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.
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Elvis Costello Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gotta girl named Lucinda
They call her the great pretender
Gotta girl named Lucinda
They call her the great pretender
And when she talks
She says a Bama Lama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Well I dig her style
She`s bout to drive me wild
With Bama Lama Bama Loo
Well I asked my little baby for a kiss
She shook her head around like this
Well I asked my little girl for a kiss
She shook her head around like this
She said...
[Chorus]
The song "Bama Lama Bama Loo" by Elvis Costello is an upbeat and catchy tune that tells the story of a girl named Lucinda, whom many consider to be a great pretender. The lyrics describe how Lucinda talks and sings the phrase "Bama Lama Loo" with her unique style, which captivates the song's narrator. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Bama Lama Bama Loo" multiple times, emphasizing its importance in the story being told.
The singer then proceeds to ask Lucinda for a kiss, but she shakes her head in refusal. Despite this, the singer is still drawn to her unique style and the way she speaks and sings the phrase "Bama Lama Loo". The song ends with the chorus once again repeating the phrase, solidifying its importance in the overall meaning of the song.
Overall, the lyrics of "Bama Lama Bama Loo" are both fun and playful, showcasing Elvis Costello's talent for crafting catchy pop songs.
Line by Line Meaning
Bama Lama Bama Loo
A fun nonsense phrase that is being repeated throughout the song
Gotta girl named Lucinda
The singer has a girl named Lucinda as his love interest
They call her the great pretender
Lucinda is known for pretending or putting up a façade
And when she talks
Lucinda has a way with words
She says a Bama Lama Loo
Lucinda uses the phrase 'Bama Lama Loo' in her language
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Repeating the catchy phrase 'Bama Lama Bama Loo' as a chorus
Well I dig her style
The singer admires Lucinda's style
She`s bout to drive me wild
Lucinda is about to make the singer crazy/infatuated with her
With Bama Lama Bama Loo
Lucinda is using the phrase 'Bama Lama Bama Loo' to mesmerize the singer
Well I asked my little baby for a kiss
The singer wants a kiss from his lover
She shook her head around like this
The lover refused to give a kiss and shook her head to indicate the negative
She said...
The lover spoke in response to the singer's request
Bama Lama Bama Loo
The lover used 'Bama Lama Bama Loo' to communicate her feelings
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Bama Lama Bama Loo
Repeatedly using 'Bama Lama Bama Loo' to reject the singer's request for a kiss
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RICHARD PENNIMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind