Elvis Costello: The Exact Moment When This Balding Fat Fucker Jumped The Shark

i got bored a long time ago, but actually i think he's done some good stuff since that point--brutal youth, and the bacharach collab.

i actually am open-minded about his newer stuff. i can imagine it being ok. i just don't have the time or money to buy it and find out.

The Ray Charles thing is a red herring, and way too early. "The Only Flame in Town," with Daryl Hall, was a sort of precursor to shark-jumpage, but he did make some extremely good records after that. The Bachrach stuff approaches criminality, but that could be indulgently seen as a side trip on what is still a fundamentally rock and roll journey.

I would probably plump for North as his shark-jump moment, the marrying Krall, or maybe the breaking up with Cait. But I realize that I have a higher tolerance for him than most non-fans would have.

Nah, fuck it. I've got nothing.

Anyway, new possible nominee for the exact moment: the hyperchipper McCartney-McManus mistake "My Brave Face."

(x-post)

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you can jump the shark and still make the occasional decent song and listenable album, though.

This Years Model = "oh, man he's found a great band! he's totally captured the whole frustrated young guy thing."

Armed Forces = "oh, ok he has nothing to say other than Don't Be A Nazi To Me, Just Give Sex When Needed but he's gonna keep getting more pretentious and self-congratulatory with every album"

It's harsh (I like Brutal Youth actually), but if there was a moment where in hindsight he revealed what his bag was, it was then.

:-O

details plz! (I'm a big fan of EC's cameo in Spice World and on Third Rock from the Sun)

does Starbucks really push his shit out there like they would with McCartney or whoever, though? i think anyone with a reliable cult is racking up exceptionally high Billboard peaks in the slumping marketplace these days (see also: Sonic Youth's first top 20 album ever this year).

I hang out at Starbucks most Sunday afternooons to read, write, and grade, and I've never seen anyone buy those albums. There's a pretty neat "post-punk" comp called Circa 1980 that's played in house, though.

I went in there last night- there's a certain hour when it's the only thing open- and I saw thay had some kind of post-punk comp called Up, Down, Turn Around.

I take back Armed Forces being his "shark jump"
Anthony, you broke my heart.

Oh, that must be it: I saw "Temptation" on the track list.

That's "Get Happy"

I believe a marching band of octopi on the Muppet Show did a good version under Animal broke it up.

Anthony, you broke my heart.

Armed is still the beginning of the end, it's just that shark-jumping requires losing the script entirely, like say when a punk ranter records an album of country covers

hey now don't hate the Mekons.

shark-jumping also requires that there be nothing worthwhile after that point, which i dunno, EC sure has been inconsistent since those first 3 but there's a few pretty great records in there (xpost)

i dunno, there might be a good simpsons episode or two in the decade plus since maude flanders died, but i'd still probably put the leap there.

does Starbucks really push his shit out there like they would with McCartney or whoever, though?

i dunno, and I know Carly Simon was bitching about the lack of promotion, but it's success compared to momofuku the year before probably can't entirely be chalked up to the times. guessing hear music put a little more into promotion than lost highway, at least for the first week.

and as alfred points out with the mekons, shark-jumping is pretty subjective: most (including me) would say the mekons FOUND the script when they got into country. so someone could say almost blue was elvis growing out of his juvenalia or something if they wanted.

Momofuku had a weird release schedule (CD release weeks after digital/vinyl) that all but guaranteed it would have a lower than averate chart debut, but yeah

I love most, if not all, of Costello's 80s records. Sometimes even more than the 70s stuff. And there are plenty of 90s records I'd happily listen to ...
Is there anyone who'll rep for the Allen Toussain collab? I haven't heard it.

Going country is almost a textbook false shark-jump move at this point - it seems at first glance like the end of the road but it hardly ever is. cf Mekons, Dylan, Byrds, Jonathan Richman, Ween, Kid Rock.

I wish a big rock band nowdays had the balls to pull off a non-ironic Nashville Skyline transformation. Too bad there's no more big rock bands.

There's always Bon Jovi. Um, never mind.

Is there anyone who'll rep for the Allen Toussain collab? I haven't heard it.

boring, like everything else since the Bacharach collab (which I do like half of).

I did see him with an orchestra a few years ago (doing the same stuff that is on "my flame burns blue") and it was excellent, but the album is boring to listen to. he can be a great performer to watch but these days listening to him is snoozeville. even when he does the rock thing again I'm bored. I think I've just had enough; he has way more worthy material than most, I'm happy with his catalogue, but I think I'm done. I can't imagine an album he could make now that would interest me.

Never heard the Bacharach album. A friend swears that "Toledo" is one of the four or five greatest things Elvis C ever recorded.

I guess going country can mean jumping the shark sometimes
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://thebeautystop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jessica-simpson-999-kiss-country-chili-cookoff.jpg&imgrefurl=http://thebeautystop.com/celebrity-hits-and-misses-jessica-simpson-2/&usg=__SIrTumiV1Wsv6q-BhZMVVzz8x7g=&h=501&w=400&sz=59&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=ttqiBqvhQuv81M:&tbnh=130&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djessica%2Bsimpson%2Bcountry%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

he can be a great performer to watch but these days listening to him is snoozeville
i've seen him twice this decade (both imposters shows). One was pretty awesome (the When I Was Cruel tour) and the other was a textbook example of seeing EC "punch the clock."

Painted From Memory and "Toledo" in particular are great, imo

I haven't spent much time with Painted From Memory, but I know plenty people who love it.

wikipedia picture cracks me up for some reason. looks like bono's granddad or something.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/ElvisCostello09TIFF.jpg/409px-ElvisCostello09TIFF.jpg

vaguely interested in elvis' costello show live series thing -- el mocambo is first ...

"El Mocambo" is awesome. Thanks, amphetamines! You'll never listed to "My Aim is True" again.

Clearly the jump the shark moment was "Juliet Letters," where he learned Italian, how to read sheet music, and took singing lessons. He's had some great stuff since then, but he's gone too far up the butt of formalism to really enjoy it. It's the Elvis does Burt album! It's the Elvis does country (again) album! It's the Elvis tries to sound like Elvis again album! It's the Elvis does jazz album! Etc.

I will admit to Juliet Letters being kinda lame, but I also kinda like it.

Josh OTM

Yup.

el mocambo is sweet -- there are a bunch of late 70s attractions shows that are so frenzied, like the band members are trying to strangle each other.

Nick Lowe said something like "there was no love lost in that band" so maybe they were.

I always enjoyed Elvis Costello even more than the first Elvis! My mom and I used to have arguments about the two Elvises and she'd tell me to shut up in the end, maybe because I won. I was still sad when Elvis died though!

One was pretty awesome (the When I Was Cruel tour) and the other was a textbook example of seeing EC "punch the clock."

yeah i saw him on the when i was cruel tour and it was amazing....billy bob thorton was the opener!

I saw him on that tour too, and agree. He dug into the chest: opened with "I Hope You're Happy Now," did "I Wanna Be Loved" and "Hoover Factory." The only false note was his mugging through "I Want You."

there are a bunch of late 70s attractions shows that are so frenzied, like the band members are trying to strangle each other.

I was obsessed with bootlegs from the '78 tour for quite a while, they are just so good. Essential companions to the LPs.

Clearly the jump the shark moment was "Juliet Letters,"

No; both All This Useless Beauty and When I Was Cruel postdate TJL, and each is well worth the time. I think marrying Diana Krall might have done it; North was his first album with no redeeming features whatsoever, and nothing since that point has been in the least memorable.

When I saw Elvis he committed the cardinal sin (to me) of either a) lagging behind the beat with his singing (a lot of older rockers do this) and/or b) changing the melody entirely for god knows why. Needless to say I was disappointed.

Cross-posting from the McCartney thread:

/ In 1988, Costello and McCartney returned to the studio. The idea is that Costello would co-produce the new record. As they worked, they realized they had different ideas. One day, they were talking about “That Day is Done,” a gospel-inspired ballad. Costello wanted to use New Orleans brass. McCartney referenced the Human League. Costello left the studio to calm himself down.

McCartney: This is one of the rules of my game. I will say stuff, any idea that comes into my head. And if you don’t like it, you just tell me and I’ll probably agree. But my method is to throw out a lot of stuff and whittle it down. [Pause.] Actually, he was really not a fan of the Human League. I like “Don’t You Want Me.” [Hums the chorus.] I think that’s, like, a classic pop record. . . . I can now see now that me even mentioning the words Human League would send him off in the wrong direction./

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/after-john-paul-mccartney-found-another-partner-to-get-the-most-out-of-him-the-proof-is-finally-emerging/2017/03/16/ae2fe91c-09a7-11e7-a15f-a58d4a988474_story.html?utm_term=.3c1c977a15a8

only took us 12 years

A committed hater never rests

Elvis Costello gets on my nerves. i've no idea what people see in him. he's done some good songs, "Allison" would make a good soft rock ballad or adult contemporary, but he's kind of a poser. him not liking Human League confirms for me he has shit taste.

yea he was definitely one of those guys who was awesome as an outsider but could only hold onto that persona for so long.

'Painted from Memory' is a pretty good album that I listened to quite a bit when it came out. But it's p much unlistenable for me now because y'know, he's doing the singing. Can only stomach it for a limited amount of time.

his songs have too many chords.

was going to suggest Painted From Memory as a recent EC album that I love, then realised that it's nearly 20 years since it was released :(

ikr :(

You could never love or admire this guy as much as he loves and admires himself tbh.

best thing he's done in decades is release a really cool-looking signature fender jazzmaster

he should have retired after that tbh

When this fucker killed the shark.

Froom on paper seems like such a perfect fit, but this album is a mess and "Brutal Youth" (with better songs) sounds like shit.

Los Lobos is the only artist who seemed to benefit from Froom's production. With EC, Richard Thompson and others, I feel like another producer would've been much better.

EC became too erratic to have a "jump the shark" moment. Almost Blue was thoroughly mediocre, the production on Punch the Clock was fairly uneven, Goodbye Cruel World had quality songs produced and arranged in the worst possible way, and yet he made three great albums interspersed or following those three.

None of his WB studio albums (between 1989 to 1996) are on the same level as his earlier triumphs, so that's when he was no longer on the very forefront of rock music, but he was still capable of good, commendable work.

His last good album was When I Was Cruel in 2002, and it's better than any studio album he did at WB - it's still too long, but it would've been a rock solid single LP had he pruned it of a few lesser tracks. Every album he's done since then has a few keepers, which isn't great but isn't worthless either.

Also, re: the origins of the term...when was Happy Days ever good? Or did it just go from mediocre to absolute shit?

I remember one episode of HD where there was a definite undercurrent, everyone was pairing off while Potsie was singing "Will you still love me tomorrow". It was all implicit, but there was something happening. And later that same episode fonz got the shark challenge, it was tune in next episode for the conclusion (I never did, just happened to be out), the rest you know.

Oh, and "Look Now" sounded pretty good when I heard it in the shop, I nearly bought one..