Elvis Fridays #4: Let's Have A Party

Welcome to the end of the week. Time for a bit more Elvii.

Will Elvis Perkins make an appearance at some stage? asked Charity Chic.

Undoubtedly.



If you have room for "A Date With Elvis" by The Cramps give "What's Inside a Girl?" a listen, said Lynchie.



And there's the poet Elvis McGonagall & his band The Resurrectors, described as "an unholy marriage of radical stand-up poetry and Caledonian punkabilly rock ‘n roll"...

OK.

Here's his reaction to the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis...




Which brings us to the other two guys.

Last week, Brian commended my choice from Punch The Clock by revealing that it was the first Costello album he bought as a new release, after spending some time previous relishing the delights of his back catalogue.

Well, here's a track from the first Costello album I bought on release. It could have been Spike, but I know my copy of that has a little chip in the black plastic on the side of the CD case which represents that it was a promo copy or a reject. Probably I scrounged that out of the chuck outs box at work. But I remember buying the following album in a shop, and the lead single is still one of my favourite Costello tracks.

I know Mighty Like A Rose is the album where many fans became a little disillusioned with Elvis, but I love it still. It's an odd record (the "weirdy beardy" one) that pushes the boundaries musically and lyrically in places, but I played it to death at the time.

Here's that single, an anti-Beach Boys record in the very best sense... and it seems appropriate now that we're in July and the traditional British summer has finally arrived. All those beautiful sunny days at the start of lockdown seem but a distant memory now...

Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?

A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't need no lessons"?

The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop

The pop princess is downtown shooting up

And if that goddess is fit for burning

The sun will struggle up, the world will still keep turning

 


So finally then, to the King. And a story I've probably told before, but when has that ever stopped me?

In the first year of 6th Form, I appeared in the school panto. A comedic version of Robin Hood. My mate Simon, who always played the lead, was Robin. I was Little John. (I'm probably an inch taller than him, but always the sidekick...) He got the girl (Maid Marian), both on stage and off. I... got to "sing" the song that closed the first half. Well, not really sing, but mime and dance along to the track below, belting out of a backstage ghetto plaster. I did sing... you just couldn't hear me for the real deal. Which is probably for the best. Whenever I hear this track, I'm on that stage, gyrating my knees and hips, waiting for the curtain to fall one more time...