Born in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in London, Costello is the son of trumpeter, vocalist and band-leader 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. While he is better known as 'Elvis Costello', a stage name referring to the legendary Elvis Presley suggested by Stiff Records manager Jake Riviera, he 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 burgeoning punk, power pop, 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.
But his most successful partners were his long-term band The Attractions. They comprised Steve Nieve (keyboards), Pete Thomas (drums) and Bruce Thomas (bass). Between 1978 and 1983, this outfit produced a peerless series of albums: This Year's Model; Armed Forces; Get Happy!!; Almost Blue; Trust; Imperial Bedroom and Punch the Clock.
These recordings drew on styles spanning soul, country and western and commercial pop. It was only with 1984's Goodbye Cruel World that Costello started to stumble. An album he concedes was one of his worst, it ushered in a period which produced interesting music but lacked the consistent quality of his halcyon days. Interestingly, although he enlisted the other Elvis's band for King of America in 1986, it was a reunion with The Attractions and former producer Nick Lowe that produced his best album of the late 1980s in the form of the scabrous Blood and Chocolate.
The following albums, Spike and Mighty Like a Rose were uncompromising and difficult solo works, as was the string quartet collaboration The Juliet Letters in 1993. It was only reconvening the Attractions for Brutal Youth the following year that gave his fans another glimpse of what first attracted them to him: punchy, angry pop songs, tightly played by an impeccably taut ensemble.
Since then, Costello has become a career dilettante, true to his inner musical quest, but never again returning to heights he scaled in the early 1980s. Maybe the best work of this latter period was 1998's Painted from Memory. This joint effort with Burt Bacharach matched restrained writing from Costello with stately Bacharach arrangements.
Subsequent career nadirs such as the tune-free North (2003), and instrumental orchestral works such as Il Sogno (2004) led many long-term admirers to conclude that Costello had retained his integrity at the expense of his real musical strengths. However, he has given occasional evidence of his former fire. The ballsy bar-room atmosphere of the collaborative The Delivery Man (2004), suggests that he is still capable of giving his fans what they want, in between his more esoteric experiments.
Elvis is married to jazz vocalist Diana Krall and they have twin sons.
*Upon the film's release, it was noted that the name "Napoleon Dynamite" had originally been used by musician Elvis Costello, most visibly on his 1986 album Blood and Chocolate, although he had used the pseudonym on a single B-side as early as 1982. Filmmaker Jared Hess claims that he was not aware of Costello's use of the name until two days before the end of shooting, when he was informed by a teenage extra. He later said, "Had I known that name was used by anybody else prior to shooting the whole film, it definitely would have been changed ... I listen to hip-hop, dude. It's a pretty embarrassing coincidence." Hess claims that "Napoleon Dynamite" was the name of a man he met around the year 2000 on the streets of Cicero, Illinois while doing missionary work for the Mormon Church.
Costello believes that Hess stole the name: "The guy just denies completely that I made the name up... but I invented it. Maybe somebody told him the name and he truly feels that he came about it by chance. But it's two words that you're never going to hear together." To date, Costello has taken no legal action against the film.
Elvis Costello and Elton John to Make a Television 'Spectacle'
Two of the most respected musicians in the world will collaborate on an extraordinary new television series.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is hosted by its namesake and produced in conjunction with Sir Elton John's Rocket Pictures. Elton John will be one of the program's Executive Producers.
The series begain airing in 2008 on CTV in Canada, Channel 4 in the UK and Sundance Channel in the US. FremantleMedia Enterprises, will handle sales of the show to the rest of the world.
Conceived to provide a forum for in-depth discussion and performance with the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time, the show fuses the best of talk and music television.
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." is an unpredictable and unprecedented television experience. The series of 13 one-hour programs features everything from intimate one-on-ones with legendary performers and notable newcomers to thematic panel discussions, with a variety of performance elements including unique collaborations, acoustic and impromptu "illustrative" demonstrations of the creative process, and some original interpretations of others' songs by Costello.
Clubland
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Going off-limits, going off duty
Going off the rails, going off with booty
They tell tales of fiction found on all the criminal types
Lead to a higher-ranking man or a face with thin red stripes
The boys next door
The mums and dads
New-weds and nearly-deads
Have you ever been had in clubland?
In clubland
There's a piece in someone's pocket to do the dirty work
You've come to shoot the pony, they've come to do the jerk
They leave him halfway to paradise, they leave you halfway to bliss
The ladies' invitation never seemed like this
The boys next door
The mums and dads
New-weds and nearly-deads
Have you ever been had in clubland?
In clubland
The long arm of the law slides up the outskirts of town
Meanwhile in clubland they are ready to pull them down
Hey
The right to work is traded in for the right to refuse admission
Don't pass out now, there's no refund, did you find out what you were missing?
The crowd is taking forty winks minus ten percent
You barely get required sleep to go lingering with contemptment
Thursday to Saturday
Money's gone already
Some things come in common these days
Your hands and work aren't steady
The boys next door
The mums and dads
New-weds and nearly-deads
Have you ever been had in clubland?
In clubland
In clubland
In clubland, he-e-y
"Clubland" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions is a song that explores the shady world of nightclubs and the people that inhabit them. The lyrics describe a place where illicit activities are the norm, and where people come to indulge in their vices. The singer talks about "backhanders" and "bevy of beauty," which alludes to people using bribes and flirting in order to get what they want. He also mentions going "off-limits, going off duty," which can be interpreted as people letting go of their inhibitions and engaging in behavior that they wouldn't do in their daily lives.
The chorus of the song asks the listener if they have ever been "had in clubland," suggesting that these nightclubs are not to be trusted, and that people often get taken advantage of. The lyrics suggest that there is a corrupt system at play, where the criminal underworld makes deals with those in power, and where the police turn a blind eye. There is also the sense that the people who go to these nightclubs are trapped in a cycle of addiction and excess, where they come on Thursday and leave on Saturday, having spent all their money and lost all sense of control.
Overall, "Clubland" is a song that paints a grim picture of nightclubs and the people who frequent them. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of getting caught up in a world of excess and indulgence, and about how easy it is to lose oneself in the pursuit of pleasure. The song's cynical tone and gritty lyrics make it a standout track in Elvis Costello's discography.
Line by Line Meaning
With a handful of backhanders and a bevy of beauty
With bribes and attractive women at hand
Going off-limits, going off duty
Ignoring the rules and responsibilities
Going off the rails, going off with booty
Losing control and stealing valuable items
They tell tales of fiction found on all the criminal types
False stories are told about any lawbreaker
Lead to a higher-ranking man or a face with thin red stripes
Accusations can incriminate those in power or high-stakes positions
The boys next door
The average people
The mums and dads
Parents and adults
New-weds and nearly-deads
Newlyweds or elderly people
Have you ever been had in clubland?
Have you ever been taken advantage of in the club scene?
There's a piece in someone's pocket to do the dirty work
Bribery is used to conduct illegal activity
You've come to shoot the pony, they've come to do the jerk
You are here to have fun, they are here to exploit you
They leave him halfway to paradise, they leave you halfway to bliss
They will stop short of giving you what you want
The ladies' invitation never seemed like this
Women are not usually invited to participate in these activities
The long arm of the law slides up the outskirts of town
Police are starting to investigate the area
Meanwhile in clubland they are ready to pull them down
Even with the potential threat of being caught, they are still engaging in illegal behavior
The right to work is traded in for the right to refuse admission
The opportunity for legal work is exchanged for entry into the club scene
Don't pass out now, there's no refund, did you find out what you were missing?
Don't lose consciousness or you won't get your money back, did you become aware of what is really happening?
The crowd is taking forty winks minus ten percent
The people are barely awake
You barely get required sleep to go lingering with contemptment
You barely get enough sleep and still have negative feelings
Thursday to Saturday
The busiest club nights
Money's gone already
People have already spent all their money
Some things come in common these days
Certain behaviors or situations are becoming typical
Your hands and work aren't steady
Your actions and job are inconsistent
In clubland, he-e-y
In the world of clubs
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind