—>

a

the case agaimst

“Costello made plagiarism creative...’-Dave
Hill, Designer Boys and Material Girls

“Writing about music is like dancing to archi-
tecture-.it's.a_really stupid thing to want.to
do.”-Elvis Costello, Musician Oct. 1983

Elvis Costello, the persona assumed by Dec-
lan McManus in the first nine years of his
career, is/was the darling of rock critics every-
where. Rolling Stone, in its own neanderthal
sort of way, used him as a point of reference
by conferring onto Costello the role of being
the modern equivalent of Dylan AND the
Beatles all in one package. Setting aside such
dimwitted blithering and also any prejudices
or preconceptions of these formerly relevant
musicians as icons, it still implies that Costello
is a contributor-innovator with considerable
influence over the present and/or future of
pop music. This would seem to be quite the
feat for a musician once described as a “...
wizened muttering meanspirited impotent
spiteful little creep.” ( Lester Bangs, Musician
Jan. 1980)

Within the context of his time, Costello was
easily noticeable. Amid the slag of old farts
parodying themselves to oblivion and the
anarchic denouncement of former musical
values and forms by the neophyte idealists/
nihilists, he was one of the few who acknow-
ledged the past without relinquishing himself
to reverential zeal. And unlike his contempo-

patrick
fitzwalter-o’ho

And unlike his
contemporaries

he had the
Mouth Almighty.

raries (most notably Graham Parker, who
was ga labelmate and who actually ante-
ceded Costello), he had the Mouth Almighty.
When the debut album, My Aim Is True, was
released in 1977, critics began raving,

Granted, this latter-day Elvis does have the
passion and the commitment to the medium,
but does this justify sometimes blatant rip-offs
of musical forms to get his ideas across ? The
worm does display an impressive knowledge
of American popular music that belies his
“ounk” ties, but no matter if imitation is the sin-
cerest form of flattery, it sure gets grating as
hell after a few listenings. After all, he is sup-
posed to be a major artist.

Nor can this be overlooked as one showers
him with accolades, for it is a severe limitation
on whatever lasting legacy Costello might
have. His music does not extend his sources,
as Van Morrison’s did at his peak, but rather,
he perpetuates useful odds and ends into a
mish-mash to be consumed by offen pristine
ears. Without the extension of his lifted musi-
cal ideas to match pace with his more per-
sonal wordplay and outlook, he could only
be called, at best, a stylist and at worse,
merely a hack.

The one instrument that is uniquely Costello's
own is his voice (as writer and singer). In a lot
of ways, it is his saving grace. Many times

though, his voice has been cont. page 11

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