Elvis Costello

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London, United Kingdom

Declan Patrick MacManus was born 25th August 1954, in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington in London. He is the son of trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader Ronald (“Ross”) MacManus and record store manager Lillian Costello. His family had roots in Merseyside and he moved to Birkenhead at age 16, with his mother, when his parents separated.

He is better known by the name Elvis Costello - a stage name suggested by Stiff Records manager Jake Riviera - but has used many other aliases including The Imposter and Napoleon Dynamite*.

In the early 1970s Costello was a participant in London’s pub rock scene with the group Flip City. Then in 1977 along with fellow Pub-Rockers Nick Lowe and Ian Dury he made his first releases on the independent label Stiff, tailoring his work towards the punk and new wave scenes. From 1980’s Armed Forces onwards, however, other influences including soul, country, 1960s pop, and classical music began to re-emerge, and he soon became established as a unique and original voice. His output has been wildly diverse: one critic has written that “Costello, the pop encyclopedia, can reinvent the past in his own image”.

His prolific and varied 30-year career has been marked by two constants: sharp songwriting and musical restlessness. The latter has seen him dabble in almost every musical form, from country to jazz to orchestral. This stems from the fact that, at heart, Costello is a fan. His desire to work with his musical heroes has attracted collaborators as diverse as Burt Bacharach and Paul McCartney, Anne Sofie von Otter, Allen Toussaint, Aimee Mann, Bill Frisell, and Brian Eno.

Tagged as:

rock, singer-songwriter, new wave, classic rock, alternative
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Hangthe_DJ wrote:
Monday morning

Went to the Taste of Minnesota on the 4th just to see him.. it was an incredible show!!

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Cagaphan wrote:
Sunday morning

Allllison my aim is true

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Kowaqqatzi wrote:
last week

I want you is his best song, by faaaaaaaar

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tjms wrote:
last week

i love this guy

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Justin1983 wrote:
last week

"... and if you're gagged and bound, well how can I corrupt you?"

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Ibby2506 wrote:
last month

He is the man.

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arenescu wrote:
last month

A genius.

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pumpkinbaby wrote:
last month

I just saw him at Bonnaroo- SO GOOD LIVE

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musiclovr89 wrote:
last month

I love "North". I just listened to his new album, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" that was released on 6/2/09. It's amazing! Elvis Costello is the man , and he just keeps getting better. In this new CD he dives into the roots of Americana with T-Bone Burnett, the king of country folk. This is an amazing CD, his voice suits this genre and the tunes sound better with each listen. There's a signed acoustic guitar on Ebay right now.. (http://bit.ly/V1tQC) I would kill for this buy but I can't afford it right now.. :(

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Drewwww wrote:
last month

As for the new album, I can tell the band he works with is talented (if not suited to him) and the production is cool, but for me the songs themselves are just kaput. Costello seems to have totally given up phrasing his vocal melodies in a pleasing or even interesting way. Though to be fair I don't like any of his albums after King of America so I guess you could say I'm not a love-him-warts-and-all sort of Costello fan.

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zeppyfish wrote:
last month

I quite like the new album, but I'm a big fan of King of America as well. Actually, it reminds me in some ways of All This Useless Beauty, in that he took a bunch of tunes written for various projects & other people, went into the studio and banged them out in three days time. Nice, relaxed vibe, and T-Bone's production is top notch.

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ILLUSiONER86 wrote:
last month

Greate songwriter!!!! "North" grrrreaaat toooo!!!!!!!!!!!

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chinapig wrote:
May 2009

Has there ever been a better band thanThe Attractions (apart from The Imposters)? Maybe The Blockheads? Or The Band?

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Jrecklin wrote:
May 2009

New album is leaked. First impression- meh. Hopefully with more spins I will like it better.

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j-e-k-y-l-l wrote:
May 2009

she maybe the beauty or the beast !

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RagaDrop wrote:
May 2009

"Everybody just scrobbles him as "Elvis Costello" right? You don't do & the Attractions or & the Imposters?" I scrobble him as Elvis Costello when it's his first record and later solo stuff. But otherwise I scrobble it as Elvis Costello & the Attractions. Works fine with me :) Like his first and the Attractions stint best. He's awesome anyway ;)

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anqiwong wrote:
May 2009

big fan of diana krall came up check elvis out :)

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VanaoTX wrote:
May 2009

30 rock

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Justin1983 wrote:
May 2009

@knappis: what the hell are you talking about? [2]

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[deleted-user] wrote:
May 2009

my favorite british guy.

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Events

Aug 7 SUMMER SONIC 09 Chiba Marine Stadium & Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Tokyo, Japan
75 shouts | 284 attendees
Aug 7 SUMMER SONIC 09 舞洲サマーソニック大阪特設会場, Osaka, 大阪,大阪市, Japan
25 shouts | 62 attendees
Aug 17 Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA, San Jose CA, United States
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