Have enjoyed this fellow’s songs and voice ever since I heard the first album (My Aim Is True) over 30 years ago. He has a fantastic talent for stringing words together that set him apart from most of his contemporaries.
Not only that but as the man who produced the classic Pogues album Rum Sodomy and The Lash he can do little wrong for my ears.
So here are some clips to savour, starting with Watching The Detectives (his first hit single).
Then the hauntingly beautiful Shipbuilding and to finish with a great version of Alison which turns into an interesting cover of Suspicious Minds.
Forgot to mention another reason why I loved him from the start, he escaped a potential life of serfdom in the IT industry for the music business. He had been working a a computer operator = feeding decks of punched cards to the large machines in the corner and then collecting the stacks of paper that they produced some while later.
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6 comments:
My favorite is, "Veronica."
My mom used to have a job doing keypunch. She'd punch the cards and the guys in the computer room would feed them through. She used to bring the used and no longer needed ones home for me to make flashcards for studying.
Never thought Mr. Costello would bring back a childhood memory. HA!
rt, Yes he wrote some great songs.
We had a room full of ladies punching our cards for us when I started work, about a year later I was doing my own.
Who would have thunk it :)
I love the plaintive crack of his voice-- harsh and tender all at once.
Love his stuff with Burt Bacharach - "God give me strength" they wrote for the film "Grace of my heart" is one of my all-time favorites.
By the way, I saw Burt B at the local symphony hall a few years back - profoundly wonderful evening.
Phlegmmy, Have not heard his stuff with Burt B - will now attempt to rectify that.
You can find Elvis singing this, but this is my favorite version - love her suede voice:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UCGTBZfaYck
Phlegmmy, Thanks for that link, enjoyed her voice.
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