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Elvis Costello : Icons of Pop Music - Dai Griffiths

Elvis Costello

By: Dai Griffiths

Paperback | 6 December 2007 | Edition Number 1

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It’s likely that, as an icon of pop music, Elvis Costello still looks like the cover of This Year’s Model (1978) and, were he run over by a bus, it’s ‘Oliver’s Army’ (1979) that would be played in surprised and sombre tribute. Here to stay, and recognized by Burt Bacharach as ‘a great survivor’, Costello has produced a large and significant body of work. This is the first book on Costello that sets out to avoid chronological presentation, preferring a thematic approach focused on music and words over the nearly thirty years that separate ‘Radio Sweetheart’ and ‘Country Darkness’. In addition to engaging with the songs Costello has performed as a rock musician, the book will include informed discussion of more recent albums such as Painted from Memory, North, and Il Sogno. There is also discussion of essays Costello has written to support CD reissues of his recordings, a substantial body of writing approaching a critical autobiography. The book may contradict expectation, arguing that on all fronts – music, words, voice, instrumental resource – Costello’s work broadens and deepens, as he sets himself the task of expanding the range of expressive material available.

Industry Reviews
As part of the "Icons of Pop Music" series, this book looks at what madeCostello such an icon. Griffiths (Oxford Brookes Univ., UK) documents Costello'srise to popularity since he emerged in the 1970s alternative pop/punk scene inLondon. To illustrate how Costello is unique among iconic musicians, the authorlooks in particular at how artists in prior decades influenced Costello's music andlyrical content. Griffiths analyzes Costello's music in a variety of ways: forexample, he looks at Costello's approach to music, his vocal style, the crossover toclassical music, his harmonics, and his poetic accomplishments (for the last, heuses a method created by Larry David Smith). Griffiths also considers Costello'slyrics, both the political and the romantic, and even inspects his liner notes onhis own albums years after their initial release. Last, Griffiths scrutinizes thosewho have written about Costello's music, including prominent critics Nick Kent, Greil Marcus, and Robert Christgau. Sum

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