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.
Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She said everything that she cares to, she's saying it not once but twice
She said it doesn't matter unless I say it matters
Well, I don't care about all that modern jazz
The girl that used to have it, and the girl I still have
She's the girl that used to have it and the girl I still have
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, and doesn't she look so fine?
She said everything that she used to
She said "it doesn't matter unless I say it matters"
[?]
I don't care about all that modern jazz
The girl that used to have it, and girl I still have
She's the girl that used to have it, and the girl I still have
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, and doesn't she look so good?
She looks like Billy Boy Arnold, said I wish you would
I wish you would
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, I wonder what's left inside
She used to [?] at med school, before she learned how to be snide
She walks in the place and everybody scatters
I don't care about all the modern girls
She's the girl that I used to have and the girl I still have
She the, she the...
The lyrics to Elvis Costello's song "Baby's Got A Brand New Hairdo" revolve around a central theme of change - in this case, a change in the persona of the singer's lover. The opening lines are a declaration of the change in appearance of the lover, which the singer seems to appreciate. However, the lyrics that follow highlight a deeper transformation in the lover's personality - from someone who used to be open and honest, to someone who is now manipulative and uncaring. The line "She said everything that she cares to, she's saying it not once but twice" portrays the lover's newfound disposition as someone who is not only less truthful, but also insists on repeating manipulative statements.
The line "It doesn't matter unless I say it matters" further underscores the lover's newfound narcissism, which completely disregards the feelings of her partner. The singer, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be swayed by the surface level changes in his lover and isn't attracted to the contemporary fads that she seems to chase. Despite the transformation in his lover's personality, the singer recognizes and celebrates the fact that he is still with the same girl he fell in love with - "The girl that used to have it, and the girl I still have". The song ends with the singer expressing his wonder about what is left inside his lover, as if to say that the deeper changes in her personality have left him unsure of what to expect next.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, but doesn't she look so nice?
The girl has a new haircut and looks pretty.
She said everything that she cares to, she's saying it not once but twice
She repeatedly expresses everything that's important to her.
She said it doesn't matter unless I say it matters
She wants to be in control and have the final say about what matters.
Well, I don't care about all that modern jazz
The singer is not interested in trendy opinions or fads.
The girl that used to have it, and the girl I still have
The singer is still with the girl who used to have a classic style.
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, and doesn't she look so fine?
The singer thinks the girl looks even better now with her new haircut.
She said everything that she used to, except she's picking your heart, not mine
The girl is saying the same things to someone else now, not the singer.
She said 'it doesn't matter unless I say it matters'
The girl has a lot of influence and power in the singer's life.
I don't care about all that modern jazz
The singer is still uninterested in trendy opinions or fads.
The girl that used to have it, and the girl I still have
The girl still has the classic style that the singer loves.
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, and doesn't she look so good?
The singer thinks the girl looks attractive with her new haircut.
She looks like Billy Boy Arnold, said I wish you would
The girl's new hairstyle reminds the singer of a musician he likes.
Baby's got a brand new hairdo, I wonder what's left inside
The singer is curious about what else is new about the girl.
She used to [?] at med school, before she learned how to be snide
The girl used to study medicine but has become more sarcastic or insulting.
She walks in the place and everybody scatters
The girl seems to command attention and respect wherever she goes.
I don't care about all the modern girls
The singer is still uninterested in trendy opinions or fads.
She's the girl that I used to have and the girl I still have
The singer's still with the girl he's been with for a while and still loves her classic style.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group
Written by: ELVIS COSTELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind