History Music / ElvisCostello

** "Shipbuilding," an anti-UsefulNotes/FalklandsWar song.

** As well as the producing credits on his own albums, Costello has produced albums for Music/TheSpecials, Music/ThePogues and Music/{{Squeeze}}. He also almost produced Music/TheyMightBeGiants' ''Apollo 18''.

!!Discography

-->^=with the Attractions\\
^^=with the Imposters

-->--"Veronica"

Declan Patrick Aloysius [=MacManus=] [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OBE]] (born 25 August 1954), better known by his {{Stage Name|s}} Elvis Costello, is a sometimes popular and always respectable British musician and songwriter who's been around since the late [[TheSeventies seventies]].

Costello was initially associated in the public mind with PunkRock, and in terms of attitude there was a resemblance. (He had enjoyed seeing the Music/SexPistols go head to head with morning TV host Bill Grundy.) Musically, his closest kinship was to classic [[TheSixties sixties]] pop: Music/TheKinks, Music/BobDylan, early [[Music/TheWho Who]] and especially Music/TheBeatles. While he had a [[CreativeDifferences troubled relationship]] with his backup band the Attractions, they were highly suited to interpreting his diverse catalog of songs.

Although he is often associated with his use of puns and wordplay in lyrics, these are most noticeable in his early work. As he's matured, Costello's humor has become less brash and sarcastic, more jocular and [[SelfDeprecation self-mocking]]. His curiosity and desire to collaborate with others has - among other adventures — lead him to compose a score for the ballet, tour with T-Bone Burnett as a country duo, and write both an album's worth of songs with Burt Bacharach and yet another backed only by string quartet. Costello was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 2003.

He's [[RenaissanceMan also an author]]. His first book ''Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink'' was released in 2015. While working on it, he [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial denied it would be]] an autobiography. This is technically true - it's a memoir. It also took much longer than expected to write. Perhaps ending up [[Main/DoorStopper more than double]] the length of the 300-and-some pages promised by the publisher had something to do with that.

He hosted two seasons of a music/interview show called ''Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...'' which aired on the Sundance Channel in the US and Creator/Channel4 in the UK. UsefulNotes/{{Television}} has seen him being banned from ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' for a dozen years for changing songs unannounced, subbing for Creator/DavidLetterman during his heart surgery, and appearing AsHimself on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby''. Charges that he is an [[Series/ThirtyRock international art thief]] are still being investigated.

Declan Patrick Aloysius [=MacManus=] [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OBE]] (born 25 August 1954), better known by his {{Stage Name|s}} Elvis Costello, is a sometimes popular and always respectable musician and songwriter who's been around since the late [[TheSeventies seventies]].

* ExcitedShowTitle: ''Get Happy!!'', ''The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!''

* UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage: The credits of ''Blood and Chocolate'' are in Esperanto, although some words are misspelled.

* DreamTeam:
** He had a sporadic songwriting partnership with Music/PaulMcCartney, leading to several [=McCartney=]/Costello compositions scattered over both artists' albums in the late 80s and early 90s. One of their joint compositions, "Veronica", became one of the biggest hits of Costello's career. ([=McCartney=] plays bass on the song as well.) Costello joked that their collaboration reversed the dynamics one would expect, with Paul being the one who tried to write entire songs in one chord and similar weirdness, and Elvis being the one who was coming up with more melodic material.
** He recorded an album with famed Rap/R&B band The Roots in 2013.

* SelfDeprecation: Described himself in a mid-[[TheEighties 1980's]] interview as "Rock 'n' roll's Scrabble champion".

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: A hallmark of much of Costello's early work, although after his collaboration with Music/BurtBacharach the tendency towards using a lot of words has eased slightly. He jokingly referred to himself as "rock and roll's Scrabble champion" for this reason.

* LyricalColdOpen: Costello's first three albums each open with one: "Welcome to the Working Week", "No Action", and "Accidents Will Happen". Other examples include "Mystery Dance", "I Hope You're Happy Now", "Next Time 'Round", "Indoor Fireworks", and "Poisoned Rose".

* InTheStyleOf: "The Other Side of Summer" was intended to evoke the classic sound of Music/TheBeachBoys from TheSixties, but it's been pointed out that it sounds more like The Beach Boys circa ''Music/SurfsUp'' or ''Music/{{Holland|1973}}''.

* AnswerSong: Costello has said that "This Year's Girl" is this to the song "Stupid Girl" by Music/TheRollingStones.

* InTheStyleOf: "The Other Side of Summer" was intended to evoke the classic sound of Music/TheBeachBoys from TheSixties, but it's been pointed out that it sounds more like The Beach Boys circa ''Music/SurfsUp'' or ''Music/{{Holland}}''.

* IHaveManyNames: Names he's used in his songwriting credits include: Declan [=MacManus=], The Imposter, and Napoleon Dynamite[[note]]No relation to [[Film/NapoleonDynamite the movie]] according to its creators, though Costello was skeptical and considered litigation[[/note]].

* CheckpointCharlie: Costello uses the phrase in "Oliver's Army" as oart of the song’s evocation of a UsefulNotes/ColdWar milieu.

** "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" mixes this with TheCoverChangesTheMeaning. The original version by Sam & Dave is slower and more anguished.

* ''The River in Reverse''^^ (with Allen Touissaint) (2006)

*** Music/NickLowe produced many of his most acclaimed releases.

* ContentWarning: A tongue-in-cheek one was affixed on the front cover of ''Almost Blue'', warning buyers that the album "contains country music".

* NomDeMom: Costello is his mother's maiden name.

He honed his skills playing in the pub rock band Flip City at night while working as a computer operator at Revlon's London branch. Soon after that, he signed a contract with fledgling record label Stiff and adopted a new name – an ironic ShoutOut to Music/ElvisPresley (who died soon afterward) combined with his mother's maiden name.

** ''Music/MyAimIsTrue'' (from a line in "Allison"), ''Punch the Clock'' (from "The Greatest Thing"), ''King of America'' (from "Brilliant Mistake"), ''Blood and Chocolate'' (from "Uncomplicated"), and ''Brutal Youth'' (from "Favourite Hour").

* LyricalColdOpen: Costello's first three albums each possess one: "Welcome to the Working Week", "No Action", and "Accidents Will Happen". Other examples include "Mystery Dance", "I Hope You're Happy Now", "Next Time 'Round", "Indoor Fireworks", and "Poisoned Rose".

Declan Patrick Aloysius [=MacManus=] [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OBE]] (born August 25, 1954), better known by his {{Stage Name|s}} Elvis Costello, is a sometimes popular and always respectable musician and songwriter who's been around since the late [[TheSeventies seventies]].