 1983's Punch the Clock, the album was recorded at London's Sarm West Studios in March 1984 during a period of turmoil for the artist. The problematic sessions included disagreements between Costello and the producers over the album's direction and high tensions amongst the Attractions.
All This Useless Beauty is the seventeenth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1996 by Warner Bros. Records. It is his tenth and final album with his long-standing backing band the Attractions, and the last album he delivered under his contract to the Warner Bros. label, his contract expiring with a further compilation album, Extreme Honey. It peaked at number 28 on the UK album chart, and at number 53 on the Billboard 200.
Deep Dead Blue is a live album by Elvis Costello with Bill Frisell, released in 1995. It was recorded at the Meltdown Festival in 25 June 1995.
Brutal Youth is an album by English musician Elvis Costello, released in 1994. It contains the first recordings Costello made with his band the Attractions since Blood and Chocolate (1986). Brutal Youth was the third, and most recent of Costello's albums, to peak at number two in the UK Albums Chart, following on from Armed Forces (1979) and Get Happy!! (1980).
The Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions is a compilation album by English musician Elvis Costello and his backing band the Attractions, released in 1985. It was the first of what would be many career-spanning compilation albums of previously released material for Costello.
"Almost Blue" is a song recorded by English group Elvis Costello and the Attractions from their sixth studio album, Imperial Bedroom (1982). Written by Costello and produced by Geoff Emerick, the track shares the name of the group's previous 1981 studio album. It was released on 2 July 1982 along with the rest of Imperial Bedroom, and would later be included on side two of The Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1985). A traditional pop song, "Almost Blue" contains lyrics that compare a former relationship to a present one.
National Ransom is a studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 25 October 2010 through the Hear Music label. It was recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles with American songwriter and producer T Bone Burnett. The album's cover art is made by Maakies creator Tony Millionaire.
"Blue Chair" is a song written by new wave musician Elvis Costello and recorded by Costello with his backing band the Attractions. The song first appeared on Costello's 1986 album, Blood & Chocolate. First intended for Costello's previous album King of America, the song was scrapped during that session and reworked with the Attractions around Steve Nieve's piano part.
Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes is an album produced by T Bone Burnett featuring a collective of musicians recording under the moniker The New Basement Tapes—Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford.
"Suit of Lights" is a song written and performed by new wave musician Elvis Costello that was first released on his 1986 album King of America. Written about Costello's memories of his father, the song includes introspective lyrics about the "dubious embrace of celebrity" while also featuring the sole performance of the Attractions on the album, who were largely supplanted by the studio professionals of the Confederates on the rest of King of America.
"Jack of All Parades" is a song by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, which was released on his tenth studio album King of America (1986). The song was written by Costello, credited under his real name Declan MacManus, and produced by T Bone Burnett, Costello and Larry Kalman Hirsch. As a musician, Costello is credited on the track as "The Little Hands of Concrete". It is a love song, inspired by his new relationship with Cait O'Riordan of the Pogues, and is unusual in Costello's catalogue for being a positive love song.
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